Hi all, how's it going?
I just decided to join to site after already having a question answered while browsing through. Thanks Hick and Alienbate and all the others who contributed to the various LED discussions. I'm new to indoor growing but as kids in Oregon we always used to go hike around a plant a secret plant or three. About two and a half month's ago I decided to test out those weak-*** 13.8 watt LED square panels being sold on ebay. I also (thankfully) bought a well constructed LED panel from someone else later on that uses much more powerful LED's (one of the Cree models I believe). From the beginning I doubted the ability of the LED panels to take plants all the way through flowering, but I wanted to see because I'm all about saving energy. Any way, I started with 10 feminized mazar seeds in an attempt to do an LED/T5 grow, using eight of the 13.8 watt panels and 1 T5. Four of the panels are flat situated around the T5 on a board while the other two hang down on opposite sides creating a three sided LED box. If i had a digital camera I'd show pictures, but its currently broken. Long story short, the LED panels just don't put off enough any where near enough light to grow marijane. Growth started to slow after vegetative growth really began, and the six female plants I kept under the square panels still stand only about 12 inches tall and look kind of spindly (though root growth is still vigorous, I guess i should add that i'm growing organic-hydro using Roots Budda Bloom, Roots Oregonism, and Roots Extreme Serene). The two other girls I put under the stronger LEDs about a month ago picked up growth much faster, and have bushed out significantly. The idea was to make these into my mothers, though still after two and a half months, they only have around 6-8 strong branches that could be used as cuttlings. I'm going to keep these two going under the LED because they are still growing well. As for the other six, they are ready to be flowered but I know these dinky little panels can't do it. I just now bought much higher quality LED panels using Cree lights and constructed by a company called procyon. They are in the mail now, but I've still decided i'm just going to use these better panels to supplement a 400 Watt HPS. I don't believe any LED's on the market under 600 dollars are strong enough to flower with. The 13.8 panels being sold all over ebay are a waste of your time and money. One thing should be added however, all eight panels, the fans, and the T5 raised my power bill around $12 only. The new, more powerful light i mentioned earlier hardly uses any more electricity but i believe it will work to keep small, what mel thomas describes as "bonsai mothers." I believe the powerful cree lights on the market now are cost effective for vegetative growth, but most likely will disappoint during flowering unless used as a supplement to HPS/HID. I may keep one going all LED, we'll see. I'll keep you all updated, maybe add some thoughts to other LED strains on this site later. Feel free to ask me any questions or provide any thoughtful criticism. Thanks and hello again.
I just decided to join to site after already having a question answered while browsing through. Thanks Hick and Alienbate and all the others who contributed to the various LED discussions. I'm new to indoor growing but as kids in Oregon we always used to go hike around a plant a secret plant or three. About two and a half month's ago I decided to test out those weak-*** 13.8 watt LED square panels being sold on ebay. I also (thankfully) bought a well constructed LED panel from someone else later on that uses much more powerful LED's (one of the Cree models I believe). From the beginning I doubted the ability of the LED panels to take plants all the way through flowering, but I wanted to see because I'm all about saving energy. Any way, I started with 10 feminized mazar seeds in an attempt to do an LED/T5 grow, using eight of the 13.8 watt panels and 1 T5. Four of the panels are flat situated around the T5 on a board while the other two hang down on opposite sides creating a three sided LED box. If i had a digital camera I'd show pictures, but its currently broken. Long story short, the LED panels just don't put off enough any where near enough light to grow marijane. Growth started to slow after vegetative growth really began, and the six female plants I kept under the square panels still stand only about 12 inches tall and look kind of spindly (though root growth is still vigorous, I guess i should add that i'm growing organic-hydro using Roots Budda Bloom, Roots Oregonism, and Roots Extreme Serene). The two other girls I put under the stronger LEDs about a month ago picked up growth much faster, and have bushed out significantly. The idea was to make these into my mothers, though still after two and a half months, they only have around 6-8 strong branches that could be used as cuttlings. I'm going to keep these two going under the LED because they are still growing well. As for the other six, they are ready to be flowered but I know these dinky little panels can't do it. I just now bought much higher quality LED panels using Cree lights and constructed by a company called procyon. They are in the mail now, but I've still decided i'm just going to use these better panels to supplement a 400 Watt HPS. I don't believe any LED's on the market under 600 dollars are strong enough to flower with. The 13.8 panels being sold all over ebay are a waste of your time and money. One thing should be added however, all eight panels, the fans, and the T5 raised my power bill around $12 only. The new, more powerful light i mentioned earlier hardly uses any more electricity but i believe it will work to keep small, what mel thomas describes as "bonsai mothers." I believe the powerful cree lights on the market now are cost effective for vegetative growth, but most likely will disappoint during flowering unless used as a supplement to HPS/HID. I may keep one going all LED, we'll see. I'll keep you all updated, maybe add some thoughts to other LED strains on this site later. Feel free to ask me any questions or provide any thoughtful criticism. Thanks and hello again.
