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DIY vertical LED top fed, recirculating hydro... thing

ButterflyEffect

Active member
Well damn......Dust the cobwebs off Vert-ville......Icky had a thread goin there for awhile but he got busy in real life and well you guys know how that goes......now.....Hayday......How many watts are those units pushin per 4' strip.....rather how many Samsung strips can be put in those 4 ft`ers.....

Can`t bring myself ta pull the trigger cuz it`s just for headies and I`m a tight old bastard , but I`m down to my last 600 watt Eye Horti from way back when I shut down yrs ago , and LED`s the wayta upgrade from what I`ve seen so......

Ya`ll take care , and hey Butterfly........Start a thread if yas have time and questions are easier to answer on top of raising your post count for private messages.....anyways...thoughts to ponder....Wonder how Medicine man`s doin .....

Peace.....DHF.......:ying:......

I started one in the growroom design sub but I didn't get any action. Should I ask in a different section?

I'd be honored to have your input. You were one of a few cats here whose wisdom has helped me get to where I am today:tiphat:
 

hayday

Well-known member
Veteran
:smoke out:Yo Fred, each light is 120 watts with 220 pieces of 301b samsung. They cost about a buck and a quarter each when I got them. Thats a little high but no more hps to buy every six months to a year. I was having trouble with that.I would be stoked if you took a bit of advice from me and put that hps in a box and got some LEDs. These HLG Sabers are about the only one that fit our needs as far as production lights go.Everything is made for flat tent grows and vert growin make better use of space as we know.
Y'all be good:smoke out:
 
Oh wow, you guys are turning this thing into an actual thread the last couple days- so thanks!

Viva la vert-ville!!



I'm digging all the DIY vert LED fixtures you guys have going!

Feel free to take the conversations in whichever direction you feel like, as long as it's somewhat relative to our favorite hobby here.



Like I said in an early post, I've seen killer yield per light watt potential, so I'd think real hard on it Fredo!

You're the last person I'd wanna steer wrong, because you've taught me a lot over the years here.

I got about 12oz from 2 plant spaces, out of 8 possible, in a 3x3, using about 400w... If I had 8 of those in there, instead of 2, I'd have been looking at about 3Ls from the tent.... Or close to 3g/light watt...

That's not the norm, unfortunately, but I can't blame anyone but myself for that.

The equipment performs great!... Even with high heat, and low humidity...It just suffers from my lack of keeping things on schedule, more often than not.



I still need to take a tally of what made it from the last seed pops, and what's in what stage of growth, but I'm happy to report that at least my clones of OGKB 2.0 and Geisel rooted!



Thanks for stopping by and adding to the thread, everyone- keep it up!
 

DunHav`nFun

Well-known member
Hell BE.....Start a thread here in Vertville......Yields increase with environment dialed first , then comes all the added tweaks that make the difference.....Don`t post much anymore but I`m around , and .....

Loudog`s got a thread in Grow Diaries he just kicked off with 4000 + watts of bare bulbs hangin growin bigger plants , and I`m sure Hayday and Aero can provide input as well to help up your game on the LED side if needed......Me ?.....I`m hangin out on my bucket learnin new shit .......Yall take care and......

Peace.....DHF....:ying:.....
 

ButterflyEffect

Active member
Hell BE.....Start a thread here in Vertville......Yields increase with environment dialed first , then comes all the added tweaks that make the difference.....Don`t post much anymore but I`m around , and .....

Loudog`s got a thread in Grow Diaries he just kicked off with 4000 + watts of bare bulbs hangin growin bigger plants , and I`m sure Hayday and Aero can provide input as well to help up your game on the LED side if needed......Me ?.....I`m hangin out on my bucket learnin new shit .......Yall take care and......

Peace.....DHF....:ying:.....

