LEDs in PC case?

Hey RIU, currently I'm in the middle of my first grow in a PC case about 17.5"x8"x18" and have been using 3-4 26W CFLs with decent results thus far. However, I've recently been looking into getting a LED system to replace the CFL... The Blackstar UFOs to be exact.

My questions now are would I be able to use either the 50W or the 90W UFO in my case in terms of height from the plant and be alright? I've read about plants getting bleached and whatnot from LEDs being too close.
My other question is, in regard to saving as much as I could, would the 90W be overkill? Or would the 50W be enough to fully flower a plant to harvest?


Any and all help is appreciated, as CFLs are nice and all... But with the tech coming around with LEDs I'd really like to give them a shot. I've seen very few PC LED grows through my months and months of lurking multiple forums and seeing people relating them to HPS seems like there's some potential there.

Thanks again!!

I have a BS 50w ufo - more like a 35w light when you plug it into a wattage meter. Get something bigger. It may be enough to flower one plant but you'll be better served buying a higher wattage light. Look for something with more than a 12 month warranty while you're at it. A lot of companies offer 3 year or better warranties on their LED lamps.

Being constrained to just a PC case for now, one plant is all I need. That being said, I've been skeptical about using just a 50W. I just wasn't sure if anything more would be useless for a single plant. In terms of a warranty, I was eyeballing the Pro-Grow 90W as well with a three year warranty http://hydroponicshut.com/pro-grow-90-watt-mother-keeper-led-ufo-grow-light-hydroponics-hut.html. The main deciding factors for me was the wattage of their chip sets and lens angle. PG being 1W with a 60* angle throughout, and the BS using 2W with angles from 60*-120*.

For reference, this is the BS UFO I'm referring too... http://www.ebay.com/itm/2012-100W-6Band-Lighthouse-Blackstar-2w-LED-Grow-Light-/290622447667?_trksid=p3284.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D21%26pmod%3D230728955476%26ps%3D54

Don't think a PG90 is fitting in a 8" wide PC case, your best bet is the 2w diode 100w Blackstar LED, tis' 7" in diameter.

Oh shit, you're right. Not sure how I over looked that the PG is a solid inch bigger. Sounds like the BS is the way to go. Should make for an interesting grow using just that, maybe a CFL or two, space permitting

I'd recommend adding a supplemental 42w/23w CFL 6500k in veg and 2700k in flowering, only one. That 100w is enough on its own to be honest for one plant, so what you're asking of the CFLs is the spectrum your LEDs cannot provide correct? In this sense, all you'd need is one CFL to give the plant the extra boost it needs, two may be overkill and may cause excessive heat.

But friend a 100w LED + CFL PC grow would be out of this world, you could potentially pull off oz dry of some top notch bud with proper techniques. Get a good short strain, biggest container you can get, and scrog the shit out of that plant!!

Heres my first grow going right now that is almost 4 weeks old. I have it under a 90w Illuminator LED light with 2 26w cfl's 6500K daylights on the side. She seems to be doing great under that light.

125cfl i had and it was more than enuf. got about half oz. from a russian rocket fuel. it was enuf for me. gunna do another rrf with 2 randon bag seeds. woooo!

I've compared blackstar to pro-grow leds. You really do get a lot more bang for your buck with hydro hut. Ask anyone in the LED lighting section that has used both brands. Don't get me wrong blackstars do work but they are poorly put together, are dishonest about total chipset wattage and total power draw, and only offer a 12 month warranty on their lamps. I put a PG 180 head to head with my buddy's BS 240. Hydro Hut's 180w unit is brighter. Just sayin ..

Or you could go to DX and buy some diodes and termal glue and drivers for the LEDS and make a DIY setup
I'm thinking of doing that my self It's pretty easy tbh.. And it'll cost you from 1$ per watt used (a bit more including the drivers)

I'd like to make my own, but the resources where I am are not very fitting for a DIY LED at the moment, unfortunately. I just figured having a UFO in a PC would be an awesome grow start to finish. Mostly, I wanted to make sure I wouldn't have anything to worry about space wise. I very much enjoy LST and feel like I could pull an oz out of my case. Perhaps after my current grow is finished I'll try. Any suggestions on a good strain? I'm not wanting to do anything with an auto strain as I like being able to control my veg times to maximize space.

Yeah if you got $$ no harm trying out that 100w BS in the pc. Strains for a pc grow i'd say short rider, any lowryder strain, any shortstuff seeds strain, and automatic hindu kush!!

I want to stay purely photoperiod, Id actually almost want to do something that some would consider very difficult to grow in a small space, just because I'm all about getting the most out of my grows.

Right now I have a single crystal seed (ww x nl) lst'd across a screen that runs over the entire bottom of my case. I feel something similar with an unlikely micro strain would be awesome.

hoss12781 said:

I've compared blackstar to pro-grow leds. You really do get a lot more bang for your buck with hydro hut. Ask anyone in the LED lighting section that has used both brands. Don't get me wrong blackstars do work but they are poorly put together, are dishonest about total chipset wattage and total power draw, and only offer a 12 month warranty on their lamps. I put a PG 180 head to head with my buddy's BS 240. Hydro Hut's 180w unit is brighter. Just sayin ..

Click to expand...

Trev - sorry for hijaking your thread a bit here...

Hi Hoss,

I am trying to get in touch with you but it seems as though I am unable to PM you (I am a new user here, perhaps this is restricted).

I am looking to pick you brains (specifically regarding your LED knowledge).

For reasons I dont want to elabourate in this forum I would prefer to have a conversation offline. Would that be possible?

Basically I fell into the PoS LED UFO trap (100% my fault, didn't research enough and jumped in before I should have) however this is also due to sourcing restrictions based on my location.

Perhaps you could PM me and we can find a suitable communication method that works for both.

Thanks guys - once again sorry to take the thread slightly off topic

whatevs