Bridelux Thrive - Finally an LED Spectrum worth a Sh⇧T!!

Many know that my relationship with the performance of led systems has been a rocky one. I am happy to report some feedback for those looking to get it right the first time and have growth characteristics that they will be happy with coming from outdoor or HID / Fluorescent lights.

Bridgelux Thrive 98 CRI are a totally viable all in one package solution for growing plants!
Just look at these beautiful SPD's :




Now for the current system I have implemented in my 4x8 veg area -
I went with 16 1120mm (46ish inches) 5K Thrive strips. I also went a bit unconventional on my driver approach as my initial intent was to have the ability to add mono diodes to really fine tune / research spectrums.
System starts with a Coralux Storm controller and is attached to a driver board I put together with a 48V Meanwell Power Supply and 5 Coralux 4 driver LDD Boards. I am currently using 4 of the boards with 4 700ma LDD drivers on each wired to an independent channel on the controller so that I can adjust light output on each 1/4 of the grow space. Each 700ma LDD driver is running 1 1120mm strip.
The 5th driver board is split for channels 5&6 on the controller should I decide to test UV and Far Red independently at a later date





Now for some of the growth that I am seeing under such a FuLL and BROAD Spectrum!

finally one tries the thrives, also like that you went for the 5000K to have the "sun" spectrum.
curious to see how they will bud under this spectrum, so far, myself ncluded, no one had the balls for it .
looking healthy, any way to measure PPFD? as its simply a huge factor too if not even the bigger one.

cobshopgrow said:

finally one tries the thrives, also like that you went for the 5000K to have the "sun" spectrum.
curious to see how they will bud under this spectrum, so far, myself ncluded, no one had the balls for it .
looking healthy, any way to measure PPFD? as its simply a huge factor too if not even the bigger one.

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I have 6 3500K and 2 5000K Thrives in route to build a flowering rig for a 2x4 so will see how they perform very soon.
Yes, I have a PhotoBio Par meter in hand

I went 5K for multiple reasons with the wide swing into Far - Red being a major one

Is that growth better, in your opinion, than you've seen under other LED spectrum?

My criteria for vigour in the growth phase is short internodal distance, thick stems, and rapid growth, big fan leaves etc. I don't see anything in these pictures which is any better than what I'm seeing under my mostly reds

DukeFluke said:

Is that growth better, in your opinion, than you've seen under other LED spectrum?

My criteria for vigour in the growth phase is short internodal distance, thick stems, and rapid growth, big fan leaves etc. I don't see anything in these pictures which is any better than what I'm seeing under my mostly reds

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Mostly reds arent supported or promoted by the majority of light manufacturers anymore. Blurple grows good lettuce though

Boatguy said:

Mostly reds arent supported or promoted by the majority of light manufacturers anymore. Blurple grows good lettuce though

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Sorry, I mean 2700/3000k. The flower end of the spectrum. Not actual red diodes

@OneHitDone is always pushing something different and objecting to the consensus. Makes for good discussion

No doubt. The question I'm asking though is still relevant. If the growth is any better with a fuller spectrum?

Reason I'm posing the question is because there are a lot of teething troubles with LED which some people associate with spectrum. The issues are more heat and humidity related in my experience.

DukeFluke said:

No doubt. The question I'm asking though is still relevant. If the growth is any better with a fuller spectrum?

Reason I'm posing the question is because there are a lot of teething troubles with LED which some people associate with spectrum. The issues are more heat and humidity related in my experience.

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First question I would ask is - If you plant a Cannabis clone or seedling on the north side of your house in the shade or in a cool coastal climate does it automatically develop a Cal-Mag deficiency?

OneHitDone said:

First question I would ask is - If you plant a Cannabis clone or seedling on the north side of your house in the shade or in a cool coastal climate does it automatically develop a Cal-Mag deficiency?

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No it will not because their no such thing as a Cal-Mag deficiency.

@Rocket Soul check it! someone finally rocking the Thrives!

Can't wait to see how these do, I've been so tempted but price has been holding me back.

Those plants look super happy so far

Haha I posted this in another thread where an agricultural college reported that magnesium actually increases flower/vegetable rot. However the study was done with peppers and tomatoes. But yeah I wish more people would quit believing the marketing myths.


I am interested to see the results of your tests. I’ve always loved LEDs but never took the time to build my own system.

The Dawg said:

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I highlight that!
... Thrives... for growchambers.... 140-150lm/W....
Its 2021..... and he grows back with efficiency of the HPS.... oh dear

What dont you understand with the term "human centric lighing"?
They are especially good for tweaking human response in our brainery for our circadian clock, to not make you wake all night, still not make you sleepy during the day with illumination from them.

How comes people think they are creat for plants? Because of the CRI... thats so

Did you know that adding 405nm, 430nm and 660nm to your 80 CRI increases the CRI up to nearly 100?
Did you know that CRI is in reference to inascendant blubs 100 for lower 5000k whitelights not the real sky?
Did you know that the Thrives have less that 50% efficiency?

I leave it with the questions and forget this thread. Such a pity so many people just wasting they time with lamp construction that can be considered as useless. The Thrives for plants are a shot in the oven... some people are so into CRI, not understanding what it really means to plants... NOTHING... the spectrum must be valued in detail... and efficacy and overall spectrum is fare more important than high CRI of the WW chips....

