LED Light Users. Please Click Here!

[xesvuli420]

I am creating this forum for a place where REAL, SEASONED, LED users can come, and help people who are wanting to get the truth about LED's. PLEASE, NO SALESMEN for LED company's dishing out biased opinions, to sale a light. Please! Lets keep it fair, honest, and un-biased so people can decide if LED's are what they need individually, and if so, what type.

Lets be honest, there are a lot of opinions out there towards this type of lighting. Sadly most of the NEGATIVE opinions are from non-LED users, and most of the POSITIVE opinions are from LED Salesmen.

If this technology is really worth trying out, then we need to talk about it. Discuss it with each other. Ask questions, Answer questions. LED's are quiet expensive, and the initial investment may scare people off, so hopefully this will be the place to come for the TRUTH, not sales gimmicks, no "Old Schoolers" dissing the thought of anything besides what they use. So please, If you have personally used a LED product, no matter what kind, we really want your opinion!

I really hope this thread explodes with information, results, and advice, so that people willing to try something new, can find quality products, and hopefully before long we can establish (if any!) what LED lights work, and which ones are complete junk. Thank you for any and all participation on your part.

So lets do this like this, when you come in to this forum, please share your results PERSONALLY. Tell us the details of your LED light (Brand, Wattage, Type, Homemade, Etc) Links to the exact unit you are using would be great so people could check them out, and maybe purchase. Most importantly your honest opinion of your results, things you liked, things you didn't, if you would recommend this to someone you know, and anything else you want to share about your particular unit.

 

[xesvuli420]

Oh, lol I forgot to tell you about me. I personally will be investing in some type of LED due to 0 ventilation for an HPS, once I make a decision on which on is not crap. I will be using it for havest on 4-6 plants in a 12"X33" section. The LED I like the most is here...
http://eloofaimports.com/magento/index.php/ufo-grow-lights/90w-ufo-grow-light-triband.html?SID=26408364bca7e910b88dedee74e99bf3
If you guys feel this LED is not crap, please let me know and I will be trying one out.
here is a video of same LED...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvow9bPZMpk

What do you expierienced guys think of this model? I can get a good deal on it, HOWEVER, If its junk, then the deal isn't good enough! Thanks guys!

 

[Treeth]

Allright then you want a little truth? You wanna know why a 600 watt hps is STILL all you need to get?

-This game is all about wattage, everyone.

, and physics being what it is, those watts are staying in the room. you burn it, its heat.

And there is no such thing as a low wattage grow light, much less one able to function as a flowering light.

You know how many watts it takes to flower!?

Go and look at a 600 watt HPS.

So, get over your fear of taking control of the environmental variables. you have to, in order to grow correctly, to grow good, and use MORE POWER.

I fucking love jeremy clarkson. its just a simple maxim of life.

 

[xesvuli420]

a 600 watt hps is still all you really need to get though.

Why did you feel the need to post? 1. Your not a LED user, 2. You didn't even read the part where i said "I personally will be investing in some type of LED due to 0 ventilation for an HPS"

Please, its always harped on that HPS lights are superior to LEDs at the moment, however not everyone can use an HPS light. This thread is for those users. So kindly, if you have nothing to ad towards the topic at hand, please leave the space for those who do, and take your comment to a thread where HPS lights are an option.
No disrespect intended man, but seriously that comment was un-neccesary

 

[xesvuli420]

Allright then you want a little truth? You wanna know why a 600 watt hps is STILL all you need to get?

-This game is all about wattage, everyone.

, and physics being what it is, those watts are staying in the room. you burn it, its heat.

And there is no such thing as a low wattage grow light, much less one able to function as a flowering light.

You know how many watts it takes to flower!?

Go and look at a 600 watt HPS.

So, get over your fear of taking control of the environmental variables. you have to, in order to grow correctly, to grow good, and use MORE POWER.

I fucking love jeremy clarkson. its just a simple maxim of life.

Again, a wasted post. back to the topic at hand.

 

[The Kush Guy]

I, like you, was all excited about LEDs, no heat issues etc. I purchased two of the Blue panels, like these for a little test before I jumped in with both feet.
http://cgi.ebay.com/All-RED-225-LED-Grow-Light-Panel-for-BUDDING-FLOWERING_W0QQitemZ110297225224QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item19ae3a1808&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262

And tried to use them for Vegging some ladies, I very quickly abandoned them all together and after doing some heavy research into LEDs vs HPS the claims made by the LED sales guys didnt really add up. There are some fabulous articles about growing with LEDs, guys not growing bud but other plants that did some serious scientific research in their own labs to determine LEDs have uses but not by themselves for growing.
Couple that with a little test of my own between a 4 small plants, 2 under CFLs and 2 under LEDs, same strain, same cloning etc. After about 2-3 weeks the CFL girls were doing well, the LED girls were not. I abandoned my test and started working out heating issues with CFLs as my longer term solution for veg.

