DiY LED - Cree XPE XTE XML2 - Luxeon ES - Oslon SSL

Yes it seems that the 450nm (at 20% in my case) is causing that response. There is also a noticeable increase in trichomes and terpenes. I am guesssing here but it seems like the anthocyanins are either a defensive response or simply the plant requires the blue photons to express this phenotype.

So you would say them getting purple is a good Thing?

I suspect yes. Here is the same exact cutting of Buddha Tahoe OG fem under HPS vs under LED with 450nm blues:

Nice. Im Really glad to hear that, i was so worried. But one question remains -is it gain through pain as In decreased overall yield or simply a nice led bonus feature?
also it seems to replace uv lights for more trichrome production. What do You think?

Blue photons drive photosynthesis very well and deep blue LEDs are the most efficient we have available so I expect that there is no negative consequence to yield. If anything 450nm should increase the yield and potentially increase cannabinoids so it is a win win.

I have experimented with UVB reptile fluoros and ultimately decided that it rapidly matures trichomes. I prefer bright trichs rather than brown trichs so I scrapped the UVB. UVB also increases the complexity of the grow setup and the light itself is a very inefficient use of electricity. That is my take on it but I know there are growers here that like to use it and I say whatever floats their boat is good

Getting ready to order all my material, this should be fun.
I can get a 4x4 foot sheet of 1/6 aluminum for less than 200 dollars. That should work well in panels to mount my leds and even the power supply to.
Any idea off the top of your head that you would change from the op. I found some leds but if you know of a place that you swear by let me know.
Thanks again for the thread

Hey supra..since adding royal and cool blue I've got a few fox tails and looser structure on the tops. For me blues are a no go with lots of whites in light. I can't say I notice more trichs either, actually less. The way the tops formed the last time it's hard to improve on the white and red setup. Looks like the whites got more blue than I thought they had..

i kinda like UVB so far. Call me crazy but I kinda like the way some of the trichs amber up. The weed is definitely not less stony..can't say of course it's leaps and bounds better....but my last batch laid my ass out a few times. For me it's a keeper

note: all testing done with no notebooks or controls while extremely high

cant wait to see the cree cobs in action. Hopefully they take leds to the next level

Hey [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Supra, where do you buy your leds?[/FONT]

Supra... kick ass avatar!

Thanks Scotch, Buddha Tahoe OG shes a beauty but not as much flavour as the Kandy Kush.

Positivity said:

Hey supra..since adding royal and cool blue I've got a few fox tails and looser structure on the tops. For me blues are a no go with lots of whites in light. I can't say I notice more trichs either, actually less. The way the tops formed the last time it's hard to improve on the white and red setup. Looks like the whites got more blue than I thought they had..

Click to expand...

I am with you in disliking foxtails that create looser buds and delay finishing. I have been trying to figure out what causes it but I was experiencing it in rooms with HPS. Years ago I experienced it when I reduced my blue and increased my whites but that may have been coincidental. Whatever it is, a goal of mine is to figure it out and reduce it. Here are my suspicions:

-Heat in the canopy
-Overfert
-Wrong type of ferts (N)
-Light leaks
-underwatering/overwatering (anything that causes root die off and regrowth).

Positivity said:

i kinda like UVB so far. Call me crazy but I kinda like the way some of the trichs amber up. The weed is definitely not less stony..can't say of course it's leaps and bounds better....but my last batch laid my ass out a few times. For me it's a keeper

Click to expand...

I am glad it is working for you, I love the way we can customize our weed experience to suit our taste! I am hopeful for the all Warm White COBs but if all else fails, they are a nice step up from my XTE warm whites. I will just mix the COBs with the deep reds and blue if necessary.

Thestickyicky you can find out more here DIY LED 220W Cree

Cree XT-E warm white R3 - Cutter $3.25
Cree XT-E royal blue Q04 - LEDGroupBuy $3.25
Cree XP-E red P3 - LEDGroupBuy $4
Cree XM-L2 aliexpress, fasttech or cutter
Cree CXA3070 - digikey
Luxeon ES royal blue MR3 - $3 Steve's LEDs
Luxeon ES deep red EX6 - $3.40 Steves LEDs

Thank you again, im waiting on my cash to come back then im building some myself.
I was actually going to bug you with a pm asking exactly what you posted above.
Can you tell me how many of which one and what drivers you used?

