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Which light should i use?

I have been growing with LED's since around 2006, most of my equipment is hand built since I am an electrical engineer.


Full spectrum or white is less efficient because there are no LED emitters that directly create it. White or full spectrum LEDs have R or B emitters that strike a phosphorescent layer on the inside of the LED casing. When the light from the R or B emitter strikes the coating it is absorbed and white or full spectrum light is emitted from the coating. This means that there is a loss in the conversion that direct R and B LEDs do not have.

When one is in the veg stage the light should have more blue than when it is in flowering. Blue light makes cannabis veg better, red helps it flower better. The best LED lamps have an adjustable R/B ratio so that one can change it up in the two stages.

Have fun ;)
 
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White_Rose said:
I have been growing with LED's since around 2006, most of my equipment is hand built since I am an electrical engineer.


Full spectrum or white is less efficient because there are no LED emitters that directly create it. White or full spectrum LEDs have R or B emitters that strike a phosphorescent layer on the inside of the LED casing. When the light from the R or B emitter strikes the coating it is absorbed and white or full spectrum light is emitted from the coating. This means that there is a loss in the conversion that direct R and B LEDs do not have.

When one is in the veg stage the light should have more blue than when it is in flowering. Blue light makes cannabis veg better, red helps it flower better. The best LED lamps have an adjustable R/B ratio so that one can change it up in the two stages.

Have fun ;)
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I understand the blue and red light spectrum needed for various stages. BUt from what im gathering from what you saying these LED aren't givingyou the full light penetration you need, or did i misunderstand?
For instance will a all in one full spectrum Led's light like a 300w LED grow light with the following stats will it work?


The 300w LED Grow Light unit provides the following Colour Mix with a total of 150 LED Chips:
110 x Red(660nm)
14 x Blue(460nm-470nm)
6 x Ice blue(430-440nm)
6 x Yellow(600-610nm)
3 x White(6000k)
3 x Orange(590nm)
3 x Green(520-530nm)
3 x IR(730nm)
2 x UV(390nm)


Will a light like that be suffiecient for a grow space of 120x120x200cm?


Cause a light like this i dont need to swop between stages and just change the timing of when the light is on. Am I right here?
 
No, you misunderstood. I have plenty of penetration. It's that white LED's are inefficient due to their construction.

Using multiple color arrays such as yours is much more efficient, although you do have 3 white emitters in there that will decrease the efficiency somewhat. I've tried both full spectrum and R/B lights and there is little to no difference to the plant, however the UV is a good addition.

I usually use 400 watts total output in a 1 square meter space and pull around 8 - 16 oz depending on the strain. It's just about the same as when I used a 1 kw MH or HPS light, but much easier to cool.
 
White_Rose said:
No, you misunderstood. I have plenty of penetration. It's that white LED's are inefficient due to their construction.

Using multiple color arrays such as yours is much more efficient, although you do have 3 white emitters in there that will decrease the efficiency somewhat. I've tried both full spectrum and R/B lights and there is little to no difference to the plant, however the UV is a good addition.

I usually use 400 watts total output in a 1 square meter space and pull around 8 - 16 oz depending on the strain. It's just about the same as when I used a 1 kw MH or HPS light, but much easier to cool.
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Thanks a million bud that helped a lot. Think i will go with one of these Full spectrum LED's for a first attempt and just upgrade as i go along. Cause its all space depended but as for my future outside grow, my whole garden will just be a mix of ganja strains :D
 
The main difference between the MH/HPS lamp vs LEDs is cooling and the way light diffuses. The MH/HPS lamps illuminate much more 3D (as in all around) whereas the LED's tend to be much more directional. More flat if you will. The small tent should mitigate this since the light should bounce around, but in an open room the falloff is much more apparent.

Good luck in your grow !
 
White_Rose said:
The main difference between the MH/HPS lamp vs LEDs is cooling and the way light diffuses. The MH/HPS lamps illuminate much more 3D (as in all around) whereas the LED's tend to be much more directional. More flat if you will. The small tent should mitigate this since the light should bounce around, but in an open room the falloff is much more apparent.

