topcat
Well-Known Member
18 inches
All COB Users - Lettuce Grow Challenge!!
- Thread starter OneHitDone
- Start date
OneHitDone
Well-Known Member
Because NextLight says so in their propaganda video? lolwhat?................every local lettuce/microgreen op that retrofitted to t8 leds from fluoros has been loving them, same yield at half power and lower temps,no bulb swaps for yrs, ROI is quick.
Sammy mid-power chips work well too
Note that they aren't growing a variety where leaf shaping is very important?
muleface
Well-Known Member
I used low end t5 led integrated lights. They were about $5 each. They did pretty well, but leaf shaping wasn't great. I am now using cheap burple lights from amazon. They do a little better on shaping. But really anything led will do better then 54w t5 bulbs from a cost to run standpoint.
PSUAGRO.
Well-Known Member
*varieties , Note they used a "gourmet" lettuce MIX.........so you would rather consume double the power for better leaf shaping?equal plant mass with higher profit margins be damned? lol, stay a hobbyist brother, all those multi million dollar vertical/stacked led lettuce farms are doing it wrong.
OneHitDone
Well-Known Member
Apparently, and I guess "quality" ranks about 4th place on your list? Glad your not providing my meds
RandomHero8913
Well-Known Member
I did something like that but I'm not sure where the pictures are right now. I used COBs at 2700k, 3000k, 3500k, 4000k, ands 5700k.
Higher kelvins were squat and lower kelvins were lanky. I think the best performing light was the 4000k in this case as you got the best of both worlds.
muleface
Well-Known Member
I think the concern here is the $3.13 cents a watt over a 2x4 area. I agree, its better then a standard t5 ho bulb fixture. But im not sure i could justify the price of $600. I can get 190 watts of integrated led 5000-6000k fixtures for under $60. Is it the same quality of light? Probably not. But at 10% the cost i can live with it
muleface
Well-Known Member
Did you do the thing with a bunch of different boxes? If so that was awesome. Then you moved or something? Do it again!
RandomHero8913
Well-Known Member
Yup that was me. Good times, good lettuce. Next time I'm going to use strips so I'll be able to save on space. I just have to figure out a way to set them up vertically to limit the footprint, that little project in NY took over one wall in our dining room.
PSUAGRO.
Well-Known Member
Apparently environmental impact/power consumption ranks low on your listApparently, and I guess "quality" ranks about 4th place on your list? Glad your not providing my meds
.......................quality,taste is somewhat subjective with lettuce, unless you show me some studies that indicate higher brix, vitamin content? hint= leds(monos) have, heliospectra specifically, probably propaganda toowell the retrofit I saw where using repurposed t8 fixtures with Philips instafit 4000k bulbs,no bypassing the ballast to keep UL cert,, low failure rates last I heard and can swap out duds no problem in store (HD). Keep in mind most microgreens and indoor lettuce varieties are low DLI compared to cannabis. Another was testing/using lights of America led shop lights, 4000k as well I think.....
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OneHitDone
Well-Known Member
I would like to ask @Greengenes707 to join us in this thread and see if he has any input on just what the spectral differences are with led 4000K, 5000K, & 6500K vs the spectrum of T5/T8 Fluorescents in the same relative K Temps.
He seems to fully understand the LED spectrums and ratios of blue/red
PSUAGRO.
Well-Known Member
GG is busy, he ain't got no time for lettuce talk!ha...................I do remember him saying that 4000k was a "dead zone", his words not mineI would like to ask @Greengenes707 to join us in this thread and see if he has any input on just what the spectral differences are with led 4000K, 5000K, & 6500K vs the spectrum of T5/T8 Fluorescents in the same relative K Temps.
He seems to fully understand the LED spectrums and ratios of blue/red
Leds are literally unbeatable in veg when it comes to w/sqft requirements , their really is no debate
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muleface
Well-Known Member
it took some digging, but if found what i ordered from alibaba.
I used 7 of them over each 2x4 spot (154 watts), so 28 total (616 watts) over a 4x8 table.
If i was just doing a 2x4 spot, i would have used more. maybe 9 of them. just so the outside edges would get light. as it was, i didn't use the outside NFT channels.
so my total cost per light was $5.54, the entire light project for the table was under $200. Now these aren't exactly super high end lights. They are cheap strips packaged to look like T5s. I think they are 2550 LM per light, so about 116lm/w not great, but not awful.
side note, the weird looking head in the early growth pictures (front row, left of middle) started its life out under a 3000k Vero 29 gen 7 cob array. It was short, wide and thick leaved. But it grew really quickly. It was also in coco gettting fed twice a day vs in an NFT channel always getting fed.