For each 6" X 10" heatsink I used (2) 700mA drivers. One driver for the red string and one for the white/blue string.

Red String
(6) Cree XPE or XPE2 630nm P3 bin
(6) Luxeon ES deep red EX6 bin
(4) Oslon SSL80 hyper red 3T bin

White/Blue string:
(8 ) Cree XTE 3000K R5 bin
(3) Luxeon ES deep blue M4R bin

Of course this ratio does not have to be exact. The Oslons hyper reds and Luxeon ES deep reds are interchangeable.

Again, thank you .
I cant wait to get my electric bill down.

SupraSPL said:

For each 6" X 10" heatsink I used (2) 700mA drivers. One driver for the red string and one for the white/blue string.

Red String
(6) Cree XPE or XPE2 630nm P3 bin
(6) Luxeon ES deep red EX6 bin
(4) Oslon SSL80 hyper red 3T bin

White/Blue string:
(8 ) Cree XTE 3000K R5 bin
(3) Luxeon ES deep blue M4R bin

Of course this ratio does not have to be exact. The Oslons hyper reds and Luxeon ES deep reds are interchangeable.

Click to expand...

Please feel free to ask away. The list I gave was what I used, but if I were to start from scratch I would swap out the XTEs and go with XML2 3000K T5 bin (cutter). I think aliexpress has a good price on XML2 3000K T4s. For vegging I would probably go with COBs or XML2 4200K T6 (fasttech).

SupraSPL said:

For each 6" X 10" heatsink I used (2) 700mA drivers. One driver for the red string and one for the white/blue string.

Red String
(6) Cree XPE or XPE2 630nm P3 bin
(6) Luxeon ES deep red EX6 bin
(4) Oslon SSL80 hyper red 3T bin

White/Blue string:
(8 ) Cree XTE 3000K R5 bin
(3) Luxeon ES deep blue M4R bin

Of course this ratio does not have to be exact. The Oslons hyper reds and Luxeon ES deep reds are interchangeable.

Click to expand...

What led you to choose the spectrum that you have? Any specific effects that you're shooting for?

Supra, truly impressive stuff you are doing here. I started reading the thread from the start, and was like wow these guys are way out here in the future in 2014, and then i saw it was actually a year old, and then knew... I was a moron. Lol no but really, this is something else, Rep for an awesome informative thread, Im just used to seeing all the trolls and the trolling and this is a relief.

bicit, I start based on KNNAs recommendation of 15-20% blue (PAR WATTS) for flowering a build off that. I aim for half red and half deep red, and then mix in some white to round it out. I take into consideration that warm white includes some red and also some blue. With all those things in mind I separate them into 2 strings, both at about 700mA. A red/deep red string and a white/blue string. My goal is for the strings to both fall within a vF range that makes sense for a pair of cheap constant current drivers.

As far as the effects go, I notice that the LED buds are denser, frostier, stinkier, faster and have more color than HPS buds. On the other hand, I am not saying that the HPS buds are horrible and I have noticed that an HPS/LED combo works great (until I can get around to replacing all the HPS).


*Thnx starcarft, are you thinking about a diy project?

SupraSPL said:

*Thnx starcarft, are you thinking about a diy project?

Click to expand...

Do it... Do it...!

SupraSPL said:

bicit, I start based on KNNAs recommendation of 15-20% blue (PAR WATTS) for flowering a build off that. I aim for half red and half deep red, and then mix in some white to round it out. I take into consideration that warm white includes some red and also some blue. With all those things in mind I separate them into 2 strings, both at about 700mA. A red/deep red string and a white/blue string. My goal is for the strings to both fall within a vF range that makes sense for a pair of cheap constant current drivers.

As far as the effects go, I notice that the LED buds are denser, frostier, stinkier, faster and have more color than HPS buds. On the other hand, I am not saying that the HPS buds are horrible and I have noticed that an HPS/LED combo works great (until I can get around to replacing all the HPS).

Click to expand...

Any guess on an appropriate ratio to use with some of the new COB's?