Good luck in your grow !
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That was always one of my most irritating thing about MH/HPS lighting setup was the heat and keeping that under control, which just meant more money and electricity spended on keeping the right temps.

Thanks again for the help and sorry to the OP for the slight high jack but maybe it helped a few like me :)
 
White_Rose said:
No, you misunderstood. I have plenty of penetration. It's that white LED's are inefficient due to their construction.

Using multiple color arrays such as yours is much more efficient, although you do have 3 white emitters in there that will decrease the efficiency somewhat. I've tried both full spectrum and R/B lights and there is little to no difference to the plant, however the UV is a good addition.

I usually use 400 watts total output in a 1 square meter space and pull around 8 - 16 oz depending on the strain. It's just about the same as when I used a 1 kw MH or HPS light, but much easier to cool.
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It is interesting. Have you heard that white color leds could output more yield than the blurple? Many people said the QB light is the best one. How about your idea?
 
madness00 said:
Mine was alright. Getting over a virus, did some drugs, had a valentine for the first time in years but did nothing special, forgot to call my mom, got a jury duty delinquency notice in the mail, but the drugs made it tolerable TBH. All in all, not bad. Thank you for asking man. No one asked me how my day was today so I dumping it on you.

Did you do something interesting? I'm always curious about what tickles the fancy of other people.
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Haha, i think the most interesting thing is to have a date with a girl. =D
 
MH Then HPS. Bubble buckets. Gotta love dat hydro. 600w with dimmable dial worked great for when I was doing two plant grows.
 
NewFaceSameTripper said:
MH Then HPS. Bubble buckets. Gotta love dat hydro. 600w with dimmable dial worked great for when I was doing two plant grows.
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Thanks for stopping by. bro. After using LED, i like it more. Because less heat and electricity cost, which can keep me safe somehow. I didn't expect too much, mainly for relax, lol.
 
I found Mars has released another new light. It is also white color led that looks like QB light.
Did anyone notice this? I love their Pro II series that i have used.
 
It becomes more easier to upload pictures here. Thanks for the effort.
This is the picture from my last grow with Pro120.
10489
 
Another picture that records my last grow with Mars pro II 120.
I will be ready to add another grow kits to expand. ;););)


10664
 
LED’s have come a long way. I remember when they first hit the market, they were nowhere near comparable to MH, HPS or T5.

Speaking of keeping things cool, this is why I love T5 fluoro’s. High output but don’t get too hot.

Also I’ve found it’s generally harder on the electric bill overall to do a 1 stage instead of a multi stage setup. For instance, when I had a 3 stage setup. My first stage was a pretty small box with cool compact fluorescents and it did wonderfully. Having the small plants start under a full lighting system will obviously eat up more energy when it’s not fully needed at the time.

-GC
 
G_Chem said:
LED’s have come a long way. I remember when they first hit the market, they were nowhere near comparable to MH, HPS or T5.

Speaking of keeping things cool, this is why I love T5 fluoro’s. High output but don’t get too hot.

Also I’ve found it’s generally harder on the electric bill overall to do a 1 stage instead of a multi stage setup. For instance, when I had a 3 stage setup. My first stage was a pretty small box with cool compact fluorescents and it did wonderfully. Having the small plants start under a full lighting system will obviously eat up more energy when it’s not fully needed at the time.

-GC
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Yes, it is a long way. I heard a lot of positive things about LED, so i switched into it and found it is not bad at all. Maybe the led tech improved a lot in the past few years.
I generally use less powerful light for germination stage. For Veg stage, i switch to LED. The light has two switches (Growth and flower). I should turn on the growth one for Veg.
It is normal that the power bill will increase during flower stage as more powerful light. lol
 
Seems like MarsHydro is doing 420 promotion on their website. I think i am ready to try their SP series.
 
So i bought one SP250 on Friday to get the 420 special offer. It helped me save some money.
I was very happy for this purchase:D. Hope i can get the light this week.;)
 
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