I never could get any kind of bib lettuce to grow well, it always got burned ends. Probably my nutrients.
I used 7 of them over each 2x4 spot (154 watts), so 28 total (616 watts) over a 4x8 table.
If i was just doing a 2x4 spot, i would have used more. maybe 9 of them. just so the outside edges would get light. as it was, i didn't use the outside NFT channels.
so my total cost per light was $5.54, the entire light project for the table was under $200. Now these aren't exactly super high end lights. They are cheap strips packaged to look like T5s. I think they are 2550 LM per light, so about 116lm/w not great, but not awful.
side note, the weird looking head in the early growth pictures (front row, left of middle) started its life out under a 3000k Vero 29 gen 7 cob array. It was short, wide and thick leaved. But it grew really quickly. It was also in coco gettting fed twice a day vs in an NFT channel always getting fed.
I never could get any kind of bib lettuce to grow well, it always got burned ends. Probably my nutrients.
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OLD MOTHER SATIVA
Well-Known Member
good job.. if you dig you may find
My brother has big Salinova lettuce heads that look gorgous ..
using china leds..we got 160 lm/w epi's..butthey were more
but some of the drivers seem to blow..and the seller went awol..lol
but the lights are cheap enough
take the covers off and almost double out put..
p's it took a long time for those 4.3 meg photos to open on slow dsl
i always resize mine to under a meg first
My brother has big Salinova lettuce heads that look gorgous ..
using china leds..we got 160 lm/w epi's..butthey were more
but some of the drivers seem to blow..and the seller went awol..lol
but the lights are cheap enough
take the covers off and almost double out put..
p's it took a long time for those 4.3 meg photos to open on slow dsl
i always resize mine to under a meg first
pinner420
Well-Known Member
Just spit balling here. So i drop a grip on cobs leds and i can grow 36 heads. Im really lost on the notion of a "quick ROI" ON wholesale lettuce. I still believe a 315 cmh would kill it in todays standards colosseum style. Although i fade in and out of these discussions i have yet to see for $ invested anything hold a candle to the 315. I love you guys so please be gentle on me anf my rant when you light me up!!
Hi all, I've been lurking about for a few weeks. I'm in a bit of a strange situation. My husband and his friend from work are trying to start a medium grow room. They actually grew tomatoes in the room over the summer, but it was definitely a fail(blurples). They now have someone interested in buying lettuce, so they want to grow lettuce.
A big obstacle here is that my husband has very little time to do any sort of research. His friend has tons of time, but as far as I can tell is not great at research. I've done my best to research lighting and lettuce growth, but I sort of slacked off because the friend doesn't take info from me very well. However, my husband said today that he is attempting to convince his friend that I should take over the grow room because I have done better research. So, I came back to this forum. Even though I am not a marijuana grower, I can see that you guys really have your stuff together - especially when it comes to growing indoors.
I have attempted to read through this entire forum in order to determine what my best course of action should be, but I must say that after 20+ pages my mind is numbed and I can't make sense of anything. I should also say that I have read a lot on a forum on this site as well as on the autoflower network about using retail LED bulbs as grow lights. Our budget was basically blown on constructing the room, equipment and a big stack of blurples. So, I am going to have to start with the retail bulbs. At this point I am being asked to design a setup with the retail lights and get some sprouts going.
I would appreciate any advice that you guys can give me. Right now I would probably put the LED bulbs (with the diffuser popped off) about 2 feet above the sprouts/plants...I'm not quite sure about how densely I would configure the bulbs. I know this is a big science experiment, and I will need to run a lot of tests before I find what works best for us. However, I would really like to have some success in the beginning in order to prove that the info that I've acquired is valid and I can be trusted to take on this project.
Also, I keep asking for a PAR meter, eventually I will get one, but for now I will just have to wing it when it comes to the light intensity.
A big obstacle here is that my husband has very little time to do any sort of research. His friend has tons of time, but as far as I can tell is not great at research. I've done my best to research lighting and lettuce growth, but I sort of slacked off because the friend doesn't take info from me very well. However, my husband said today that he is attempting to convince his friend that I should take over the grow room because I have done better research. So, I came back to this forum. Even though I am not a marijuana grower, I can see that you guys really have your stuff together - especially when it comes to growing indoors.
