Marijuana Bloom with 504W LED

[sguardians2]

I can't wait for LEDs to catch up with HID lighting, cause I am tired of the heat stress issues, which increase the cost of using HID lighting through having to purchasing ventilation systems and increasing electricity costs. The smart grower will be able to see the cost savings over time as more important than initial outlay costs. I will be watching this grow with great interest, and planning to invest ASAP, if the results are as expected.

Subscribed and + rep for the info.

 

[fat sam]

this is the first led grow thats got me thinking.....pm me a link to your company and ill pick up a pannel or 2.....very interesting

 

[M 4 MoJo]

LEDgirl, have you heard of adding a standard CFL bulb to your led system? I've heard this from a few different sources. I'm actually gonna be growing with a 120w led system myself next to a 600w HPS side by side in a 5' x 10' grow tent. Each system will be growing a 36"x42" aeroponic system.
Thanks for all your input.

 

[LEDGirl]

LEDgirl, have you heard of adding a standard CFL bulb to your led system? I've heard this from a few different sources. I'm actually gonna be growing with a 120w led system myself next to a 600w HPS side by side in a 5' x 10' grow tent. Each system will be growing a 36"x42" aeroponic system.
Thanks for all your input.

Instead of using CFL, there are white LED's in the lights to supplement the spectra that plants normally receive outside of simply red/blue. This eliminates the need for any secondary source for supplemental lighting.

So, you're running a 120W panel (is it the 112W LED or 119W LED?), over a 3' x 3.5' space? In my opinion, that's a very large area for the 120W design (generally only 16" x 8.5" in size). I hate to be a skeptic (as I don't know what light you're running), but I'm pretty certain your 600W HPS is going to blow the thing away if it's covering the same sized area. You'll probably get decent growth directly under the LED though... Just remember to keep the unit within 6" of your plants, for best results, as it's likely a 120 degree model.

 

[M 4 MoJo]

Instead of using CFL, there are white LED's in the lights to supplement the spectra that plants normally receive outside of simply red/blue. This eliminates the need for any secondary source for supplemental lighting.

So, you're running a 120W panel (is it the 112W LED or 119W LED?), over a 3' x 3.5' space? In my opinion, that's a very large area for the 120W design (generally only 16" x 8.5" in size). I hate to be a skeptic (as I don't know what light you're running), but I'm pretty certain your 600W HPS is going to blow the thing away if it's covering the same sized area. You'll probably get decent growth directly under the LED though... Just remember to keep the unit within 6" of your plants, for best results, as it's likely a 120 degree model.

My led light doesn't have any whites so that is why I am adding two CFL bulbs to that side of the room.
I don't know about the degrees though. I didn't know about this until I started reading your thread. I sent the seller of the lights with that question, but I prob won't have an answer til tomorrow. I was told by him that it should cover a 3'x3' area, so I know I was already pushing it a little bit. The seller said he has been working on his leds for 2 years too. He also said that there are alot of venders out there selling cheap led systems that are giving LEDs a bad name.

http://www.broponics.com/product.sc?productId=734&categoryId=9

Here is a link to the exact LED system I bought.

Thanks again for all your insight.

 

[LEDGirl]

Thanks for posting a link. The one thing I can say that is good about the light, is that it uses Edison Red LED's. Edison makes very good LED's, with high lumen values. The only downside is that Edison is a very small company, that is difficult to reach when you have a concern or need information from them (been trying now for quite a while). As far as their blues go, if they're using Edison already, it makes NO sense to use a Bridgelux LED. Edison makes higher lumen rated Blue vs Bridgelux, by quite a bit... I don't think their panel is 125W though, unless that's the total power including the fans, as Chinese MFR's use boards this size with either 112pcs or 119pcs LED. The bad part about the light, is that they're about as basic as the first models that came to market 3-4 years ago. They only use 1 blue (460nm) and 1 red (660nm), and that's all they give you. The blue is in between our peaks for marijuana, and the red only hits close to 1 of them. Remember, weed uses 439nm, 469nm, 643nm, and 667nm for photosynthesis. If it only gets half of this light, it will only carry out half of the photosynthetic process. You will definitely need to supplement their light with CFL, in order to get decent results from it. The CFL will help fill in the rest of the spectra that are missing from the LED light. Most-likely, they use 120 degree LED's, any narrower and they'd have a very difficult time achieving a 3' x 3' coverage area.

 

[M 4 MoJo]

LEDGirl, have you ever tried using a light mover to expand your coverage area? I don't know if LED systems work well on a mover. I'm considering doing this to my HPS system for flowering to cover my whole room so I don't have to double up on the lighting.

 

[DillWeed]

Ya, right now my veg garden has a 250W MH and 250W HPS over it, as I haven't had enough money to afford more LED's.

Wait, I thought you were part owner of your own LED lighting company?

 

[jats]

Wait, I thought you were part owner of your own LED lighting company? [/QUOTE

Even so ,,I'm sure someone still has to buy the led's and the powerful ones are expensive.. it is a expensive business developing new technology.....

 

[LEDGirl]

Wait, I thought you were part owner of your own LED lighting company?

