LED's, up to the job yet?
- Thread starter Mr.Bigbud
- Start date
adrenachroman
Member
I've seen your grows man, and you're doing a bang up job.But MB, you really need to see what happens with 1000 watts of hps in a 4x4 grow tent, with CO2, to see what everyones talking about.I'm not saying your leds dont work, and if the process is satisying your needs...then it's all good.But I think what most people protest to, is the unscrupulous claims led purveyors use to make sales.For instance: say, you and your patients require X amount of bud every, lets say, 2 months.And this requirement is satisfied with say, 400w hps.Now, I think, any...experienced grower can immediately realize that a hundred and so watts of led arent even going to come close to the output from 400w hps.We're talking a pressurized glass bulb, powered by a ballast, vs a solid state led system...no contest...at all.If led tek wants to be taken seriously, then the makers need to stop this "we're better than hid" bullshit.Because anyone that has had the experience of growing with 400,600, or a 1K set-up knows better...fo sho.
MeanBean
Member
Thanks, adrenachroman..
Hey I aint here to argue the Price or what the manufactures claim!
I can say at LEAST: watt per watt, LED's are already at the door regadless.
"i'm a noob"
Being Honest, I have bought ALOT of nugs, alot. My LED buds feeel look and smell just the same! the ONLY thing I can tell is that the stems are a bit greener but thats cause I grew it and smoked it before it was the full 8 weeks cured...
HEAD buds are thick as a brick. Sure though the lowest stuff, is a bit thinner than what I would buy from a HID grow.. But shit, I don't gotta pay you guys no more so f it lol!
Scrog could take car of that for sure, ask v!
Hey I aint here to argue the Price or what the manufactures claim!
I can say at LEAST: watt per watt, LED's are already at the door regadless.
"i'm a noob"
Being Honest, I have bought ALOT of nugs, alot. My LED buds feeel look and smell just the same! the ONLY thing I can tell is that the stems are a bit greener but thats cause I grew it and smoked it before it was the full 8 weeks cured...
HEAD buds are thick as a brick. Sure though the lowest stuff, is a bit thinner than what I would buy from a HID grow.. But shit, I don't gotta pay you guys no more so f it lol!
Scrog could take car of that for sure, ask v!
Mr.Bigbud
Member
bugbud, love your set-up dude! Clones under HPS is defo good for yield, I have yet to see pics of LED buds as good as that, and I suspect it would be a few years until they are anywhere near!! The reason I started this thread was after reading LEDgirls threads and claims of her 126w LED being comparable to a 400w HID (um, no!), but then looking at her projects and finding she also has very low yields. I veg my clones under 125w CFL's, and the heat is really not an issue in there, then I flower under my 600w digital lamp (BAL-pootlight style thing) and get very tight nugs. Meanbean, I top all my cuts once before flower and once as I go into flower. It gives me compact plants with a good number of tops, and they are still thick as a beercan and just as long!! I think I could be doing better for yield as I'm getting about 400-500g dry per harvest, and I have friends who yeild that under a 400w HID!! I put well rooted cut's straight into flower, which means I can harvest every 11 weeks, about 4 crops a year. I've just started flowering and will be posting pics up when they are finished!!!
MeanBean
Member
Yeah I had CFL's for my first grow. they made my cab ReAL HOT and because of that I had to have fans going at full blast and the humitity was alot higer casue the plants sweated alot more.
Made the cab a noisey SOB!
Now that thier gone my plants are waaay less stressed.
Now not saying you cant veg with cfl, but I could never get the plants tightly noded as an led vegged plant.
I got 2 126 watt led panels, id like to get a similar yield 400 -500 grams. Last grow I did I just did not let them veg long enough so the plants just weren't big enough!
This next grow I have a reeeeal slick ideyer!
Made the cab a noisey SOB!
Now that thier gone my plants are waaay less stressed.
Now not saying you cant veg with cfl, but I could never get the plants tightly noded as an led vegged plant.
I got 2 126 watt led panels, id like to get a similar yield 400 -500 grams. Last grow I did I just did not let them veg long enough so the plants just weren't big enough!
This next grow I have a reeeeal slick ideyer!
A
asa77sol
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Mr.Bigbud
Member
Is it really true that LED's put out no heat? I noticed that the 300w panels have shed loads of fans attached to them..... what are they for then?! I just grabbed a hold of my CFL, it's warmer than I thought it would be, but not really hot. I couldn't let the plants touch the bulb for too long, but I can just move it up and down, it's no biggy!