Now the light you are talking about is equivalent to a 300-400 watt HPS and we are talking flower not veg, so you may find significantly different results, I just found for the money, it was better to go the tried and true method, I have a 600 HPS in a home made cool tube and it works great for about the same price as the LED. But of course I have venting and filtering to deal with which matches the cost of about two of the LEDs (which they claim is about 600-800 HPS watts).

Dont get me wrong, you can grow bud under LEDs, just not as dense or potent bud under LEDs as other options. At least that was the conclusion to my research.

To your credit, it did remind me about my LEDs and I am going to go dig them up and add them to a small Veg chamber I have with CFLS already in it. Spent the money, might as well get whatever I can out of the lights, even as a supplement.

Are you sure ventalation isnt possible for you?

I'd love to hear how the LED works out for you if thats the way you go. Happy growing.

TKG

 

[xesvuli420]

Are you sure ventalation isnt possible for you?

Yes unfortunatly I am.
You mentioned you used blue LEDs right?

If so, no wonder they didn't do good for flowering, from all the research Ive done you need a red/blue unit with like 90red 10blue for flowering

 

[The Kush Guy]

Yes, blue for Veg. Red for Flowering.

You might want to check this other guys thread I ran across, he has some 180watt triband, infrared, weed transmogrifier some company he deals with sold him.
https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/225594-180w-jumbo-ufo-grow-progress.html

take a look at post 27, see the HPS vs LED, the buds on the HPS are more dense and thicker, the LED buds are airy and scrawny. Which is what the reading I did suggested would be the outcome. And he has a $700 retail LED light.

TKG

 

[littlegrower2004]

ive grown with LED lights and still currently am so if you need answers ill try my best to answer from what i have experienced. or if anyone wants to buy two LED UFOs that have been used for a couple seasons, just over a year old, i can hook u up.

 

[mindphuk]

Look into the tri-band lighting systems and ones that use the 5 watt Cree diodes. It's all about intensity and those .5w and 1w LEDs just don't pump out enough photons/sec. Remember to increase photosynthesis, increase the number of photons that fall on the leaves. A lot of low power LEDs is just spreading the area that the light will fall upon. To increase the intensity, you need to increase the power to the diodes.

 

[Treeth]

fuck your spam little grower!!!!

"i'm a bullet proof tiger!"

- CREE is the good shit. YOU NEED to be running nearly a WHOLE amp per diode to get the power down to match a 600 W HPS.

 

[SupraSPL]

From what reviews I have read, the high powered LEDs will cause leaf twist if they are hung to low. Considering that, Im not so sure intensity is the problem. I suspect there are too many action spectrum peaks that are being neglected. MJ needs UVB, UVA, 425nm, 460nm, 480nm, 615 nm, 640nm, 660nm and supposedly IR wavelengths as well. 660nm is among the most important ones for flowering and HPS lamps definitely don't have peaks there. LED is definitely worth exploring. HPS leaves room for improvement IMO.

 

[LiquidLumen]

"and physics being what it is, those watts are staying in the room. you burn it, its heat."


Sorry chief, thermodynamics says that the electrical energy (measured in Watts) going into the light fixture comes out in two forms: heat AND light- that's why certain lights are more efficient and superior that others- because for the same amount of energy consumed they produce more light and less heat...please refrain from citing scientific principles if you don't know what you're talking about

 

[CSI Stickyicky]

Ok, a few things i've learned from LED research and use. Personally, i use a "Tri-band 90w UFO" from ebay. There are many manufacturers of UFOs, and not all are the same. The ones hightimes reveiwed were from HIDhut, and cost over 500. I got mine for 147 delivered. I use a 32 cubic foot grow tent, with an exhaust rated at 80 CFM, passive intake. With just the UFO, the temps stay around 80f. I also use CFLs. The temp can go up to 95! The plants still grow everyday, but the leafs do show signs of overheating. So far im vegging. For Flowering, i would like to add either some uvb and ir, or a low power HPS (70 to 250) but we'll see. I should be able to flower with the UFO and a few CFLs.

So the cons are that it still gets pretty warm in there, Im saving up for a better fan. It doesnt put out uvb, either, wondering how that will affect trichome production. Also, the plants transpire way less water, so i have to water them way less than most books/reliable sources say you have to. Also, the penetration isnt the greatest. the top leaves are lit up pretty well, but the lower leaves miss out. (part of the reason why i also use CFLs) It takes a little trial and error to find the right height. i'd say its best when not closer than 6 inches from light, the multiple colors need space to spread out and mix.

