spectrum selection for a custom built led grow light

Mangokeke

Member
I am going to be ordering this led panel from china in the next day of two and will be having it custom built for me.

http://www.cidly.com/html/en/led-lights-1125-detail.html.

Just wondering what the best spectrum would be for both vegging AND flowering auto fems under this light would be? Another member of the forum pointed me towards this product and the following spectrum per spot or orb.

5 Red 660nm (90 degree)
3 Red 650-670nm (90 degree)
2 Red 630-640nm (90 degree)
1 Orange 610-615nm (90 degree)
1 Blue 450-470nm (90 degree)
1 Blue 420-430nm (90 degree)
1 White 10,000K (90 degree)
1 White 2700K (90 degree)


It was suggested that I should possibly consider switching one of the reds with either another blue 450nm or a white 6500k. Could anyone please share some incite on this?

Here is the link to my other thread.
https://www.rollitup.org/led-other-lighting/539357-these-led-lights-better.html
 

IlovePlants

Well-Known Member
I think that you could replace all of your Blue leds out for White Kelvin leds. I don't know if Cidly would reduce the number of leds per module, but 10,000k and 6500k have a lot of blue in them. https://www.rollitup.org/led-other-lighting/538173-cheapo-diy-chinese-led-grow-4.html#post7633830

His thread has a lot of useful information about Full spectrum Led lighting, but in general most white lighting is a blue led diode coated in phosphorus to force some of the blue light into other nanometer wavelengths. I really like your mix of lighting and I'm sure that it would do well set up as is, I just personally like having white lights in because of the benifits to the other photopigments that lie in the plant cell membrane, as well as making it easier for the human eye to pick up on deficiencies and diseases.
Best of Luck,
ILovePlants
 

FranJan

Well-Known Member
If you want to hear another opinion Mangokeke, I would ditch the 2700s right off the bat. I think they are redundant in that setup with all the red that you're already pushing . I had some 2700s in my flowering tent and didn't feel they were doing anything helpful with all the red I already had in the room. ILovePlants is right about the white Phosphor based LEDs replacing your blues, though I would go with just 10,000K and 4500Ks for the blue and extra spectrums, but you really need to check the spectral outputs of the LEDs. And if you want to use that rig for flowering and vegging add some Far Red diodes to help with finishing and phytochrome production. Get some 730s especially with all that 660 you got goin on, but you can always add the Far Red separately which can open up a whole new aspect of growing to you. Good Luck and Happy Growing!
 

Mangokeke

Member
Wow, awesome reply's here. Although.. I'm getting pretty confused now D:
I have been reading a lot and quite a few people have mentioned that I should be adding 6500Ks, I'm just wondering why you have suggested I use 4500Ks?

I think I will drop the 2700K due to already having so much red in use. I was wondering if the reds I have up there would be the best to use. I saw that someone on another forum had chosen to use 2 Red 620-630nm in place of 2 of the 660nm and their module looked more like this..

3 Red 660nm
3 Red 650-670nm
2 Red 630-640nm
2 Red 620-630nm
1 Orange 610-615nm
2 Blue 450-470nm
1 Blue 420-430nm
1 White 6000K

could someone please explain why this person may have done their reds like this and weather this setup is better or worse than the one in my original post. I'm finding it hard to understand which wavelengths would be the best to use for both flowering and vegging under the same light and all the conflicting information is making it difficult for me to make a final decision.

Are you guys suggesting that I completely drop the blue lights all together and go for something like this?

5 Red 660nm
3 Red 650-670nm
2 Red 630-640nm
1 Orange 610-615nm
2 White 10,000K
2 White 6500k

This just worries me a little because I thought it was important to have 450-470nm and 420-430nm blues and now I'm not sure how these compare to the kelvins

I read that is is not a good idea to use IR during veg and also that there would be a loss in wattage if I were to add them to led anyway because the IR diodes are driven at .7 watts and the other diodes are driven at 2.3 watts. Is IR completely necessary? I realize that it helps to supplement flowering but can I live without IR for now? Because It's going to be a problem for me.

If anyone could just write one out for me it would be awesome.
 

FranJan

Well-Known Member
Hey Mangokeke, in my opinion choosing a LED configuration is as much a belief system as a science right now. You've got a lot people using different panels, with different configurations and they're having solid grows. So who's right? Some people look at other grows and see what that person is using or just copy some company's configuration. It's a tough call right now to say what is the best or even to say what you absolutely need spectrum wise, so look around and see who's using what. And you must be careful selecting blue LEDs because to me it seems blues high output can cause photo-biological stresses and don't match up to the output of the red diodes on most of the cheaper panels. A great way of balancing that output is to use blue based white diodes. Plus you'll gain extra spectrum from the output of the phosphors used. This is why it is important to get the spectral output data from the manufacturer to see if their white LEDs are in the proper spectrum and to see what other spectrums are they peaking at. And I've been told that 3500K-5500K have great light absorption for cannabis great lumens/watts and the spectrums produced should cover the green and yellow spectrums that some growers like nowadays. But at the end of the day it's you money and your decision.

And I believe Far Red combined with red is great for germinating and root development during vegging and it seems from what I've been reading that cannabis is a plant that likes FR/IR. Every panel should have some kind of Far Red to help with finishing flowering, phytocyte production, or to help get the Emerson Effect going.

But notice how i said the word "believe" :).
 

Mangokeke

Member
Hey Franjan, That was very helpful, thanks for clearing a few things up for me. I'm getting pretty overwhelmed, it's good to know that there is no one best configuration. I Guess I'm just looking for something that is proven to work and will at the very least, produce yields worthy of my time. The idea of buying lights that don't end up growing my plants because they are of the wrong spectrum scares the shit of me. Maybe I will just imitate the configuration that the blackstar chrome is using. I have heard good things and it is apparently the exact same unit as the Apollo 4. As for the 4500s, I think I will do a little more research and find out what has been working for other people before deciding whether I should be using them or not.
 
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