First LED grow! Help! Weird growth

xBELLSPROUTx

Well-Known Member
A1A05E66-A6D8-44F2-9EA0-0E57532B4C9D.jpeg What goin on fam! So been growing for about a year and a half now and have always used CFLs lights. ( old grows in profile) I recently picked up a 600w full spectrum LED and plan on using this light the whole time and pick another one up in flower. My concern is I have weird growth... never grown like this under my CFLs and the seeds arethe same kind, big bud. The leaves look kind mangled.. any help would be appreciated!!!
 

pulpoinspace

Well-Known Member
which specific light are you using?

is 600 the name or the true power draw?

how close to your seedlings is your light?
 

xBELLSPROUTx

Well-Known Member
I’m not sure the brand one of Amazon picks... 600w power with 180 draw, at the moment I have it about a foot away and with just the veg switch on. Also my tent is 80 degrees with 20 rh tryin to get that up atm.
 
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pulpoinspace

Well-Known Member
i would try moving it further away. a lot of times with these led panels you want em like 30"+ during the seedling stage, then like 24" during veg, and 18" during flower.
 

xBELLSPROUTx

Well-Known Member
i would try moving it further away. a lot of times with these led panels you want em like 30"+ during the seedling stage, then like 24" during veg, and 18" during flower.
lift light up to at least 2 feet, 3 if you have room
Dang really, that far apart, I’m so used to being close with the CFLs. So I’ll move them up, when should I put full spectrum on, flower? Are 600w enough?
 

pulpoinspace

Well-Known Member
Dang really, that far apart, I’m so used to being close with the CFLs. So I’ll move them up, when should I put full spectrum on, flower? Are 600w enough?
in my experience,

keep them at 30" while they are seedlings, until you see vegetative growth, i.e. full fan leaves then you can move the light to 24"
then when you switch the light to 12/12 you can flip both switches on. and when you see bud sites start to form you can try moving the light closer like 18" but with those purple LEDs you will get top bleaching if you move it much closer than that.

as far as enough light, remember that you have 180w, not 600w. this is why a lot of growers dislike LED companies for this misleading marketing practice.

180w of LED is enough to flower about 6 square feet, so assuming your grow space is around 2'x3' or 2.5'x2.5', you should be fine. any larger than that and you'll be lacking a bit of power.
 

xBELLSPROUTx

Well-Known Member
in my experience,

keep them at 30" while they are seedlings, until you see vegetative growth, i.e. full fan leaves then you can move the light to 24"
then when you switch the light to 12/12 you can flip both switches on. and when you see bud sites start to form you can try moving the light closer like 18" but with those purple LEDs you will get top bleaching if you move it much closer than that.

as far as enough light, remember that you have 180w, not 600w. this is why a lot of growers dislike LED companies for this misleading marketing practice.

180w of LED is enough to flower about 6 square feet, so assuming your grow space is around 2'x3' or 2.5'x2.5', you should be fine. any larger than that and you'll be lacking a bit of power.
With that being said, am I better growing with my cfl since it’s only 180 Watts? I had about 22 bulbs, 18 100w using 23, and 4 150w pullin like 30,000 lumens altogether the led pulls 52,000 ... I have read a lot of hype with leds.... better yield cooler space less power...if I go led I’m giving up power for a cool less power taking space it seems? Why say 600w?
 

maxlev

Well-Known Member
I have no experience with CFL, but they seem good for delicate seedlings.

Some LED`s deserve the hype, but most do not.
When a light that uses 180 watts is marketed as 600 watts it is code for RUN AWAY.
The good manufacturers do not need to exaggerate.

I started indoors 18 yrs ago using glass bulb & ballast metal halide, then a cheap & nasty no name china LED and now have the real deal HLG QB288V2 quantum boards.

Watch this honest comparison based on efficiency using an Apogee SQ500 Quantum Sensor
click on "show more" to see the results list.

 

xBELLSPROUTx

Well-Known Member
in my experience,

keep them at 30" while they are seedlings, until you see vegetative growth, i.e. full fan leaves then you can move the light to 24"
then when you switch the light to 12/12 you can flip both switches on. and when you see bud sites start to form you can try moving the light closer like 18" but with those purple LEDs you will get top bleaching if you move it much closer than that.

as far as enough light, remember that you have 180w, not 600w. this is why a lot of growers dislike LED companies for this misleading marketing practice.

180w of LED is enough to flower about 6 square feet, so assuming your grow space is around 2'x3' or 2.5'x2.5', you should be fine. any larger than that and you'll be lacking a bit of power.
I have no experience with CFL, but they seem good for delicate seedlings.

Some LED`s deserve the hype, but most do not.
When a light that uses 180 watts is marketed as 600 watts it is code for RUN AWAY.
The good manufacturers do not need to exaggerate.

I started indoors 18 yrs ago using glass bulb & ballast metal halide, then a cheap & nasty no name china LED and now have the real deal HLG QB288V2 quantum boards.

Watch this honest comparison based on efficiency using an Apogee SQ500 Quantum Sensor
click on "show more" to see the results list.

dang, now I don’t know if I made a good move hahaha.... my led book says it’s 600w... I looked online and it says draws 180+. I’m deff gona watch that video, should I run 24 hours through veg with the led and put both veg and bloom on?
 

pulpoinspace

Well-Known Member
Why say 600w?
what some LED manufacturers claim is that because they're using specialized spectrum of all red and blues, that their lights emit only usable light to the plant, coupled with being more efficient, they claim to be equivalent to much higher wattages of HID light. there is kind of some truth to this, but not nearly as much as they claim. they say 600w purely to get people to buy the light. and it works. don't feel bad it worked on a lot of us at some point.