I have attempted to read through this entire forum in order to determine what my best course of action should be, but I must say that after 20+ pages my mind is numbed and I can't make sense of anything. I should also say that I have read a lot on a forum on this site as well as on the autoflower network about using retail LED bulbs as grow lights. Our budget was basically blown on constructing the room, equipment and a big stack of blurples. So, I am going to have to start with the retail bulbs. At this point I am being asked to design a setup with the retail lights and get some sprouts going.
I would appreciate any advice that you guys can give me. Right now I would probably put the LED bulbs (with the diffuser popped off) about 2 feet above the sprouts/plants...I'm not quite sure about how densely I would configure the bulbs. I know this is a big science experiment, and I will need to run a lot of tests before I find what works best for us. However, I would really like to have some success in the beginning in order to prove that the info that I've acquired is valid and I can be trusted to take on this project.
Also, I keep asking for a PAR meter, eventually I will get one, but for now I will just have to wing it when it comes to the light intensity.
OneHitDone
Well-Known Member
I would proceed in the following order personally.
#1 Test the Blurples you have and see if they will work for the varieties you are wanting to grow (zero $ additionally spent)
#2 T5 Fluorescent
#3 Thrive Biotech LED Strips to test side by side with the T5's
#4 DIY with LED Stips if you have the time to invest
I had ZERO success with making nice lettuce on standard bulbs (admittedly didn't invest much into it cause it is more expensive than DIY with Strips)
muleface
Well-Known Member
I've grown my fair share of lettuce. My thought would be NFT channels with integrated t5 led lights. The lights are DIRT cheap, and do a great job.
NFT Channels:
https://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/prod1;ft_hydroponic_supplies-ft_hydroponic_nft_channel_systems;pg110765.html
you willl need:
Channels
Channel lids with holes (1 3/
End caps
Lights:
T5 integrated 22w 6500k 4 foot lights
Over a 4x8 space, you will need about 18 of them. They are about 5 bucks each. Space them evenly.
Rockwool:
Each seed will need a rock wool cube, the 1 1/2 inch ones will wedge nicely into the holes
message me if you want a deep dive into this.
Standard t5 HO bulbs would work fine. However, they don't do a great job of directing light, so they are kind of wasteful.
I tried some burble lights, they did ok too, i really think the 6500k lights did better. But if you have burbles, perhaps using both might be good??? Hell, now that i say that, i might do the same thing. I have both as well.
muleface
Well-Known Member
you order 50 of them from alibaba, The price was 3.25 each, but you need plugs, those were 1.50 each. When it was all said and done, it was 185 in lights and 119 in shipping, so it worked out to $6.092 a unit.
The plugs were pretty crappy too, but they will do the job. You also need daisy chain connectors for when you jump from light to light. you can run 4-5 of them off 1 - 110v plug
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/High-Quality-T5-Integrated-LED-Tube_60715937751.html?spm=a2700.7724838.2017115.1.69b36e55pJbvia
I think they are a bit cheaper now too.
dh gate has them, but you need to buy 100 of them
https://www.dhgate.com/product/x100pcs-t5-1200mm-integrated-22w-led-tube/256907430.html#s1-0-1b;searl|1791377046
but they come 50 to a case, so i bet you could talk them into selling you 50.
if you've never used alibaba, its a huge pain in the ass. lots of email, wildly high shipping costs, you need to haggle, you can't usually just click and buy. DHgate is usually a bit more expensive, but you can just click and buy.
https://www.dhgate.com/product/x100pcs-t5-1200mm-integrated-22w-led-tube/256907430.html#s1-0-1b;searl|1791377046
As for growing lettuce, i would use 20 of them per 4x8. i said 18 earlier, but 20 would be better.
.
EDIT
actually dhgate has them in smaller quantities. Search for 1200mm t5, look for the 22 watt ones, or if you can get higher wattage get them. They come in 3 varities, 3000k, 4500k and 6000-6500k, get the clear covers, i pulled mine off, but if you are gonna keep them go clear.
https://www.dhgate.com/product/t5-1200mm-1-2m-integrated-22w-led-tube-lights/246213188.html#s1-4-1b;searl|1791377046
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