LED FLOWERING & VEGATATIVE GROWTH light hights?

Heya Lads got a small panel and currently doing an experiment! just want to look at heights some experienced lads choose to go with thanks a heap! Ryan

12-14" veg
6-10" flower

With Advanced DS, veg at 18" and start flowering at 30" and let grow to around 20-22". Im sure most top-end brands should be similar.

somedude247 said:

With Advanced DS, veg at 18" and start flowering at 30" and let grow to around 20-22". Im sure most top-end brands should be similar.

Click to expand...

It really depends on the beam angle companies are using. 30 and 60 degree lenses can be too much for plants if they're too close. That's why most manufacturers recommendations are slightly different.

Beefbisquit said:

It really depends on the beam angle companies are using. 30 and 60 degree lenses can be too much for plants if they're too close. That's why most manufacturers recommendations are slightly different.

Click to expand...

I totally agree. I just dont have any experience with any other brands. Advanced uses 90 degree lens's, just FYI.

Degree angle and Watts<<< You can put 1Ws right up against the plants pretty much whereas as a low angle 3w will have to be kept a fair distance.

Cant wait until they get medium angle 5w Lots of coverage and big buds.

Noob question:

I understand that for heat reasons plants can't be too close to lights. Why, if temp range ok, can't plants be close to LEDs? That asked, is there a recommended general safe distance if you are not sure of your lights lens angles?

Thanks,
poppi

Any brand using 5 watters? I havent came across any yet.

yeh BLACKDOG 5W there is I own a 3W penetrator pro!

poppiweed said:

Noob question:

I understand that for heat reasons plants can't be too close to lights. Why, if temp range ok, can't plants be close to LEDs? That asked, is there a recommended general safe distance if you are not sure of your lights lens angles?

Thanks,
poppi

Click to expand...

I think the reason is that the most useful PAR distance, for 3w diodes anyways, is 20 or so inches. For some reason I dont yet understand, when they are too close you get smaller buds but super clusters of trichs. Maybe with the expansion of the light over a certain distance maximizes its PAR? The safe distance depends on the unit. A cheap chinese ufo may just be 6-10 inches but a top-end unit is 20-30 inches.

poppiweed said:

Noob question:

I understand that for heat reasons plants can't be too close to lights. Why, if temp range ok, can't plants be close to LEDs? That asked, is there a recommended general safe distance if you are not sure of your lights lens angles?

Thanks,
poppi

Click to expand...

The temperature and the intensity of the light are two very different things. If you're unsure of what type of LED's your light is using, I would suggest 12-16 inches away and adjust based on how the plants react.

thanks guys...I'll use the stand by trial and (hopefully not) error and see where I end up. This thread saved me from making a mistake as I was planning on keeping them very close.

somedude247 said:

Any brand using 5 watters? I havent came across any yet.

Click to expand...

haight solid state, 6 Watt, since 2009. Some other company like blackdog have 5watter now too

Yup, haight uses 6w diodes, very wide angle though so penetration isn't too great on their 90w and older 180w. Their new 180w looks cool though, uses 3w reds with a narrower beam to focus more on flowering.

Ok. So, if I keep my plants less than 36 inches, is it even worth it to use anything over 3w? I dont have an issue with penetration, my lower buds are just as dense as my colas. Im Advanced LED for now, but open-minded. Quality is number one!

you are havin ggood result with Advanced stricktly, no other lights? I have got the xtreme 3w 100W from advance about 2 weeks ago, looking forward to see if it`s giving some good result even though it`s low wattage. I am currently using it with a blackstar 240

somedude247 said:

Ok. So, if I keep my plants less than 36 inches, is it even worth it to use anything over 3w? I dont have an issue with penetration, my lower buds are just as dense as my colas. Im Advanced LED for now, but open-minded. Quality is number one!

Click to expand...

Yeah from the way I understand it a 3' plant will be properly lit if using 3w diodes driven to at least 1.5w each and either a mix of lenses or 90 degree lenses. I'll peruse your journal but that should be fine and the plants in your avatar look very healthy so probably nothing to worry about.

The nice thing about +5w diodes is that once they are available in a greater number of useful spectrums the light would be able to be used more like an HID. More powerful diodes with wider angle lenses will hopefully be able to give a larger footprint without sacrificing penetration power, saturation, or spectrum mixing. Once that is done and everything tuned correctly, LED lights will be more easily able to compete with current HID setups without requiring many alterations.

(Note that I am not speaking from experience on this, just my understanding of how the lights and plants function.)

Endur0xX said:

you are havin ggood result with Advanced stricktly, no other lights? I have got the xtreme 3w 100W from advance about 2 weeks ago, looking forward to see if it`s giving some good result even though it`s low wattage. I am currently using it with a blackstar 240

Click to expand...

Yep. One lonely 300w DS is ALL Im using. I do have a completely seperate room with a 600w hps in it, but thats getting replaced with another 300DS or two I have had the 300 DS in the room that the 600 hps is in, by itself, and got much better plant response and growth from the 300DS.

KawiZZR said:

Yeah from the way I understand it a 3' plant will be properly lit if using 3w diodes driven to at least 1.5w each and either a mix of lenses or 90 degree lenses. I'll peruse your journal but that should be fine and the plants in your avatar look very healthy so probably nothing to worry about.

The nice thing about +5w diodes is that once they are available in a greater number of useful spectrums the light would be able to be used more like an HID. More powerful diodes with wider angle lenses will hopefully be able to give a larger footprint without sacrificing penetration power, saturation, or spectrum mixing. Once that is done and everything tuned correctly, LED lights will be more easily able to compete with current HID setups without requiring many alterations.

(Note that I am not speaking from experience on this, just my understanding of how the lights and plants function.)

Click to expand...

Thats what I figured. Those plants in my avatar got chopped a couple months ago. I have my experience with LEDs and am mainly here to help spread knowledge. The grow in my sig was done using the Advanced 180w EF. I loved it! Sold it to a buddy who was very impressed and I got the new 300w DS.

somedude247 said:

Any brand using 5 watters? I havent came across any yet.

Click to expand...

Aside from black dog that was already mentioned haight solid state uses 5 and 6w diodes. They look odd and are the only brand I've seen that doesn't use fans to cool the diodes and the heat sink is actually exposed. Not sure about them cause I've never used them but have chatted with some folks who like them. Also if you want to drop $3,500 on a light (I wouldn't but hey if you're ballin ...) http://stealthgrow.com/products.htm#SG1250

This light uses a mix of different diode strengths and is the only one I've found employing single 50w diodes. I'm sure they're tuned way down to ensure longevity but are probably kicking out at least 20w of output power if not more. The problem (disclaimer not from first hand experience) - I was bullshitting with dude at my local hydro shop about leds. He said he was offered a demo model by stealth and used it for a couple grows. He said he noticed heat burns on the areas directly under the 50w diodes which made sense to me.