80 CRIs + high effcient extra monochromatic (hybrid LED mode) is the near future for growlamps until CM with the monochromatic green and yellow finally jumps higher, then we can completely drop the phosphorcoated chips... but this, this thrives, are so much ineffecient, nobody wants to use them for grow.

You can have the same spectrum... +25% more efficiency, just my mixing the spectrum yourself with more efficient WW and some monos!

This is just wasting energy for no reason!

CheGueVapo said:

I highlight that!
... Thrives... for growchambers.... 140-150lm/W....
Its 2021..... and he grows back with efficiency of the HPS.... oh dear

What dont you understand with the term "human centric lighing"?
They are especially good for tweaking human response in our brainery for our circadian clock, to not make you wake all night, still not make you sleepy during the day with illumination from them.

How comes people think they are creat for plants? Because of the CRI... thats so

Did you know that adding 405nm, 430nm and 660nm to your 80 CRI increases the CRI up to nearly 100?
Did you know that CRI is in reference to inascendant blubs 100 for lower 5000k whitelights not the real sky?
Did you know that the Thrives have less that 50% efficiency?

I leave it with the questions and forget this thread. Such a pity so many people just wasting they time with lamp construction that can be considered as useless. The Thrives for plants are a shot in the oven... some people are so into CRI, not understanding what it really means to plants... NOTHING... the spectrum must be valued in detail... and efficacy and overall spectrum is fare more important than high CRI of the WW chips....

80 CRIs + high effcient extra monochromatic (hybrid LED mode) is the near future for growlamps until CM with the monochromatic green and yellow finally jumps higher, then we can completely drop the phosphorcoated chips... but this, this thrives, are so much ineffecient, nobody wants to use them for grow.

You can have the same spectrum... +25% more efficiency, just my mixing the spectrum yourself with more efficient WW and some monos!

This is just wasting energy for no reason!

Click to expand...

Glad we have someone on board that really knows their shit. Which is it Homie? Are Lumens for Humans or are they your golden measure for grow light efficiency? I agree "CRI" meh.... Look at the Spd.
The area that draws me most to led is ppfd distribution and controllability via dimming etc.

The Dawg said:

No it will not because their no such thing as a Cal-Mag deficiency.

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Point being - temperature and humidity being low or out of "ideal range" do not cause nutrient deficiencies with a complete electromagnetic spectrum lighting up the atmosphere

I won't be digging very deep looking for images of this test but here are 3 spectrums I tested over lettuce from seed.

Bios T5 LED replacement tubes


Waveform Lighting Film Grade 6500K Strip




Walmart Great Value Blurple Par Bulb



The results were quite interesting and first impressions are not always representative of what you get once the plants are grown full term.




Both the Blurple and the Bios 4000K white produced plants more compact in height with a thicker leaf texture than the Waveform 6500K 95CRI strip.
Thick compact (Not natural when compared to a sun grown plant) is not a trait I am interested in with my food crops.
The positive results of the Waveform strip is what led me to pulling the trigger on the Thrive Strips

OneHitDone said:

Point being - temperature and humidity being low or out of "ideal range" do not cause nutrient deficiencies with a complete electromagnetic spectrum lighting up the atmosphere

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Point being led's nor hid's cause nutrient deficiencies. Breeders are known for using different micro nutrients to enhance flavors and taste. Now lets go back in time to the late 90's when the Original White Widow with the Blue Widow soon followed after.to which both of these strains were crossed with everything under the sun. Anyway it was said that what really enhance the taste and flavor was magnesium at 3x the strength. Back then if I ran a white widow or a blueberry crossed strain I had to use .1/2ml of Mag Amp per gallon now with the Black Domina crossed strains I ran I used 1/8ml per gallon. Oh and this was when I was using my 400 watt Cmh yes before led's brother so now you know why I dont get deficiencies using led's .

Lmao "Electromagnetic Spectrum" good try however I do like your style however like I said good try Lmao Peace And Bacon Grease

The Dawg said:

Point being led's nor hid's cause nutrient deficiencies. Breeders are known for using different micro nutrients to enhance flavors and taste. Now lets go back in time to the late 90's when the Original White Widow with the Blue Widow soon followed after.to which both of these strains were crossed with everything under the sun. Anyway it was said that what really enhance the taste and flavor was magnesium at 3x the strength. Back then if I ran a white widow or a blueberry crossed strain I had to use .1/2ml of Mag Amp per gallon now with the Black Domina crossed strains I ran I used 1/8ml per gallon. Oh and this was when I was using my 400 watt Cmh yes before led's brother so now you know why I dont get deficiencies using led's .

Lmao "Electromagnetic Spectrum" good try however I do like your style however like I said good try Lmao Peace And Bacon Grease

Click to expand...

The Dawg said:

No it will not because their no such thing as a Cal-Mag deficiency.

Click to expand...

Why do you then get Cal-Mag deficiency, or what ever you want to call it?

2x4 frame is ready for the Thrive strips when they arrive. Gonna be wall to wall coverage in here