Roger that. Let me start figuring out how I want to put it together:thinking:
 

hayday

Well-known member
Veteran
The best outlook on vert LEDs I have is run your own seeds. Make your selection of large plants and cross them to other large plants.
I am willing to bet most comercial breeders don't run, large stretchy plants when they select seed parents so I'm fond of breeding my own seed from the selection of my choosing.
My BOG Sour Strawberry was a short plant that I crossed to a giant BC Roadkill female.It came out with size and the sour strawberry aroma i was after.
The light itself is a pretty simple tool.LEDs let me get closer and run cooler, not much else changes imo
 

OrgAeroMan

Active member
Veteran
:smoke out:Yo Fred, each light is 120 watts with 220 pieces of 301b samsung. They cost about a buck and a quarter each when I got them. Thats a little high but no more hps to buy every six months to a year. I was having trouble with that.I would be stoked if you took a bit of advice from me and put that hps in a box and got some LEDs. These HLG Sabers are about the only one that fit our needs as far as production lights go.Everything is made for flat tent grows and vert growin make better use of space as we know.
Y'all be good:smoke out:

I was a diehard hid guy when the tech was older and less efficient/ effective. Then, I saw the results from guys like you and Uncle that blew mind! With the 600w Lumatek (bare bulb vert) I'd max out at maybe .72-.75 gpw, but all plants still looked super healthy. I forget exactly what my yield this year was, but it broke every record I kept. Well over gpw, another: first time I grew a pound in one grow. The nugs are rock solid and frosty. The quality and quantity was flat out better, practically incomparable. So, the 600 has been in the Rubbermaid ever since.

Whether you buy (I'd also suggest HLG, excellent value for the money) or DIY, you won't be dissatisfied with your investment. The DIY route is much simpler than you'd imagine, and super effective as well. It also saves you some coin while you dial them in and get accustomed to using them. Not to mention, there aren't really any commercially available vert compatible fixtures, aside from the Sabers Hayday mentioned.
 

ButterflyEffect

Active member
I was a diehard hid guy when the tech was older and less efficient/ effective. Then, I saw the results from guys like you and Uncle that blew mind! With the 600w Lumatek (bare bulb vert) I'd max out at maybe .72-.75 gpw, but all plants still looked super healthy. I forget exactly what my yield this year was, but it broke every record I kept. Well over gpw, another: first time I grew a pound in one grow. The nugs are rock solid and frosty. The quality and quantity was flat out better, practically incomparable. So, the 600 has been in the Rubbermaid ever since.

Whether you buy (I'd also suggest HLG, excellent value for the money) or DIY, you won't be dissatisfied with your investment. The DIY route is much simpler than you'd imagine, and super effective as well. It also saves you some coin while you dial them in and get accustomed to using them. Not to mention, there aren't really any commercially available vert compatible fixtures, aside from the Sabers Hayday mentioned.

This is where I'm at right now. Similar gpw, too. My attraction would be considerably less power consumption and almost no AC use. I run the 315 CMHs now, so the heat isn't nearly as bad as HPS, but still.

Gonna have to put a parts list together and convert one of my 3 rooms over and see how things roll.
 

DunHav`nFun

Well-known member
Happy Thanksgiving Day to all.....Sittin outside at the farm tendin Turkeys and Hams on the smoker and been thinkin more about this LED thing......I guess where I`m at is to figure out how many watts are needed in 2 strip lights to be at the equivalent of up to 50 watts per sq ft HPS that I`m used to as far as quality of end product......

My lil cubbyhole headies setup`s under my basement stairs is at best 18 sq ft , so with the exhaust scrubber combo up top and then 2 strip lights under that for a flat grow , or I`d need 4 like Hayday`s got to do vert and I`d need somewhere else to veg the bitches to a height the vertically hung strips are useful or else the light sideways is wasted on zero plant matter , so to say the least I`m conflicted......and on top of all that......

I`m a tight `ol bastard and see no return on investment to buy all this shit and set it it up , so there`s really no incentive to change from my 600 watter HPS eye horti bulbs , but I`m down to my last new bulb and either deal with the heatgain and buy new bulbs in another yr , or bite the bullet and figure this shit out and be done with it.....that said......

50,000 hrs of use from LED`s compared to HPS is laughable at best , but losing the heatgain is paramount where I live so I`m gonna do 2 strips horizontal instead of 4 strips vertical cuz it`s not for production , and just run more smaller plants underneath to max out yield potential......but now......

Who can tell my old ass what size strips for this area ?......Icky says 2 of his 245 watt units that`re 40" long will do the trick , but my walls could stand a full 48" fixture as long as 2 of em add up to proper watts per sq ft comparable to my eye horti bulbs......what actual wattage from the wall for 2 fixtures adds up to 900 watts HPS....?.....anyways......

