LED/CFL Combo?

[jackson1]

Hello again,

Going from my odor control thread now that i am comfortable with that to lighting. I would like to hear opinions regarding the use of the 90w Hydroponic UV UFO LED Grow light and also use CFL's cool white for veg and move to warm for flowering.

The question is what size CFL's should i go with and how many?

Grow space is 3' W x 2' D x 5' T

I understand the argument of HPS/HID lighting, etc. but through research i've landed on the UV LED and CFL's for several reasons but mostly for heat elimination, stealth grow conditions, energy savings and longevity.

Should I be looking at the lower watt CFL's or two 105 watt CFL'sfor example or what to complete the lighting system?

Thanks for your opinions/information.

 

[BBFan]

Hey there jackson1!

Glad you got your odor problem solved!

What is a UV UFO LED? It's the UV that's throwing me off- it usually (in lighting terms) refers to ultra-violet.

 

[jackson1]

Hey there jackson1!

Glad you got your odor problem solved!

What is a UV UFO LED? It's the UV that's throwing me off- it usually (in lighting terms) refers to ultra-violet.

Thanks BBfan. Actually the UV is for ultraviolet light. The 4th Gen UFO LED is using UV LED's I believe in blue. This is supposed to be the way to go if using LED lighting.
This LED UV UFO light is supposed to have won the 2009 Growboys LED class.

I can't post a link yet but Google, LED UV UFO Grow Light and it will come up.

 

[leafminer]

The guy that runs UFO demonstrably writes utter crap if you see my other thread. The CFLs will provide more usable light for a lot less money. The key is to hit the sweet-spot on the price/lumens curve. That's usually around the 25W size. You can make a petal-like CFL lamp with 4 x 25W CFLs, that's 100W of CFL. It will outperform LED 90W lamps, I am sure.
HOWEVER, it is absolutely essential to fit the ghetto-rig CFL lamp with good - I mean Mylar - reflector(s). (You can make your own). Otherwise you waste most of the light. And 6300K CFLs work great in flower, believe me.
I use a home-made 100W CFL as fill-in with my twin 150 HPS, it works great.

 

[jackson1]

The guy that runs UFO demonstrably writes utter crap if you see my other thread. The CFLs will provide more usable light for a lot less money. The key is to hit the sweet-spot on the price/lumens curve. That's usually around the 25W size. You can make a petal-like CFL lamp with 4 x 25W CFLs, that's 100W of CFL. It will outperform LED 90W lamps, I am sure.
HOWEVER, it is absolutely essential to fit the ghetto-rig CFL lamp with good - I mean Mylar - reflector(s). (You can make your own). Otherwise you waste most of the light. And 6300K CFLs work great in flower, believe me.
I use a home-made 100W CFL as fill-in with my twin 150 HPS, it works great.

Interesting. I will have to read more into this i see. Actually, I've pretty much decided that i will do just CFL's with a nice hood or several clamp lights loaded with CFL's. Thanks for the tips.

 

[SPEARCHUCKER]

Let the LEDs supply the other feeds of light. And get a additional 2700 color temp CFL to supply. 2700s are 80% red feeding, which the plant feeds most off.

The smaller the bulbs, the more heat when trying to equal a certain wattage.
Cause of the bases supplying the strike to light the gas generates heat also.

 

[jackson1]

Let the LEDs supply the other feeds of light. And get a additional 2700 color temp CFL to supply. 2700s are 80% red feeding, which the plant feeds most off.

The smaller the bulbs, the more heat when trying to equal a certain wattage.
Cause of the bases supplying the strike to light the gas generates heat also.

This set up would be good for veg and flowering?

 

[SPEARCHUCKER]

Be better for flowering. During the flowering stage, a plant doesnt even use blue feeding anymore until the final week. Mainly red, and some orange. So best case when adding is to just aim at hitting the Red as hard as possible.

 

[jackson1]

Be better for flowering. During the flowering stage, a plant doesnt even use blue feeding anymore until the final week. Mainly red, and some orange. So best case when adding is to just aim at hitting the Red as hard as possible.

Hmm, what do you mean by a plant doesn't use blue feeding anymore? did the plant stop accepting blue as an option or has it been found that blue has now effect until the last week only?

Just when I think i understand, i don't.

 

[SPEARCHUCKER]

Only needs blue in stages of change I believe. During photosynthesis.

 

[BBFan]

Hey there jackson1!

I looked up the UFO you mentioned and though it says UV, I can't see where there getting the uv spectrum from- I couldn't find any real technical info on it- just basic sales mumbo jumbo.

