Need Advices : Growing with LED Lights

[hashcraze956]

I've started this thread to discuss the best ways to utilize a LED panel to achieve the best results possible. I hope the experienced LED growers will post their best practices to achieve the best results here in one place making it easier for others to improve their grows.​

One of the things that prompted me to start this post was distance of the panel from the top of the plants. It is said that in higher wattage panels it is best to keep the lights further away say 28"to 30" to increase the size and density of the buds. I kept my 90 watt Grow Lights at 20" and ended up with smaller fluffier buds and now after learning about the distance making a difference I will try the next grow at 30" to see how much better my buds will be.

You are welcome to give some more advices/suggestions based on your personal experience.​

 

[nouvellechef]

There articles in the "lighting" section. Here's a start,

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62383

 

[JustAnotherAntMarching]

that was a grea thread... wish PJ would still show his results here for the masses...

 

[sunakard2000]

when i ran LED UFOs i found it better to keep them closer like a T5 fixture, they put out little to no heat so why have the light so far away, the further the light energy photons have to travel the less potency they have then they reach the plants leaves, if you keep the fixture closer the light energy will be more powerful and five the plant more of the needed energy. i had more compact and tight nodes with the panels closer then when they were 20inches plus away, most people recommend that you keep an HPS or MH at 18 inches or more away due to heat on the canopy, but LEDs put out so little heat, you can keep them closer, i kept mine under 8 inches away from the top of the canopy, as long as the light spread is still covering the area and there arnt dark spots where plants are then your golden. but as i said over all in my experience 5-10 inches above canopy is perfect for an LED panel, any further away and the light photons start to lose their oomph so to speak by the time they reach the plant, creating those fluffy and airy buds. LEDs are great for vegging because you can keep them close to the plants and keep them compact with tight nodes and lots of growth, how ever for flowering your gonna need alot of LEDs, like Justanother said i wish PJammers was still pokin his head around the forums, he has an AMAZING LED ONLY set up, and he gets compairable results to his brothers T5(veg)/HPS(flower) set up, although he does have monsteriously huge LED panels and alot of them, id recommend lookin around for PJammers LED grow thread, its somewhere around here and its great, loads of info and great pics.

 

[7thG]

30'' seems way far for 90watt anything. I've seen people keep them like an inch away and get decent results.

 

[sunakard2000]

yeah if your only using a small fixture the further distances needed for the larger fixtures is a moot point, you need to keep that little fixture closer then 20" i would guess, all the people i know that keep their LED fixtures at or above 30" have LED panels that are around 400-800watt+, its the pure intensity of the lights that makes the distance so important inorder to keep tops from bleaching. with a small 90watt LED UFO i would say its a safe bet to keep it closer like a regular T5 fixture... when i grew with my 2 135 watt UFOs i kept them close, had no bleaching and had nice fat dense nuggs.