Mr.Bigbud
Member
There are 6 fans on that unit alone.... if theres no heat there would be no fans surely? If someone sends me a free one I'd have it...... but I wouldn't pay for one until I had tested one myself. I just don't believe that a 300w LED is equivalent to 600w HPS, or even 300w HPS! I would have to see it myself to believe it. Theres a saying 'if something looks to good to be true, it probably isn't true', and that's the way it is with LED's. Anyone who paid for one got anything good to say about them?
B
Bud Bug
Castelvetro
Member
leds are a joke. over priced veg lamps that do a poor job.
corradogang*
Member
Seems like they're perfect for micro grows anyways....
MikeRoOrganix
Member
MeanBean, K+ to you for not getting mad at all the no-so-nice comments being made. People please try to remember you are talking to someone and lets be nice please!!
I have not used LED personally but I have watched a few writeups. MB you have a good point about the larger LED array being able to spread the light out more, but doesn't it still degrade the same as distance from bulb increases? From the pics it always looks to me like they aren't getting intense enough light during bloom.
Yes LEDs are very cool, but I would wager that a 150hps with a homemade cooltube and a small inline fan would run cooler and quieter than LEDs and PC fans. Besides, unless you are doing a micro grow you will probably need a small carbon filter and 265cfm is a pretty small fan relatively speaking. I have done REALLY small hobby grows with this type of setup and a DIY micro hydro using organic nutes just one bottle.
Plus I build all my own HPS setups from 1000bulbs.com for about $75. Very cheap, plus one generic bulb every year for $15 there really aren't any maitanence costs there.
K+ to the experimenters!
I have not used LED personally but I have watched a few writeups. MB you have a good point about the larger LED array being able to spread the light out more, but doesn't it still degrade the same as distance from bulb increases? From the pics it always looks to me like they aren't getting intense enough light during bloom.
Yes LEDs are very cool, but I would wager that a 150hps with a homemade cooltube and a small inline fan would run cooler and quieter than LEDs and PC fans. Besides, unless you are doing a micro grow you will probably need a small carbon filter and 265cfm is a pretty small fan relatively speaking. I have done REALLY small hobby grows with this type of setup and a DIY micro hydro using organic nutes just one bottle.
Plus I build all my own HPS setups from 1000bulbs.com for about $75. Very cheap, plus one generic bulb every year for $15 there really aren't any maitanence costs there.
K+ to the experimenters!
MeanBean
Member
Well I got 362 watts of led's so far, I can't say I am ever going to the bulb. I think with that, I should be able to get a decent amount of buds. This next grow I do I am only using 1 126 Pentrator. After that though I'll put them both together. the other 120watts is my HTG LED, it only vegg's but it does it well.
I know I could beat a 150 with my 126er, I am still learning the basics though!
I know I could beat a 150 with my 126er, I am still learning the basics though!
I gotta throw this out there.
What is the Gram Per Watt for LED?
I dunno I'm kinda testing a LED panel, and I've not found it to be much better than CFL.
What is the Gram Per Watt for LED?
I dunno I'm kinda testing a LED panel, and I've not found it to be much better than CFL.
my whole thing is if your commercial..how big of a profit margin do you need? if i had a 1,000 and was pulling an elbow off of it,why not flip it and buy 3 of the bigger led's? for me,i'm 2 nervous to even run 1,000 watts of light,plus fans,electricity is expensive,i would rather run multiple led's, lets say two 126 watt penetrators instead of one 600,less electric and less heat..don't get me wrong i have no first hand with led's and i am also curious,i am watching bean's and verdant greens grows closely, my cab is big enough for a 250 watt hps,but if i can approach the same numbers with a 126 led,i would do it in a heartbeat,initial investment means nothing
thats from a 63 watt led grow(verdant green) there are plenty of guys with 250's that would be mad happy with nugs that gorgeous..i also agree that led's are high priced..but i am old enough to remember my day buying us a family xmas gift of a vcr..$600..i'm not joking,lol,once demand gets going mass production will catch up,5 years from now prices will be comprable
Couldn't agree more! Also, I've heard LED lights designed to supplement HIDs will be available soon. That could be the shit, really. So you can grow 5 foot plants and get top Q buds all the way to the bottom.
A quick comment on the heat. HPSs emit a bunch of heat radiation while LEDs and CFLs emit very little. Heat radiation is simply infrared light and also travels with the speed of light, so this heat spreads very fast.
This is why you get different temperature readings when the thermometer sitting in direct HPS light and when it's not.
Anyhow, watt is the amount of energy released each second, and practically all that energy will turn into heat. So bottom line; HPS and LED of equal wattage release the same amount of heat, but the heat from the HPS spreads faster.
Hey, don't be so sure about that. I've seen LEDs burn out in those china panels after a year or so. So it'd be more reasonable to say the lifetime is the warranty time the dealer offers.
Peace