Doesn't mean it wouldn't be helpful for your grow though. To me, it seemed more designed for flowering (mostly red spectrum), but again, very little technical info available. I don't use LED's as I think the technology has a little ways to go yet. Everything I've read is that they lack penetration. But the same is said of cfl's. It doesn't mean it will not help you grow great plants.

No disrespect to Spearchucker, but the plant will continue to use the blue (400-480 nm) spectrum throughout it's life. A balanced spectrum is always more desirable throughout the life of the plant.

You'll probably only fit 2 or 3 plants in your space. With proper added side lighting, you could end up with great results. Check out ****-Dogs grow journal- 1 plant under cfl's. He did an excellent job.

Good luck to you.

 

[leafminer]

BBFan is right. Plants can use full spectrum right until the end. But if you could pick up an HPS that would really make a diff. If you haven't got much cash take a look in Craig's list or on EBay, I saw someone sold a 400W Lowbay HPS out of a factory for $40 yesterday, that's cheap enough. Those things can be modded to be remote ballast or even cool tube.

 

[SPEARCHUCKER]

Blue is sugar feeding. Plants store sugar, also can bring in from root feeding. Blue is also a more intense light spectrum, and the plant absorbs it much easier.
So the LED will provide enough blue on its own. Why I say hit the red so hard.
Why dump on more blue if it can only reach a certain point before it simply stores it up. Pour on the Red Sodium feeding.

 

[skoomaman]

what is the difference between 1mil,2mil and 3mil

hXXp://www.mylarstoreonline.com/50ft.html

 

[Growdude]

what is the difference between 1mil,2mil and 3mil

hXXp://www.mylarstoreonline.com/50ft.html

3 mil is 3 times as thick as 1 mil, and 2 mil is twice as thick.

I would go with 2 mil.

 

[jackson1]

Thanks for the replies. I love the learning curve but at times it is confusing as everyone has their own opinion i'm finding as to what is better. I want a stealth grow of course so i think i am sticking with either a nice full spectrum set of CFL's or will try the LED UV/CFL combo. I may not get pro yields but that's ok, this is for personal use so i am not that worried about it.

Also, BBfan. From what i understand the blue has the UV lights in the LED but like you said, there is not much proof of that from reading about them. Although, if they can produce UV light in CFL's i'm sure that they can with LED's but the questions is does it work better if so? I guess the only way to know is to try,

I don't have budget restraints but do want to be smart about it and not over buy or have a revolving door of equipment that i either dont like or doesnt work well.

Talking this out helps a lot though so please feel free to keep it coming.

 

[livinitup]

my votes to go with the small cfls 20w or 25 find the lumm for the bulbs i got mine from the dollor store i use the 20w im doing a micro grow first time ever space is 3 sqf heres a male taken out yesterday day 28 from seed only did 3 beans the female show on day 20 and now is full of preflowers good luck

 

[BBFan]

Also, BBfan. From what i understand the blue has the UV lights in the LED but like you said, there is not much proof of that from reading about them. Although, if they can produce UV light in CFL's i'm sure that they can with LED's but the questions is does it work better if so? I guess the only way to know is to try,

Good Evening Jackson1 (it's evening here at least)-

Actually, as far as UV lighting goes, for me anyways, the jury is still out on it's efficacy and it's affects on trich production. I'm currently harvesting some blueberry that I gave 1 plant UVB lighting throughout the grow. Is it loaded with trichs? Yes, but so are the others. We'll see when it's cured. I'm using a self-ballasted MV lamp.

I know those UVB fluoros are a bit expensive and lack any penetration, so I don't know if they'll help you. Being your first grow, I wouldn't bother- so many other things to work through that will have far greater impact on end results.

I don't think I've helped you much here, but I do wish you good luck on your grow! Be safe.

 

[leafminer]

Anyone claiming that they are selling UV LEDs is talking out of their rear end.

Here is a point of scientific logic for you:

Low pressure sodium lamps are extremely efficient (more lumens/watt than any other type of lamp) AND cheap . . . but nobody uses them for grows . . . because they don't work too well. And they put out a single frequency (line) spectrum. Just like LEDs.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

...I want a stealth grow of course so i think i am sticking with either a nice full spectrum set of CFL's or will try the LED UV/CFL combo. I may not get pro yields but that's ok, this is for personal use so i am not that worried about it...

Lumen for lumen, CFLs will put out more heat than a HPS.