AlienBait Tries LEDs, Part 2

[AlienBait]

When I said I would remove the bluer lights, I meant the whole lamp, not just the blue LEDs. That is, the lights that have the dimmer red LEDs.

I would not buy the ones I have again. I am not very happy with the quality. Like I said, it looks like some of these lights have cheaper and dimmer red LEDs.

The ones you linked to on ebay are not the same as mine. Those have more LEDs per light than mine does, so they look better.

You will still need some blue during flowering, just not as much, so don't remove all the blues.

If you don't mind soldering your own, you could get these for less money:

http://homegrownlights.com/14wled.html

Those lights have the right ratio of red/blue to flower with. You can then buy an extra blue-only 4 Watt LED array or two from the second company you mentioned to be used during Veg. But if you are going to use the to flower only, you can skip the blue-only lights.

Hope that helps.

 

[md.apothecary]

hmm... i've never soldered before.... haha i have a solder iron and such, but never tried soldering!

 

[md.apothecary]

i ordered some of the premade bulbs because i don't want to risk bad soldering!

Can you tell me what the best configuration would be? What do you think... 6 bulbs on the tops and 2 setup for below the branches? Or should I do all 8 on the tops? I see you had them arrayed all around the plant... how did that turn out?

 

[Mutt]

Hey Alien have you shoved a light meter under them yet? Just curious what kinda output your getting.
When I get some cash might try a CPU case grow with this slapped all in it.

 

[bombbudpuffa]

Congrats AB! This is a great thread...i'll be watching.

 

[AlienBait]

Can you tell me what the best configuration would be? What do you think... 6 bulbs on the tops and 2 setup for below the branches? Or should I do all 8 on the tops?

I'm not quite sure. If you have only one plant, then I would do it the way I am doing it now. If you choose to put them all on top, the I would LST the plant or grow more than one plant. The LEDs need to be VERY close to the plants to maximize their potential.

I see you had them arrayed all around the plant... how did that turn out?

We'll know in about 5 or six weeks.

 

[AlienBait]

Hey Alien have you shoved a light meter under them yet? Just curious what kinda output your getting.
When I get some cash might try a CPU case grow with this slapped all in it.

No, I don't have a light meter. I would like to know as well. Perhaps I should buy one. Then again, I'm a little short on cash at the moment...

 

[NewbieG]

Hey AlienBate, I love what your doing with this, and I actually had some questions for you if you wouldn't mind answering them for me. Now because I know very very little about LED's I'm very confused at how to compare any HID to the LED's. Since you can't use wattage, what are you suppose to compare... lumens? I guess my question is, what kind of set up for LED's do you need to be compatible with a 400 watt, 600 watt, and 1000 watt system for MH/HPS System, and how much would it cost. After looking at some prices for LED system, I'm seeing 10 watts, 7 watts, etc., but I have no idea what these mean? Sorry to jack your thread, I'm just VERY interested in what your doing

 

[octobong007]

ok, quick question on the led's. i've been checking them out for awhile and have noticed some are "colored led lights" and some are "led lights with a colored filter"...what i want to know is are they the same? or is the one with the colored filter weaker? and thanx for all the input and usage and posting the results of the led's.

 

[md.apothecary]

the best bet is to go the TRUE color route, never believe in filters. It's still a white light going through a filter. Not to mention, by it going through a color filter, it DOES actually lessen the intensity.

Light through glass DOES take away slight wavelengths out of the picture. So the more you filter, the less penetration you'll receive.

IMHO, I think it'd be best to stay away from filters and caps.

 

[AlienBait]

I guess my question is, what kind of set up for LED's do you need to be compatible with a 400 watt, 600 watt, and 1000 watt system for MH/HPS System, and how much would it cost.

Hi NewbieG, Sorry for the delayed response. But to answer your question, I really don't know the answer on how to compair the two different types of lights yet. You are right, Lumens and Watts doesn't quite work, but you also have to grow the plants differently. With LEDs, the lights are right on (almost touching) the plants, and the HPS is around a foot away. The manufacturer of the lights I bought says that 4 of the arrays I have should equal a 500 Watt HPS (if one existed). Well, I've got 8 of them on one plant and as you will see in my next post, they are mistaken.

There is another manufacturer that says their light is equal to a 400W HPS, but that one costs $1200, and I am not about to spend that kind of money on something I've never seen anyone grow with.

 

[AlienBait]

ok, quick question on the led's. i've been checking them out for awhile and have noticed some are "colored led lights" and some are "led lights with a colored filter"...what i want to know is are they the same? or is the one with the colored filter weaker? and thanx for all the input and usage and posting the results of the led's.

md.apothecary is right. Don't use filters. Get the lights that emit the right frequency.

 

[AlienBait]

Update time. :hubba:

Looks like the LED plant is way behind the HPS plant. While we have buds forming and growing on the LED plant, the HPS plant has about 10 times more smokable goodness. Also, it looks like the LED plant may be out growing the box it is in. I didn't think they would grow that tall since they were pretty short when I started the whole thing. I may have to resort to a little bondage to bring the top down. The HPS plant is in a 6 foot tall closet, so it has plenty of room.

Notice that the LED plant is a much darker green than the HPS plant. Not sure what that means...

Once again, for those just tuning in, the strain is White Satin being grown in 50/50 perlite/vermiculite, hand-watered with "Vita-Grow" nutes at full stength. The plants were clones from the same mother.

The pictures:

1) The Plants side by side. HPS on the left, LED on the right.
2) Again, but with a 1 gallon jug for size comparison. The HPS plant is 24" tall and the LED is 19" tall
3) HPS
4) LED
5) HPS
6) LED
7) HPS Close up
8) LED Close up
9) HPS Top
10) LED Top

 

[BluntFullOfKush]

Damn i almost missed it. But im here now. there looking great

 

[theCre8or]

This is a really great experiment. Well done.

Has anyone done anything like this to compare CFL's? I'm sure HPS will win again, but I wonder if the differences will be as dramatic.

 

[Mutt]

Excellent comparison Alien :aok:

 

[audix2359]

Hey AB, how often are you watering? I got my LED box started last Friday and my soil is very moist. Temps are around 72. I can't imagine watering this week with what I'm seeing.

 

[AlienBait]

Hey AB, how often are you watering? I got my LED box started last Friday and my soil is very moist. Temps are around 72. I can't imagine watering this week with what I'm seeing.

My temps are about the same. I water about twice per week. I am not growing in soil, but rather a 50/50 mixture of perlite/vermiculite.

 

[audix2359]

Thanks for the info, you definitely got a green thumb!

 

[DankCloset]

oh yeah the differance will be dramatic with cfl's compared to hps, looks good, keep it green