That Mars 3000 has like 952 diodes for a total of only 295 watts I think , and it says 2 of those cover a 5 x 5 area that closely resembles my footprint , but my old ass ain`t payin 800 bucks for a headies setup , but at even 500 bucks just to lose heatgain and still not sure about losing wattage AND yield.......so again.....

Things and thoughts to ponder.....AND.....Any and all help`s greatly appreciated since I really don`t haveta have new shit , but if it performs comparably then I`m down.....Thanks again and......

Peace.....DHF.....:ying:.......
 

OrgAeroMan

Active member
Veteran
What are the dimensions of the room? There are many options for DIY either flat or vert. You can usually get away with 1/3-1/2 less wattage with the same, but usually better, results in terms of yield and quality. I guess the strips would be more versatile, if you wanted to play around with their orientation. QBs are more for flat grows, either below the light or vert wall of green. Either way, once you get them dialed, the results are amazing. They quickly pay for themselves, so you won't be bummed you made the switch. They aren't the power lacking L.E.D.s of yesteryear, but truly high performance lighting that either rivals or surpasses HID capabilities with half the heat and cost.
 

hayday

Well-known member
Veteran
I'm up at the country house working on my place but here is what I'm going to use for backlighting in the outside corners of two donuts. I have two of these units I recommended to Fred in my house now. They've been awsome for about a year now.
I set this one up for a work light while I work on the new spot.The rig y'all see here is about a$130.00 but its half an order from the link above.
picture.php
 

ButterflyEffect

Active member
I was a diehard hid guy when the tech was older and less efficient/ effective. Then, I saw the results from guys like you and Uncle that blew mind! With the 600w Lumatek (bare bulb vert) I'd max out at maybe .72-.75 gpw, but all plants still looked super healthy. I forget exactly what my yield this year was, but it broke every record I kept. Well over gpw, another: first time I grew a pound in one grow. The nugs are rock solid and frosty. The quality and quantity was flat out better, practically incomparable. So, the 600 has been in the Rubbermaid ever since.

Whether you buy (I'd also suggest HLG, excellent value for the money) or DIY, you won't be dissatisfied with your investment. The DIY route is much simpler than you'd imagine, and super effective as well. It also saves you some coin while you dial them in and get accustomed to using them. Not to mention, there aren't really any commercially available vert compatible fixtures, aside from the Sabers Hayday mentioned.

You're making this super tempting! I can DIY them but I just don't understand enough about it to create a parts list. Many more questions than answers and for me, it's tough as it's a 3 room perpetual setup.
 

ButterflyEffect

Active member
I'm up at the country house working on my place but here is what I'm going to use for backlighting in the outside corners of two donuts. I have two of these units I recommended to Fred in my house now. They've been awsome for about a year now.
I set this one up for a work light while I work on the new spot.The rig y'all see here is about a$130.00 but its half an order from the link above.
View Image

I think you just gave me a solution as to how to testbed/integrate these!:tiphat:

Because I'm rocking donuts, there's always minimal lighting on the backside.

Love this place:dance013:
 

roybart

Member
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]All HLG Gear is 20% Off until the 30th for those that don't know[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]https://horticulturelightinggroup.com
[/FONT]
 

DunHav`nFun

Well-known member
Thanks Hayday , been contemplating while scratchin head and ass over what to go with , so I did some more homework.....Seems that the more diodes/pcs per fixture that produces X amount of light , the less work each diode hasta perform to produce said light , thus extending equipment life.....so.....

It looks to be those Mars Hydro SP 300 watt strips have 952 diodes in each 1 but the damn things are 400 bucks and I need 2 according to all I read for my lil closet area of 20 sq ft +/-....that said.....The cheapest route is 2-245 watt strips for 500 bucks , and they`re made up of Samsung 301 chips with meanwell drivers but only 1/2 the diodes/chips with no far red chips and not real sure how much difference it makes with or without , so there you go.....the X factors.....anyways.....

Thanks for all the input guys , and I just gotta bite the bullet and do it........Maybe after Christmas.....time will tell.....Take care and......

Peace....DHF.....:ying:......
 

Coeus

Member
I'm up at the country house working on my place but here is what I'm going to use for backlighting in the outside corners of two donuts. I have two of these units I recommended to Fred in my house now. They've been awsome for about a year now.
I set this one up for a work light while I work on the new spot.The rig y'all see here is about a$130.00 but its half an order from the link above.
View Image
any further with this bruda :bump:
 
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