Yes, that's true, but even I'm not made of money lol. Buying 12-16 units for your garden is an expensive procedure, even when you get wholesale pricing! Not to mention the amount of free test units we've sent out recently (3, 318W and 2, 126W, etc..) to Ed Rosenthal and some hydro stores. Like someone already pointed out, starting a business is an expensive task, and you tend to put your own needs last. That's why I just now filled up my bloom room with LED's, and why I've got the last units for my veg system on order. Very soon I will be operating a 100% LED garden.

 

[irishboy]

Yes, that's true, but even I'm not made of money lol. Buying 12-16 units for your garden is an expensive procedure, even when you get wholesale pricing! Not to mention the amount of free test units we've sent out recently (3, 318W and 2, 126W, etc..) to Ed Rosenthal and some hydro stores. Like someone already pointed out, starting a business is an expensive task, and you tend to put your own needs last. That's why I just now filled up my bloom room with LED's, and why I've got the last units for my veg system on order. Very soon I will be operating a 100% LED garden.

i got a free unit to test out.

 

[LEDGirl]

LEDGirl, have you ever tried using a light mover to expand your coverage area? I don't know if LED systems work well on a mover. I'm considering doing this to my HPS system for flowering to cover my whole room so I don't have to double up on the lighting.

I used a light mover a long time ago when I was running HID's. I found that leaving the lights in a constant position, and placing the plants under them as best I could, works better for me in terms of yield, vs moving the light and spreading my plants throughout a larger space. I haven't used a Light mover for LED, but keep in mind that when the light moves away, the light moves away. It will supply light to one set of plants, then go back to the other, leaving the set without light... I'm sure you could figure out some efficient way to use it with LED, but I prefer just hanging em.

As far as the spacing/coverage area, that's why the 126W panel is so large. If you go search for 120W panels (eBay or wherever), you'll see that they come with 3 cooling fans, and measure 16" x 8.5". With the lights I'm using, we spread the LED's out over a larger board, and then reduced the viewing angle, in order to achieve a more even, higher intensity coverage area with the 120 watts. The 126 panel measures 19" x 12.5", which is a lot bigger side-by-side than any other 120W panel.

 

["SICC"]

i love you LEDgirl

 

[LEDGirl]

i got a free unit to test out.

You're a special case, due to your tenacity on the forums, and the fact that I wanted to convert another ProSource user You already had the 180W, and you offered to test our units against it, so how could I refuse lol?

 

[irishboy]

You're a special case, due to your tenacity on the forums, and the fact that I wanted to convert another ProSource user You already had the 180W, and you offered to test our units against it, so how could I refuse lol?

i guess i was lucky i hade a light that u hated. i wont turn down a deal for a free light. shit i want to see the test for myself. its kinda hard to not belive somthing you can see for ur self in person.

 

[LEDGirl]

i guess i was lucky i hade a light that u hated. i wont turn down a deal for a free light. shit i want to see the test for myself. its kinda hard to not belive somthing you can see for ur self in person.

I know, and you're keeping me and everyone else anxious by not starting the test right away! It's all good though, you need to finish up your grow so you can have good smoke that lasts you through the next one

 

[irishboy]

I know, and you're keeping me and everyone else anxious by not starting the test right away! It's all good though, you need to finish up your grow so you can have good smoke that lasts you through the next one

trust me i want to harvest more then anyone els. i have no smoke and i need to medicate. i am very happy on the resin on my buds they should be some real good smoke.

 

[TechnoMage]

That 126 panel would fit real nice in my 36" x 20" cabinet. Looking forward to both Rosenthal's and irishboy's independent reports. If these are working as well as they seem to be, I'll definitely go this route instead of going with a 400w HPS.

As far as the spacing/coverage area, that's why the 126W panel is so large. If you go search for 120W panels (eBay or wherever), you'll see that they come with 3 cooling fans, and measure 16" x 8.5". With the lights I'm using, we spread the LED's out over a larger board, and then reduced the viewing angle, in order to achieve a more even, higher intensity coverage area with the 120 watts. The 126 panel measures 19" x 12.5", which is a lot bigger side-by-side than any other 120W panel.

 

[PalmDale Kush]

Wow LEDgirl seems like ur making a LED Movement congrats things are looking good

 

[LEDGirl]

Wow LEDgirl seems like ur making a LED Movement congrats things are looking good

It would be great if I contributed to a LED movement in this country. I'd feel accomplished knowing that people are having higher success with their grows (no more heat stress) because they came across something I read and decided to give it a try. A market shift to LED would also aid in the "green" movement, by reducing energy consumption to grow plants. It's an all around win-win for everyone. Just think of how much electricity we'd save worldwide if every indoor grower switched to LED... The more who switch, the lower the prices go, and the happier the consumer is lol. I'm sure at some point, more biotech and other research companies will also get involved in testing and development, possibly leading to even better ways of growing plants. But someone has to get the ball rolling

Anyhow, I'm just here to show my grow and my friend's grow, and to share as much of my knowledge with people as I can. I hope to be a positive influence in this community, and like it quite a bit here. If that leads to some kind of a movement, then awesome