The truth on LEDs

[Growdude]

I grow in a closet, so heat buidup is a big, big issue. Currently, I've got a 400 Watt switchable light. I'm reluctant to add another HID light but am thinking about adding a UFO LED to the setup to increase the amount of light without increasing the amount of heat. Does that make sense?

I dont think its a good idea, The UFO is just going to block the HPS.
And side lighting just isnt as effective. For the cost use some CFL's for side lighting.

For the money I would spend it on a way to cool your closet, better fans, portable chiller ect.

 

[Lemmongrass]

hey i just ran across this randomly: hxxp://forum.grasscity.com/general-indoor-growing/341654-flowering-ufo-5wks.html

not trashin his work, but for 5wk flowering that sucks. baby veg dun look bad tho.

 

[blancolighter]

Great link man, really lets people know what to expect when flowering with UFOs. Looks liek this guy did all the nutes and everything right, its a beautiful looking plant, but you can see the lower leaves cant hold their shape and ther lower buds are way small from lack of canopy penetration. Those are some good pics to study the effects of LEDs for sure.

 

[homebrew420]

that is very informative, thank you for your contributions. THat helps me alot. Almost went out to spend the money on an LED system, but got a free 600w instead.

 

[Wiseguy_Chef]

so u can't buy replacement bulbs for a say UFO system??? u gotta get a whole nother sett up?

 

[Lemmongrass]

lol yea. wouldn't be worth the time soldering.

 

[mendo local]

LED's have been on the market for years. If they were the answer we would all know about it. Im not bashing but no matter how much lipstick you put on Martha Stewart shes not gonna be Pamela Anderson.

 

[houseoftreasure]

Mendo... this just made me chuckle

 

[marcnh]

LED's have been on the market for years. If they were the answer we would all know about it. Im not bashing but no matter how much lipstick you put on Martha Stewart shes not gonna be Pamela Anderson.

i knooooww...if they worked great then we all would have seen results by now.

 

[blancolighter]

LED's have been on the market for years. If they were the answer we would all know about it. Im not bashing but no matter how much lipstick you put on Martha Stewart shes not gonna be Pamela Anderson.

Martha is about 20 times hotter than Pam in my book, plus much more of a bad girl, I mean come on, who's done the prison time? And better yet, who's gonna cook me a nice meal? All Pam's gonna do is dig into my wallet to get a facelift correction surgeory.

Ha this is in no way a metaphor for LEDs, I just really do think Martha's hotter.

 

[Hick]

I just really do think Martha's hotter.

try more ventilation.....:confused2:...

 

[blancolighter]

:rofl:

 

[JBonez]

:rofl:

x2

 

[LassChance]

OOOPS!
Im sorry I asked about the UFO...I hadnt FOUND this most informative post when I asked my LED question. I apologise--I shoulda been more thorough in my perusal of the entire body of "LIGHT" posts.
This was MOST helpful.
Again, I apologise for asking. My bad.

LassChance

 

[blancolighter]

Dude, don't apologize for asking, questions are your best friend when growing MJ

 

[la9]

My problem with the current LED grow lights is they all use low wattage LED's and then claim to grow as well as a 400 or 600 watt HPS. They are no way close to the lumen out of an HPS light especially using 1/2 watt LED's. If you want to use LED's then you should at least be using the highest wattage LED's available to give you a chance at getting the brightness you would need. Here is a link with more information than you could imagine on LED setup, this guy built a light with high wattage LED's and did a good job with it, along with all the detail on what was used and the cost, along with plenty of pics. So if you want to grow with LED's you should consider building something similiar and quit spending money on the low wattage stuff. That is my opinion.

hXXp://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1587273[/URL]

 

[la9]

Still wondering if anyone has tried out the new LED lights that replace the 4 foot flourescent bulbs, If everyone is spending so much money on these UFO's I can't see why someone hasn't spent $80 for a 4 foot led bulb.

 

[blancolighter]

I haven't seen any of those with a good set of LEDs in em, but its been a bit since I looked. Got a link to check out? my t5 ballast just went out, so if it looks decent I might give er a shot...

 

[erwinsweeney]

I am using a California Nurseries 120 watt LED light. It incorporates 100-1.05 watt BridgeLux LED's. I am growing in soil inside of a 6X4X2' grow tent. The interior of the tent is made of reflective material. The plants are AK-48's and are about a month old. I too had given much thought to the light penetration issue. What I have done is to remove a majority of the large fan leaves, in order to allow more light to reach the lower canopy. As you can see in the pictures, I have not yet experienced the lower foliage problems that Blanco has experienced. I am not yet able to report on the end result, as this will be my first grow with this setup. In my opinion, everything has gone just fine so far, and the plants look great for being a month old and started from seed. This is a great thread, and I hope others will share their experience with this type of method. I will post more pictures as growth continues, so others can see the results.

 

[ivor]

great thread dude. just 2 inform u my m8 grew with led and i grew with white/warm white fluorescents and with same plants and started same time and mine produced twice as much yeild.we grew in different soil mixes mine 1/2 cow s**t 1/2 soil with worm castings at top and m8 grew from bio mix only maybe this made slight diff also???:watchplant: