# Led Grow lights



## Ekoostik_Hookah (Nov 12, 2007)

Hey guys.
 Im new to this forum. i cam over from rollitup.org.
 anyways. i recently read about LED Grow lights. that give off very little heat. they seem great, they dont take much power to use, and they last forever.       "Recommended useful lifetime of  *50,000 hours* for red lamps- the equivalent of burning a light for *18 hours a day, 365 days a year for  seven years and seven months*." that means you dont have to buy any more bulbs.

 anyways, im wondering if anyone else has heard of these, or used these lights before. if so, how were your results, was the light better than hps?

 any info about this product would be great. check out the link to where i might buy mine   http://www.ledgrowlight.co.uk/index.html


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## md.apothecary (Nov 12, 2007)

i would recommend the search button. I know you're a newbie here, but there are a LOT of journals and information on the LED and Cold Cathode grows.

Ironically enough, I was just reading a post on that site you frequent and was totally blown away by the ignorance on that site. 90% of the posts I read on LED lights and more specifically Cold Cathodes were people saying it wouldn't work for growing MJ, which is absolutely incorrect.

LEDs and CC do work, they do require MUCH less energy, and LEDs produce abot 99.8% LESS heat than a CFL. After 24hrs on, a LED is lukewarm to the touch.  

To me, spending $300 on lights for a good grow is more lucrative than spending $175 for a 400w HPS, PLUS $200+ on Venting for that HPS, plus new bulbs every few months because of bulb fade, plus monthly energy costs! 

look here
http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?p=171798


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## audix2359 (Nov 12, 2007)

I recently started a grow from seed with LED's.  It didn't get started very well with just using the LED's.  Not sure if the LED's I purchased are no good, the fact that I was going 12/12 from seed or something else but my plants just would not grow.

I've since added I think 9600 lumens of 6500K CFL light and the plants have really responded to it.

There are at least a few grows on this site using LED's and countless other LED grows on other sites; they do appear to work.  The jury is still certainly out on whether or not they produce as well as HID or even CFL lighting.


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## Ekoostik_Hookah (Nov 12, 2007)

I would assume that the LED's would Be better for Flowering, and that CFL's would be better to Vegg. your plant with.
  Unless you have blue LED lights along with your Red LED's, then you wouldnt really even need CFl's.

so audix, why were you starting your seedling on 12/12?  if it would of grown, it would of been one small, non-high yeilding plant. I do believe that you want to VeGG for a mounth to get the plants main size.

  also Thanks MD. apothecary, great info.

 also, does everyone out there Use LST yet?  i started using this method about 5 years ago, even before i read about LST.  i explained this method too other growers that i knew, and they said they would yeild more with a single cola plant. i said no fkin way. unless you have a badass SOG going.   anyways, ya im just wondering if the world is catching on to LST? or are people still growing one cola? i dont know why you wouldnt LST your plant???? its easy and effective.
    also, the FIM method works great!! " Fuk I missed" method that is


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## AlienBait (Nov 12, 2007)

Ekoostik_Hookah said:
			
		

> anyways, im wondering if anyone else has heard of these, or used these lights before. if so, how were your results, was the light better than hps?


We will know in a couple of weeks :hubba: but it looks like the HPS will win the day:

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18126
.



			
				Ekoostik_Hookah said:
			
		

> I would assume that the LED's would Be better for Flowering, and that CFL's would be better to Vegg. your plant with.
> Unless you have blue LED lights along with your Red LED's, then you wouldnt really even need CFl's.


I found the exact opposite. The LEDs seem to work pretty good for Veg and the HID and CFLs work better in Flower.  
.



			
				Ekoostik_Hookah said:
			
		

> also, does everyone out there Use LST yet?


 You might want to look around here some more.  There are lots of different growing methods including 16 oz cups and Shotglasses.  

I like LST.  

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13896


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## Ekoostik_Hookah (Nov 12, 2007)

AlienBait said:
			
		

> I found the exact opposite. The LEDs seem to work pretty good for Veg and the HID and CFLs work better in Flower.
> .



 thanks for the info sir alien,but i kinda find that hard to believe/understand. that a plant would do better with CFLs during flower.    
    since a plant needs more of a red light when in flower, and the red LEDs produce just that; and when a plant is in Vegg. it needs a white/blue light.  and the Hid would obviously be a better choice to flower with  rather than CfL or Led. 
 again thanks for your reply.


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## AlienBait (Nov 12, 2007)

Well, it's more than just red.  I am finding that other colors are also needed.  Since LEDs have esentially 1 frequency, you are missing some other colors that trigger different functions in the plant.  The manufacturers would have you believe that you only need the colors that chlorophyl will absorbe (red and blue) and fail to mention the plants other processes.  You can get away with just the red and blue during the vegging phase because you are just growing leaves and stems, but come flowering time you just need more variety.  I'm not sure what those other colors are or in what proportion they are needed, but I've grown with LEDs a couple time now and that is what I've found.  Perhaps CFLs with red LEDs added to the mix is the answer.

Have you actually seen any one flower with LEDs?  I've only seen one person have a comparable result to CFLs and HIDs and he wont put up a picture of his light so we can see what he is really using.  He is just telling us it is LEDs.  Perhaps he found the magic combination and just does not want to share.


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## Ekoostik_Hookah (Nov 12, 2007)

ya, im guessing that a Full Spectrum Led Grow light would cover the other colors that a plant would need.
 I like the idea of CFLs with red LEDs, i think i might go with that , insted of buying all the LED's i was going to need.
 No i have not seen anyone flower with LED's. but i would assume that the full spectrum, with a few more red LED lights might get someone through flowering.
 I just like the idea of LED because of the low heat factor, But CFL also has low heat, and with a fan; there isnt too much heat at all. so i guess i will do a CFL/LED grow; i will make a grow journal once i build my new grow room.
 Thanks for your guys help. any other tips would be great.


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## audix2359 (Nov 12, 2007)

Ekoostik_Hookah said:
			
		

> so audix, why were you starting your seedling on 12/12?  if it would of grown, it would of been one small, non-high yeilding plant. I do believe that you want to VeGG for a mounth to get the plants main size.



Here's a link to my LED grow, although it's more of a CFL grow at this point:
http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19113

Here's a link to the LED lights I'm using.  They seem to have 2 types of "red" light as well as some blue light.

http://www.gro-tek.com/SALES.html

I'm not sure what the exact problem was but now my plants are growing nicely under CFL lighting.  I think I had about 130 watts of LED llight going but like I said, the plants just were not growing.  Perhaps they would have done something on 24/0, I'll probably try something like that in the future.

As far as the 12/12 from seed thing, I've got several plants going.  Even if I yield 3-4 grams at the end, that will be 3-4 grams more then I have now.  My motivation is to get some smokable stuff as quickly as possible.  I'll veg the next grow...


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## Ekoostik_Hookah (Nov 13, 2007)

ya, im about to start from seed for the first time in a long time. im used to Clones. I hate the slow paced begging of the plant. Germanation isnt fun, and i dont kno if the seeds i ordered a few months ago will even pop. im going to grow some random Purple buds, and some haze i think.
 we will see how it goes


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## rken (Nov 15, 2007)

We have been using LEDs with great success for the veg cycle. We are getting good growth and tight internodes using lights from WWW.solutionsgrowlights.com, at 1 1/2 blue bulb (409lumens 12watts) per sq ft. They are 110volt  and screw into a regular light base. ($1.50ea) We built a movable rack out of one x two's (wood) and mounted the bases to the rack. The bases are the type that mount on a the power cord. Home Depot has them.
We are still experimenting with the grow cycle to get the proper amount of light and color mixture for optimum growth. But it looks promising at 25 lights on a 4x4 mixed 1/2 red and 1/2 blue. By the way you can get red bulbs in the 640 to 650 spectrum which greatly increase the usability of the light.
In the mean time we are saving 80% on our electric bills. We tried building our own also and found that for $30 a bulb it was not worth the time and energy and expense. aloha


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## Ekoostik_Hookah (Nov 15, 2007)

sweet thanks, but the red bulbs are only 1.50 each? what??
 and home depot has the led bulbs?


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## rken (Nov 15, 2007)

Home depot has the screw in bases. We found the best price for bulbs at www.solutionsgrowlights.com. The cheapest for the amount of lumins and wattage of bulb. Sorry for the confusion. [email protected] if you have more questions. We found them ranging from $300 for 3 bulbs down to $35 at solutions. We order 30 bulbs at $30 each qty discount. They are doing really well.


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## md.apothecary (Nov 15, 2007)

problem with that site is that they don't offer all the color spectrums needed. I've seen the blue, red, and combo bulbs, and have 8 of the combo bulbs I purchased for $200, which is $25 a bulb... but anyways they're great for VEG, however, I think for flower more colors ARE needed.


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## bombbudpuffa (Nov 15, 2007)

rken said:
			
		

> We have been using LEDs with great success for the veg cycle. We are getting good growth and tight internodes using lights from WWW.solutionsgrowlights.com, at 1 1/2 blue bulb (409lumens 12watts) per sq ft. They are 110volt  and screw into a regular light base. ($1.50ea) We built a movable rack out of one x two's (wood) and mounted the bases to the rack. The bases are the type that mount on a the power cord. Home Depot has them.
> We are still experimenting with the grow cycle to get the proper amount of light and color mixture for optimum growth. But it looks promising at 25 lights on a 4x4 mixed 1/2 red and 1/2 blue. By the way you can get red bulbs in the 640 to 650 spectrum which greatly increase the usability of the light.
> In the mean time we are saving 80% on our electric bills. We tried building our own also and found that for $30 a bulb it was not worth the time and energy and expense. aloha


Dang...kind of sounds like an advertisement.


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## stunzeed (Nov 15, 2007)

Sounds like this should be on Ebay not Mar passion!:ignore: 




Stunzeed..


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## md.apothecary (Nov 16, 2007)

yeah, and I want to make a NOTE that my previous post was not about my having purchased from that site.... I bought mine from another location/source.


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## goddog (Nov 16, 2007)

there is a great posting on youtube...

"leds vs hid" i think...

shows that hid hps kicks absolute *** vs the led....

so why waste your time, after i saw this i know what im going to do.

250-400 watt hps


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## md.apothecary (Nov 16, 2007)

goddog said:
			
		

> there is a great posting on youtube...
> 
> "leds vs hid" i think...
> 
> ...



That's dandy, but TIME isn't the issue.... the issue is the advantages of LEDs over HPS/MH

Very simply put:
1) Energy costs - cheaper in the long run, and not as noticeable to those watchers since the wattage is way under HPS.

2) Heat and temps - heat is always a problem and since HPS puts off at least 80% of it's light source in the form of heat, this is a large issue for many of those doing stealthy grows large or small.

3) virtually the same initial setup costs - HPS requires venting and cooling, so your lamps, plus venting materials, and any perm. setups you have to form to be able to use this equipment is a major investment, not to mention the cost to operate these lights in the long run will ADD well.

Hypothetical example:

400watt HPS running 12hrs a day for a month (30 days) with the average KwH @ approx. $0.12

400w * 12 * 30 = 144000w/1000 (1KW) = 144 KW used per month 
144 * $0.12 = $17.28 per month $207.36 per year

For comparable LED setup (8 LED par38 bulbs at 13w each)

104w * 12 * 30 = 37440w/1000 (1KW) =  37.44 KW used per month
37.44 * $0.12 = $4.49 per month $53.91 per year

HPS does seem to produce MORE "buds" in the end for flower, but again there is always variables that need to be factored into ANY experiment and/or results. Don't assume that what you saw on youtube will work for you by any means.


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## rken (Nov 18, 2007)

Didn't mean to sound like an advertisement its just that were having good success and wanted to share it. Enjoy the pic. i attached a picture of the set up were using but I don't know how to look at it after its posted sorry.

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=39674&stc=1&d=1195396329  if you'd like to look at the set up.


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## Ekoostik_Hookah (Nov 18, 2007)

WOW SON, if i ever thought Leds would work, i think your set up will.
  question though, i only say one red led. when you flower, are you going to screw in the right Ratio of red leds?


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## rken (Nov 20, 2007)

The red light in the front corner was an experiment to see how the plant did under just red light. Not Good. Were finding that 50/50 is working the best. On the veg we found that the plants did not grow as tall as the ones we had in our green house and they took about 4 days longer but produced as much end product. The plants were smaller the the nodes where tight and produced some very nice buds. ( finished in green house) were vegging under blue lights now(no stretching) and finishing in our green house. 2 1/2 week veg 35-49 days 10-28 per plants. depending on season. 

Of course the trees laugh.


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## NewbieG (Nov 20, 2007)

rken said:
			
		

> The red light in the front corner was an experiment to see how the plant did under just red light. Not Good. Were finding that 50/50 is working the best. On the veg we found that the plants did not grow as tall as the ones we had in our green house and they took about 4 days longer but produced as much end product. The plants were smaller the the nodes where tight and produced some very nice buds. ( finished in green house) were vegging under blue lights now(no stretching) and finishing in our green house. 2 1/2 week veg 35-49 days 10-28 per plants. depending on season.
> 
> Of course the trees laugh.



Can I ask you why you have your lights so far from your plants? I would think that one of the advantages of using led's is that you could basically have them touching the plant since you dont have to worry about heat?? Why don't you get them only a few inches away?


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## rken (Nov 20, 2007)

We normaly have the lights within 6 inches of the tops. No heat problems. We just started this batch and we wanted to bring the light down a little everyday (for a couple of days) to get them a custom to the new lights. Two much to fast I've heard can cause the leaves to get weird for a few days. I've seen a little of that happening, no permenant damage just looks weird.


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