shaggy2dope
Active Member
+rep meharmon
"The majority of the LED's are 630nm and 660nm but this light also has 730nm infrared, 380 Ultraviolet, 425nm deep blue, 450nm blue and 12,000k Cree white chipsets."
From the BS site...
k, at 400W equiv. its ~1.7x difference, so 4x/1.7x ~= 2.4x better.240 = 400W is more like it.
Well, thought that quote will probably have some baggage, I have to say that blackstar has been the victim of much criticism. I started an LED vs HID grow journal, mentioned that I had a blackstar, mentioned the word "cree" and holy shit, you would think that I threw a brick through peoples windows (actually dunit was one of the level headed ones in that fiasco). I wasn't trying to say mine was better than this that or the next thing, I just mentioned that the blackstar had some crees. Long story short, I found out that my grow area was too cool for growing on just LEDs, mixed LED and HID, and I ended that thread.
Call me cheap but I work in sales for my actual job. I have worked in sales and marketing for a long time. The best comparison I can make for LEDs is nutrients. Sure, advanced nutrients works well, it just costs several hundred bucks for the whole set up. Plenty of people swear by it as they have acceptable results from it. They feel that they are paying for "higher quality and engineering" and that is just fine. Its their money. I use jacks classic nutrients, which costs me 20 bucks for the whole set up. (plus 4 bucks for blackstrap). I know enough about chemistry to tell you that ionic compounds are ionic compounds. One nitrate is not different from another nitrate, especially if the cation is the same (which they are). The NPK rations vary slightly, thats the only real difference. Same thing is on display here.
LEDs produce photons that dwell within certain wavelengths. As long as a diode produces X amount of photons, at Y wavelengths, at Z angle, there is no difference. My belief is that LED panel differences matter more to humans than they do to plants. A plant can't tell you that you use crees, it can just tell you if it is getting enough light at whatever wavelength needed. If a particular LED light, or diode does that, then who cares? The cheaper the better.
To sum it up, I am positive that 357 magnums and ISIS lights, as well as most other LEDS on the market, work more than fine. But I see a lot of "marketing" strategies that are meant to keep prices up without introducing much new functionally. There are a lot of people that are "affiliates" with certain suppliers, who are ho hum and open minded when it comes to LEDS and then boom, they buy one, and are shoving it down peoples throats. I don't know if they get paid, or get a discount, but whatever. All of that bakes into a higher cost, the affiliate programs, the advertising, the over indulgent websites, the unnecessary heat sinks, the adjustable nonsense, all of that is superfluous and the plant can't see any benefit from it. So why pay for it? Exactly.
My problem with kessils is that I want them to be less them 190 bucks. Other than that they are awesome.
My problem with 357's is that they only come in one wattage. That is kind of a strange strategy. also that 700$ price tag.
My problem with ISIS is that that are a touch pricey. If it wasn't for that 379$ price tag for 170W then I would own them.
My problem with blackstar is that they have two spectrum ratios: 1 totally geared for veg, 1 totally geared for flower. It is hard to use the flower for veg and veg for flower.
However, that lets you have the best possible energy expenditure for each stage. In veg you are wasting a shit load of red, in flower, blue. But if you are serious about growing, you know that you NEED to have different spectra for the best results.
Lets also not forget that the grow depends a lot on the grower too.
See the past 2 pages of info is why I like this thread +rep to all you man let's keep it goin.
On my next grow Ill be vegging with the blackstar flowering model...Ill be sure to post the results....If it doesnt work out too well I can just add a few cfl's, they worked great for me last time.....ill probably veg for a three week to a month....im just waiting on a few more of my clones to rootthank you hudson for saying like i woulda said it had i not been all fuxed up right now lol. Completely agree with what you said about those other panels, that is the whole reason i went with blackstar. Now that being said if you have ALOT of veg to do yea a flowering blackstar wont really get you by too much red spectrum i completely agree with hudson on that one. Hence why i still run t5's for my mothers. I only veg for a week or two at most on my table so the veg spectrum blackstar would have been a waste as would have any panels that have knobs for changing spectrum. They do the same things as hudson said but blackstar does it for half the price. I would use a 357 if it was given to me i would use an isis if it was given to me and be ecstatic with the results. But it wasnt given to me it was bought and i wont spend 700 bucks for someting that only matches my led doesnt blow it away.
is that two 240w panels ???
no that is not two 240w panels it has the led's layed out in a different pattern on the 500w panels.On my next grow Ill be vegging with the blackstar flowering model...Ill be sure to post the results....If it doesnt work out too well I can just add a few cfl's, they worked great for me last time.....ill probably veg for a three week to a month....im just waiting on a few more of my clones to root
did you call or email.. every time i call Gotham i talk to a sean, who is Victor??just bought it victor gave me a deal man free shipping and 5 bucks off not bad at all... so far a total of 540 watts in my 3x5 grow area hopefully i get some decent yields ....
www.growledhydro.com Spectra LED lights are pretty high quality and come with a nice 5 year warranty. The new 2011 models (not depicted on the website which needs updating) come with fail safe tech so that even if an LED light goes out in under its 50,000 hour lifespan it won't take out the whole row/or column its in. Here is a link to pics and specs of the new 2011 models. You could get a great 240w panel for $600 http://www.420magazine.com/forums/journals-progress/132192-irish-boys-480w-720w-grow-led-hydro-land-clovers-49.html these things will veg and flower great, I'm going to be getting two of the 240s myself come the 4th of Feb.Anyone that has a blackstar. How long have you had it and how long do you think it will last?? i want to get two of their 240w panels but if the leds start crappin out on me then i'm fucked. I just can't get over the price. Usually IMO cheap shit brakes. But my wallet only goes about $800 deep. And i have to rig up a DWC and get nutes and knickknacks. So fuck it. Guess I'll have to take the leap of faith. Thanx for all the info. Now i got to wait another two weeks to get my check and then I'll be able to start a journal to put down some more evidence that leds work. Sorry for having to put up with me. Now I'ma go get baked and see if i can hack this PS3.. MUCH LOVE!
www.growledhydro.com Spectra LED lights are pretty high quality and come with a nice 5 year warranty. The new 2011 models (not depicted on the website which needs updating) come with fail safe tech so that even if an LED light goes out in under its 50,000 hour lifespan it won't take out the whole row/or column its in. Here is a link to pics and specs of the new 2011 models. You could get a great 240w panel for $600 http://www.420magazine.com/forums/journals-progress/132192-irish-boys-480w-720w-grow-led-hydro-land-clovers-49.html these things will veg and flower great, I'm going to be getting two of the 240s myself come the 4th of Feb.
Irishboy and others have grown some great stuff with their lights. Irishboy even got plant of the month last year with one of these LED lights, and I believe he is the first and only person over there to have won plant of the month with an LED panel! The only downside to ordering from Mike is that it will take up to 2 weeks for him to get it shipped because he is swamped with orders and getting them filled out.