CFL & LED together ?

isomo

Member
would it be pointless to use an LED light?
cuz it seems to me the CFL lights cancel out the spectrum of the LED, turns the entire area to normal light..
in my case i dont think my 300 Watt LED has enough Red spectrum for Flower so im considering adding in 4 high powered CFL 2700k.
ive been looking all over so anyone know im tired of looking
 

crazymanny00

Active Member
depends how good your LED is really and whether it actuallys draws 300W. usually most LED's have a much more reds to blues since all people care about it flowering. i don't think the CFL's would 'cancel' out light, the more the better anyway.
 
This guy that owns a Hydro store where I am has many plants in the store that he grows with different light setups so you can see the results first hand. His pepper plants were using LED and CFL together. It seemed to work fine. LED is better for vegging than flowering so I would use the LED as the main light source and surround the underbrush with cfl's if they are not getting enough light at the bottom. I would use that setup myself but my LED's seem to be doing well enough for vegging.
 

isomo

Member
im at the end of my 3rd week in veg and my plants are growing so slow its irritating
their grown new leaves (small ones) but their still only about 1 1/2" tall any suggestions?
-i let the soil dry then water
-18/6 lighting
-light 12in away
-on one new leaves are purples looks badass but im sure its a phosphorus problem
-main stems are strong fan can hardly move them around
-lights been 12in away
i see other ppls on week 4 and their 10x bigger than mine
i have small plants :(
 

crazymanny00

Active Member
may not be a light problem... maybe you should try feeding nutes or better upload a picture so we can see if there is any other problems
 

isomo

Member
Not led but I add cfl to hps for side lights and add uvb at the end.
whats uvb??

@crazymanny00 - ive read a lot about giving nutes early im not sure if i should i think it'll make them look all ugly so i just add in fruit compost
they seem to love it. start of week 5 ill add nutes. ill try to add a few pictures later today
 

Coho

Well-Known Member
Uvb is uv . The THEORY is plants produce trichs to protect from it. 2nd trial. First plants increased about 15%. Reptile lights have it but ya gotta look for non heat ones. Not all the reptile lights are the same. Oh and protect your eyes if you get some.
 

GanjaGod420000

Well-Known Member
Man, I've said it before, and I'll say it again-as long as you are able to control your temps and your plants aren't getting burned from them, then the more lights, the better. The greater the lumen output, and the fuller the spectrum, the better your plants will do, period... So, although it is better to go with mh or cfl for supplemental lighting, you CAN use led's with hps, but I'd grab a mh or cfl first... Just keep your temperature where it needs to be, around 70-75 deg F, and with all of the other factors of a grow being up to par, or better(a nice thriving, living soil, proper watering and nutrient delivery, attention to any disease, mold, or pests, proper pruning techniques, especially during the early veg stages, proper pH balance, nice humidity levels, CO2 enriched environment, and just all-around tender, love, and care) you will have super-healthy plants that will love you, and give you some wonderful returns...
 

GanjaGod420000

Well-Known Member
I use mh and hps, and in the beginning(veg stages), I will use way more mh than hps, but as they mature, and especially when I switch to flowering, I will decrease the amount of mh, and increase the amount of hps, and then during the last two weeks or so, I will blast them with both-for the added uvb specs in my mh lamps... I believe it does help trich production, and that it is not some type of placebo effect... Just the same as added CO2 WILL in fact increase bud size, and thusly yields.
 

isomo

Member
I use mh and hps, and in the beginning(veg stages), I will use way more mh than hps, but as they mature, and especially when I switch to flowering, I will decrease the amount of mh, and increase the amount of hps, and then during the last two weeks or so, I will blast them with both-for the added uvb specs in my mh lamps... I believe it does help trich production, and that it is not some type of placebo effect... Just the same as added CO2 WILL in fact increase bud size, and thusly yields.
i hope ppl read what all you had to say thanks it's informative !
ill try those lights on my next grow and use them as you did
im having temp problems right now it was 87F once its high its hard to get back down
my new fan will be coming in this week so these temps problems are only for now
my temp changes a lot do you think this is making them grow slow? usually my temp is 72F-80F.
still blazin.
 

isomo

Member
yeah i ordered some lights ill keep this thread updated till harvest or at least try to
right now its 81F good thing i ordered duct fan should be here soon right now all i got is a rotating fan blowing air out and another for air in
 
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