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My Mars 2 LEDs are killing my plants!

S

Sxott

New member
When I first set up these lights couple weeks ago, I put a perfectly healthy GG4 and a Green Crack under them to veg a bit. The leaves started yellowing, wilting and, clawing right away. I pulled them out from under the LEDs and put them back under the 400 MH and they are growing fast and green again.

I dismissed this as the LEDs being to close and warm. They were at 12" and I didnt have a thermometer at the time.

Now I put 3 Chem 4 under the LED lights and they are doing the same thing. But now I know the temp is only 74° and lights at 18"

These LEDs are killing everything I put under them in a matter of a couple days and start growing fine again after putting the back under my MH.

WTF??????????????????????

Before (3 days ago):
IMG_3689.jpg

IMG_3688.jpg

IMG_3687.jpg
 
J

jaded1

This had happened to quite a lot of growers using these lights,try raising the light to 24" above the canopy and make sure they are well rooted in their pots before putting them under 'em.
 
J

johndoe123

What model mars 2 do you have in the pic? If you can try a distance of 2-3 feet to get them used to the intensity. Here is a blue dream under a mars 2 1200 watt. She was well rooted in a 5 gallon when I put her in and I still had to raise the led to 24-30 inches.
picture.php
picture.php
 
S

Sxott

New member
Its the standard full spectrum model. It does not make sense to me to have to put them so far away. They can take a 1000 watt adjust-a-wing 18" away. The PAR drops off fast with distance. Mars Hydro recommends 12"-18"

I have 400 watt (x2) over 18"x48" right now. That puts them right about 62 real watts per ft2. Its the same as my 1000watt hid over a 4x4. I was wanting to get a direct comparison to my HID before I bought more. If they worked out, I was thinking 4 400 watters over a 4x4 area. Real draw would be about 700 Watts. Id use the multiple smaller ones to get a more even footprint over my main table.
 
J

johndoe123

I like the mars 2. I was really surprised with the bud density and the quality of the finished product. I am planning on getting 2-3 more of them for the summer run. I do remember the blue dream looking a bit stressed like that after the first week under the led and then bounced out of it. Are your nighttime temps getting to low? Also Led does not heat up the plant tissue like a hps does. Your plants almost look like the root zone is to cold. Ya might need to up your temps a bit. 18 inches should be fine with the lower wattage models ya got. Good luck and let us know what ya figure out :)
 
S

Sxott

New member
Its the mars 2s that I have 80x5
I guess raising them past 18" is all I have left. These Chem4 showing here have sister plants (cloned, repotted and, vegged with) just 8 ft away under a 400 MH and they are in perfect health. These here were perfect 3 days ago (until I put them under the LEDs). Whole room stays between 74-80. No night time for them yet. Going to flip them Friday to 12/12. I measured coco in the rootzone temp yesterday. Its 75°

Thanks for sharing and the advice.
 
DJXX

DJXX

Active member
Veteran
i am new to LED so will be watching how you fix it...i have had no issues at all with mine yet but always like to learn..DJXX
 
RedBeardy5

RedBeardy5

Active member
This happens to me, just yesterday I put my mothers under leds and the droop began. They are not used to it yet, back the light off. It's more of the spectrum the plants are not used to, that's why I only buy leds you can dimm know.
 
J

johndoe123

Oh forgot to mention I have noticed an increased need in Calmag with Leds.
 
Boyd Crowder

Boyd Crowder

Teem MiCr0B35
This is what Mars sent me after my purchase. Hope it helps

"Recommended light above plants for seeding and veg time:
135W~165W----------1~1.5(ft)
240W~450W----------1.5~2(ft)
600W~900W----------2.5~3(ft)
1000W~1200W--------3.5~4(ft)
Recommended light above plants for flowering time:
135W~165W----------1.5~2(ft)
240W~450W----------2~3(ft)
600W~900W----------3~3.5(ft)
1000W~1200W--------4~4.5(ft)
We suggest Each square meter 400w led (power draw 200w-240w)for veg, 600w led (power draw 300w-360w)for flowering
Best way flowering time use some HPS mix with led, Such as 3LED with one HPS, This will make quality and biggest yields flower.
Note: USE LED feed Less water overall less nutrients... but More cal/mag,plant structure will be different, wider leaves even on sativas plant leaf and stem exposed to light will become purple... this is not a deficiency，3 watts you can get pretty close without burning.
Indoor use only
Lights maximum working time do not over 20hours per day.
Don't use in the dripping water or dripping irrigation place to avoid light damage.
Do not look directly to this light when its working, The lights waves might cause impaired your eyes.

Using indications for our reflector lights with growth/bloom switches:
You need turn on growth switch when you want to use this light to growth stage, and you need to turn on two switches when you want to use this light to flowering/fruits.

About the MARS 2 5W light have daisy chain function, but each conection do not over 1500W power draw otherwise the power cord will be get on fire."
 
J

johndoe123

Hey Boyd good info. Do you know if these distances are for actual power draw or rated model? My Mars 2 1200 watt only draws 650 watts.
 
S

Sxott

New member
I moved the light to over 30". They seem to be coming back. Ill let ya all know how it goes in awhile. Wont leave ya hanging.
 
S

Sxott

New member
I know all about PAR compared to unusable light so here is my thing. HPS and MH still have more useable light (par) because of their efficiency. HPS puts off 140 -150 lumens per watt. LEDs dont even come close to that with the colors that are used for growing. There are LEDs that have high efficiency (passing hps) but its white and turned up in lab conditions. These colored ones are still pretty low. Much below even 60% of an HPS

Here are some par footprints of some various LEDs compared to a 400w MH and HPS
http://growershouse.com/images/ALTEST_infographic_1.pdf

As you can see the numbers are not much different. Not enough to cause a major shock to the plants.

Now here is some PAR (not lumens) readings from a 1000W HPS

http://growershouse.com/blog/hid-bu...-solistek-lumatek-maxlume-growlite-ultra-sun/

As you can see a HPS still smokes the LEDs even in useable light. AND the LEDs numbers drop off very fast when you move off to the side. (reason I bought 2 instead of one)

So with this data, it does not make sense to me that they would experience such a shock. So Im still trying to wrap my head around this. I just know that if I cant get my LEDs down to about 12", I might as well be using t-5s

I really want them to work because I really like there ease of use and heat factor. Also it seems they grow better quality buds. Here is just one guy that had some test run in comparison.

http://youtu.be/YrUDJA00soI

We will see. Ill just keep lowering them down when they permit me and judge by the results. Going to mix up a batch of nutes with plenty of cal mag in a few and lower the lights 6" soon as Im done with this post.
 
W

WeetisPotPie

I have been doing research on different lighting and I thought I read somewhere that if you are using LEDs you should use them at the very start of veg till you finish flower. In other words going from MH in veg to LED in flower would stress the plants? Could it be the plants don't like the change in lighting spectrum?
 
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