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Using LED lights in a vert grow.

soil margin

Active member
Veteran
Is this possible? It seems like the shape of LED grow lights is specific to horizontal setups. Anyone done this or seen pics of someone who has?
 
Good question, Soil Margin!

Because most LED fixtures are configured into flat/horizontal panels, they do tend to lend themselves better to horizontal grows, providing an even spread of light across the canopy...

...BUT, with a little creative ingenuity, LED fixtures can be configured for vertical use. There are a couple of folks I've seen doing vert LED grows, but they're usually horizontal style fixtures, turned 90*, lighting a wall of plants.

The only person, that I'm aware of, who's built a vert LED fixture for traditional donut type vert growth is myself. Will it be counterproductive? Not sure, as I haven't put them through a cycle yet, but they seem promising so far.

I've built a ~100w horizontal seedling/clone light, a ~200w vertical veg light, and most of a ~480w vertical flower light. I should (FINALLY) be receiving the 480w driver today, so I can finish and fire up the flower fixture. So far the clone light and vert veg light are working well. The vert veg light is actually being tested flowering a couple of plants in a 4x4 tent at the moment, and they're looking good; pretty blinding. The 480w light should be even better!

I don't have any pics up yet, but if you'd like, you can check out my thread in LED section. There are diagrams and plans that will at least give you an idea of how to make a DIY vert LED fixture for traditional vert style growing.

Here's the link to my thread: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=341924

I hope this helps satisfy your curiosity, and sparks some ideas for your own setup.
Good luck!
 
Now that the lights are up and going in their new homes, I can give you an idea what they look like actually built, with a couple plants around them. I also added a few more pics to my original thread. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer. :tiphat:

picture.php


picture.php
 

skweetis

New member
Nice build Medicine man! I went with a simple one myself, just four aluminum slabs bolted together with 3 cbx 3590s each side, and a couple computer fans up top. While it's not the prettiest site, and I did match the energy of the 600 watt HPS it was replacing, it actually works out quite well! I know it's hard to emulate the 360 degree output of a single bulb with 12 little cobs, but without lenses they do throw out enough overlap to get the job done. Rocked them all last year with great results, this current batch is at 3 weeks flower tomorrow :headbange

 

stim

Active member
badass grow man I just checked your gg4 pics Nice! Great build
Nice build Medicine man! I went with a simple one myself, just four aluminum slabs bolted together with 3 cbx 3590s each side, and a couple computer fans up top. While it's not the prettiest site, and I did match the energy of the 600 watt HPS it was replacing, it actually works out quite well! I know it's hard to emulate the 360 degree output of a single bulb with 12 little cobs, but without lenses they do throw out enough overlap to get the job done. Rocked them all last year with great results, this current batch is at 3 weeks flower tomorrow :headbange

[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=75691&pictureid=1814749&thumb=1]View Image[/url] [URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=75691&pictureid=1814748&thumb=1]View Image[/url]
 

soil margin

Active member
Veteran
Now that the lights are up and going in their new homes, I can give you an idea what they look like actually built, with a couple plants around them. I also added a few more pics to my original thread. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer. :tiphat:

My only question is where can I get some of those hah. They look amazing. I wish there was a retail version of something like that.
 
My only question is where can I get some of those hah. They look amazing. I wish there was a retail version of something like that.

Dude, I’m so sorry for not getting to this months ago! I’ve had computer problems, etc, but thought I replied at one point.

I actually built that light with LED strips and parts mostly from alibaba, so it’s not commercially available as a unit, unfortunately. It was probably around a dollar per watt to build the 2 veg lights (120 & 240w max) and 1 flower light (480w max), but I’m sure you can get even better deals now, if you already haven’t.

As far as performance, I can say that the leds, even from alibaba, have been great for this patient, in their environment. Long story short, 2+g/lw potential has been seen, with much more possible, in an optimally dialed environment.

I’d add images, but I don’t have any on this iPad. I’ll edit some in here or my thread, or both, when I can.

Anyway, bump for this thread, and the vert section in general!
 

copperfacedave

Active member
I've got 8 265watt samsung quantum LEDs vert around 4 trees with a 1000 hps in the middle. First time running the room like this usually run 600w in corners with 1000w in middle. There's about 2 weeks left in flower buds look good but not as big as usual. I've think the LEDs are to far away (over 2ft) from plants and the plants did not stretch as much when they where first put into flower. I'll give this set up another go hopefully correcting these mistake.
 

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
My friends shop sells led strips with hook+loop straps. There to strap to tent poles as side-lighting.

I'm not sure the idea of a vertical light surrounded by plants works with leds. I used the 40x40 tent to do some quick finger maths. Lets say the lights need to be 10cm from the plant. That would mean the middle 20cm of our 40 was occupied by the lights. Giving 10cm of plant space around it. Looking at surface area of the grow, I will give it a value of 80 (cm?)

Now the same space could have side-lighting instead. Based on our 10cm space from light to plants, with have the green in the middle now, occupying the 20cm, giving the same surface area of 80. So what's the difference?

With lights around the outside, and green in the middle, you could quite easily have one plant in the middle, that you can take out. Either using a support system that attaches to the pot, or building a more elaborate screen of green arrangement. Having just one plant you can take out to train has real advantages. Not stopping there, we can improve things further by putting that plant on a revolving platform. They are just £10 and give such uniform growth it's astounding (want pics?). This also means you don't need 4 light panels. You could just have one. But don't stop there, because with just one panel, you don't need 10cm of space right round the plant. In fact, you don't even need 10cm between the plant and light now. Your surface area is now a round basket of 30cm diameter, and as everyone loves pie, we can see our 80 just lifted to 95. 15% more. Plus the now moving tree leads to better light penetration, as it finds every angle.

The vert we all think of was thought up because hids emit light in all directions, so placing plants in all directions was good use of them. Using leds in that way will work, but nothing is driving us to do so.

Have you seen rolling bookcases? Now that is what you can do with leds. We don't have to fit our plants around what the lights can do when using leds. We can fit the lights around what our plants can do. Side-lighting. Up-lighting. Through-lighting. They don't need to swallow up space.
 

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
I like what your doing there. It makes me think of the wheeled clothes rails that fashion houses and market traders use. Often found in home stores for $10 with telescopic action. They have always been useful for lighting applications (after swapping a few poles for longer ones) but this could be the ultimate use for them. Mobile light walls. You can position them easily. Change their height. Or just unplug and wheel out the way completely. You could have a 40cm alleyway between rows, used mostly for lighting, but pull them out to use it for access as required.

I'm going to price some retrofit linear tubes, that require no ballast. I know of a scrog that could easily gain a net on the side. Those tubes are around 50p a watt with reputable branding. It's a very competitive market. It's the aquarium style connectors that will cost. It should be a quick assembly job. Mechanical protection will be sorely lacking though. 230v tubes that someone could fall on... I need to scratch my head a little longer.
 
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