The pros include way less heat output and less energy used. I really do like the UFO so far, there has been no stretching, and the plants are healthy. If it doesnt work for flowering, im sure i could grow tomatoes all year inside. I think LEDs are the future of growing. Id like to see somebody mix LEDs into one of sunshine systems moving lights. (i saw them at the local hydro shop. picture a ceiling fan with lights instead of blades.)

So to the dude who started this thread, i know what you would like to hear is "LEDs will totally work no problem" but it seems they still have some kinks to work out. If you want to try it out, i say go for it! But just know, that you will need some sort of ventilation, no matter what light you use. Keep watching my grow journal to see if flowering works, im going to switch the light cycle this month.

 

[littlegrower2004]

fuck your spam little grower!!!!

"i'm a bullet proof tiger!"

- CREE is the good shit. YOU NEED to be running nearly a WHOLE amp per diode to get the power down to match a 600 W HPS.

hahahah what did i do this time???

 

[Mindmelted]

I would like to know who said led's do not produce heat.
I bought 1 of the 90 watt ufo and put in a small grow tent.
The temps got up to 92f with that ufo.

 

[littlegrower2004]

Ok, a few things i've learned from LED research and use. Personally, i use a "Tri-band 90w UFO" from ebay. There are many manufacturers of UFOs, and not all are the same. The ones hightimes reveiwed were from HIDhut, and cost over 500. I got mine for 147 delivered. I use a 32 cubic foot grow tent, with an exhaust rated at 80 CFM, passive intake. With just the UFO, the temps stay around 80f. I also use CFLs. The temp can go up to 95! The plants still grow everyday, but the leafs do show signs of overheating. So far im vegging. For Flowering, i would like to add either some uvb and ir, or a low power HPS (70 to 250) but we'll see. I should be able to flower with the UFO and a few CFLs.

So the cons are that it still gets pretty warm in there, Im saving up for a better fan. It doesnt put out uvb, either, wondering how that will affect trichome production. Also, the plants transpire way less water, so i have to water them way less than most books/reliable sources say you have to. Also, the penetration isnt the greatest. the top leaves are lit up pretty well, but the lower leaves miss out. (part of the reason why i also use CFLs) It takes a little trial and error to find the right height. i'd say its best when not closer than 6 inches from light, the multiple colors need space to spread out and mix.

The pros include way less heat output and less energy used. I really do like the UFO so far, there has been no stretching, and the plants are healthy. If it doesnt work for flowering, im sure i could grow tomatoes all year inside. I think LEDs are the future of growing. Id like to see somebody mix LEDs into one of sunshine systems moving lights. (i saw them at the local hydro shop. picture a ceiling fan with lights instead of blades.)

So to the dude who started this thread, i know what you would like to hear is "LEDs will totally work no problem" but it seems they still have some kinks to work out. If you want to try it out, i say go for it! But just know, that you will need some sort of ventilation, no matter what light you use. Keep watching my grow journal to see if flowering works, im going to switch the light cycle this month.

have you used HPS? from what i have seen comparing my grows with others that use HPS, is that the growth and stagger of the plants in LED is alot less and slower than HPS. i thought mine werent stretching but in all reality i just didnt know how short and stalky these things trully can be. i had a few trial and errors with these lights and one of the most important things is, like you said, they dont penetrate the canopy for shit. about the first 6 to 10 inchs are in good light but after that it gets fairly dark. when you go into flowering that makes a large problem unless you trim off a good majority of the lower growth. also the number of plants is something to take into account. with a large number i had very bad results due to bad root growth and just not enough power for anything over 6 plants. when i switched to 6 in bubbeponics is when i got the best results. but if you cant control the level of your plants as well then you will loose out on your final harvest. control your stretch in flower and im sure the mix of cfl wth the led with give you some decent results. i hope..

 

[Mindmelted]

Led's are not even close yet.
Yes i have tried one,not worth the time.

 

[Nocturn3]

"I personally will be investing in some type of LED due to 0 ventilation for an HPS"

Why not do the sensible thing, and invest in proper ventilation instead. It's not just there to keep the lights cool, it also provides fresh air for the plants, and is usually a prerequisite for odor control.

 

[Bullethead21]

LED's are blowing HID lighting away both in performance and power consumption.

They now make REAL 300W and 600W TRUE LED's that have 5 band spectrums that include UV and IR. ALL 5 bands of needed light spectrums are covered and can be controlled individually for different stages of growth ( e.g. veg, flower..ect...).

From the test already done, these LED's blows HPS out of the water. There is literally no comparison. The price for these lights are whacked right now in the 4 grand range.

You will see and hear about them soon enough. There are already a few video's out and some sites with test growers using them. so save the flameing...the proof is REAL!! Accecpt it or not.....LED is the future and as soon as some of these "slower" learning growers realize whats up they will be VERY happy to toss those HID's in the garbage.