With that being said, am I better growing with my cfl since it’s only 180 Watts? I had about 22 bulbs, 18 100w using 23, and 4 150w
Its tough to say, but I think going from 450 real watts of CFL to 180 real watts of LED would be a step down. But why not use both. Set up some of your cfls to supplement the LED until you can get a more powerful and more efficient full spectrum LED such as the QB288 boards that was mentioned above. You wouldn't need to use all of them, just try to get yourself to 35-40 real watts per square foot for flower
 

pulpoinspace

Well-Known Member
dang, now I don’t know if I made a good move hahaha.... my led book says it’s 600w... I looked online and it says draws 180+. I’m deff gona watch that video, should I run 24 hours through veg with the led and put both veg and bloom on?
If you tell us the manufacturer or anything about the diodes in the LED you have, someone will answer that. but with LED you generally get what you pay for. so if it was cheap, it's probably cheap. but there are also expensive lights that use old tech so you gotta be kind of careful. also i would not run the light 24/0 in veg. i would do as the manufacturer suggests. which is probably 24" veg only switch 18/6 in veg, and 18" both switches 12/12 in flower. that is how i had my best successes when i was using a cheap purple LED.
 

xBELLSPROUTx

Well-Known Member
If you tell us the manufacturer or anything about the diodes in the LED you have, someone will answer that. but with LED you generally get what you pay for. so if it was cheap, it's probably cheap. but there are also expensive lights that use old tech so you gotta be kind of careful. also i would not run the light 24/0 in veg. i would do as the manufacturer suggests. which is probably 24" veg only switch 18/6 in veg, and 18" both switches 12/12 in flower. that is how i had my best successes when i was using a cheap purple LED.
The brand is AEJSLOK 600W LED Grow Light, was on amazon.. I know it’s got 2 chips. And I was thinkin puttin both in, the main reason I got the led is heat management and All the reason and stuff I have seen people like led for smaller grow, also heard yeild is better. Those CFLs stack heat and last row I had lots of heat and light stress... really didn’t Wana have to deal with more intake outtake. My space isn’t to big it’s like 4x3
 

maxlev

Well-Known Member
get an infrared thermometer, the cheap ones work good enough.
Once the seedling recovers from being scorched & grows more leaves you can set the height of light by measuring leaf temp. Keep it less than 27C 80F

The china lights do work, just not as well as the good stuff.
Leave the "bloom" switch off until they are ready to flower

They build them cheap by buying (very) old stock components in bulk for sod all.
 

pulpoinspace

Well-Known Member
https://www.amazon.com/AEJSLOK-Reflector-Spectrum-Hydroponic-Greenhouse/dp/B07DPCCQL1?th=1

this light, correct?

So, for a 4'x3', this light is pretty underpowered. for 12 square feet you would want at least 400 real watts of full spectrum LED. For a true quality LED of that size you're looking at $300-400 for DIY and closer to $600 or more to buy a fixture.

http://timbergrowlights.com/model-48sams/ is an example of a really nice grow light that would fit your area perfectly.

having said that, i have had success with lights similar to yours. some people here will tell you to "throw that thing in the garbage right now" but i disagree with that. i've grown sticky and dense lil nuggies with lights like those. BUT, i was growing with a 260w blurple in a 3x3. You're growing with a 180w blurple in a 4x3. You might be okay in veg, but I would def try and return the light for a bigger/better one or supplement it with some of the cfls when you get into flower.
 
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xBELLSPROUTx

Well-Known Member
https://www.amazon.com/AEJSLOK-Reflector-Spectrum-Hydroponic-Greenhouse/dp/B07DPCCQL1?th=1

this light, correct?

So, for a 4'x3', this light is pretty underpowered. for 12 square feet you would want at least 400 real watts of full spectrum LED. For a true quality LED of that size you're looking at $300-400 for DIY and closer to $600 or more to buy a fixture.

http://timbergrowlights.com/model-48sams/ is an example of a really nice grow light that would fit your area perfectly.

having said that, i have had success with lights similar to yours. some people here will tell you to "throw that thing in the garbage right now" but i disagree with that. i've grown sticky and dense lil nuggies with lights like those. BUT, i was growing with a 260w blurple in a 3x3. You're growing with a 180w blurple in a 4x3. You might be okay in veg, but I would def try and return the light for a bigger/better one or supplement it with some of the cfls when you get into flower.
B6CFB27C-0569-4E17-9CB3-55B086230BF7.jpeg 58B96AEC-49AC-411E-841A-388660037884.jpeg this is what I’m used to with my CFLs, if I can get close I’m happy atm.. using both cfl and the led. Wish I woulda knew that that 600 w was bs.. guess I’ll just combine my 450 with the 180 to get around 600 true watts and see what happens....May not also be a 3X4 may be 3x3 smaller it’s more a closet I got just keep lights under it
 
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pulpoinspace

Well-Known Member
yeah i think that will work well. hang the led 18"-24" directly above and then supplement it from above and the sides with the cfls. probably don't need all 600 watts. remember 40 watts per square foot of canopy.

looks good!
 

xBELLSPROUTx

Well-Known Member
yeah i think that will work well. hang the led 18"-24" directly above and then supplement it from above and the sides with the cfls. probably don't need all 600 watts. remember 40 watts per square foot of canopy.

looks good!
true I was just trying to max the light to add yeild. Also Wana keep that power bill somewhat down.. I’m hope for a noticeable improvement, till I can move and get where I can get hps lights and a better vent system.
 
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