LED's

Love 'em or hate 'em.

This thread is for folks who either have actual experience growing with them, or at least have an open enough mind to learn what their strengths and limitations are and how to use them intelligently.

Theories are great, but the proof is in the pudding, let's discuss that here.



I other words, let's have a discussion about the practical application of LED's in cannabis cultivation. Let's exchange ideas and methods so we all can grow better.

[asde²]

The PROS i see is that its possible to mix spectrums on demand!
the not existing losses at reflectors we have to deal with using HIDs!
and in the future the very high phyisical energy efficiency...! (at lower prices)

The CONS are yet the bad physical energy efficiency for the most bins!
the very very very (add some more very :/) high price even for bad bins!!!
oh, and ofc, the crowd of led panel sellers who claim their product to be god made making the whole led technology look bad because people who buy it for way too much money gets disappointed by their shitty lies!!!!!!!!
im sorry to all legit sellers who try to boost the science, your too rare to mention! (i actually never met you )

thats about the led itself, methods and ideas may follow later.. we'll see how it evolve

The PROS i see is that its possible to mix spectrums on demand!
the not existing losses at reflectors we have to deal with using HIDs!
and in the future the very high phyisical energy efficiency...! (at lower prices)

The CONS are yet the bad physical energy efficiency for the most bins!
the very very very (add some more very :/) high price even for bad bins!!!
oh, and ofc, the crowd of led panel sellers who claim their product to be god made making the whole led technology look bad because people who buy it for way too much money gets disappointed by their shitty lies!!!!!!!!
im sorry to all legit sellers who try to boost the science, your too rare to mention! (i actually never met you )

thats about the led itself, methods and ideas may follow later.. we'll see how it evolve

Hmmmm....

This certainly is not pragmatism, but let's address this up front.

Let's toss aside any marketing hype. I don't sell LED's nor do I want to.

I totally agree that at this point LED's do not make financial sense for the reason you already stated. Still, there has to be a few pioneers who go forward even though it doesn't make that kind of sense yet. I built my own for that very reason. No market hype. No diluted specs. Not even bleeding edge as mine is already been through quite a few grows.

Pragmatism deals with practical application, not rhetoric. That's the intended focus of this thread.

Have you actually grown with LED's yet?

What are your experiences. How did you adapt your techniques to dial in your grows. This is the meat of the matter I wish to examine.

[joe4444]

SupraSPL, Hempyguy, knna, blimblom, DIYer:

I'm glad to see an intelligent, adult conversation about LEDs on this forum. Of the dozens of threads and hundreds of posts I've read this week very few are as professional and factual. That said, most of your conversation went right over my head.


Hempyguy: This thread looks very promising, too.

Getting to the point...I may be in the market for a 100-200W LED, and I need some advice from someone who won't feed me bullshit. My primary reason for choosing LED over a 250-400W HPS is heat. I have experience with closet grows, and I'm 100% certain I cannot sufficiently control the heat from a 250W HPS in my current apartment's closet. If the LED grow journals I've seen are honest, then I think a 126W or 205W LED from Hydro-Grow (LEDGirl) is manageable. Basically it looks like my options are either LED or no growing until I move to a new apartment or house.

While Hydro-Grow lights are "certainly not the worst" on the market, do you think they are good enough for an experienced grower to produce high quaLity buds comparable to HPS? Could you recommend any other brands? Of course, you may not have used the specific lights, but I'm asking for your opinion based on your knowledge of the underlying technology.

Possible scenario
I cough up the $500-700 for one of those lights and only complete 2 grows to produce at worst 4oz (0.5gpw under 126W) or at best 14oz (1.0gpw under 205W). On the low end that's about $1,600 worth of buds at my current supplier's rate. If that's all I get and I have to trash all my equipment, then I'd come out ahead and consider it a successful grow for my needs. If the result is closer to the high end, then I'd give away the light and spend the next couple of years burning through my stash before I attempt another grow (maybe with 5th generation LEDs by then!)...more than pleased to put it mildly.


I hope this falls into the practical application area of this thread and I'm not hijacking. Thanks in advance!

[sanjuan]

I'm investing in the LEDs because I won't need the steady exhaust for cooling the pair of 600W HPS I originally planned. This will make the grow more obscure. I also worry about the fire hazard of HID lights in a tent.

[yesum]

Your math is off by 2x.( my reading was off sorry) I got 2.4 oz. from 126 watts first grow with landrace seed. If you got 4 oz, I would be surprised.
Look into defoliation thread, I will be doing that after sexing plants, should yield close to 4 oz. this time.

[joe4444]

Originally Posted by yesum

Your math is off by 2x. I got 2.4 oz. from 126 watts first grow with landrace seed. If you got 4 oz, I would be surprised.
Look into defoliation thread, I will be doing that after sexing plants, should yield close to 4 oz. this time.

Maybe my wording wasn't very clear. The math takes into account 2 grows. If I get seeds started in the next 5-6 weeks, then I will have time to sex, clone, and flower...then clone and flower again before the lease on my apartment is up and I move.

Thanks for the response. Do you have the 126W light from Hydro-Grow?

I just found one of your recent posts. You grew this under LED light??? Very nice looking plant. It's hard to tell without a size reference in the photo, but that looks very similar to my results under 250W HPS, which is exactly what I hope to achieve with LEDs.

[Weezard]

Originally Posted by Hempyguy

LED's

Love 'em or hate 'em.

This thread is for folks who either have actual experience growing with them, or at least have an open enough mind to learn what their strengths and limitations are and how to use them intelligently.

Theories are great, but the proof is in the pudding, let's discuss that here.



I other words, let's have a discussion about the practical application of LED's in cannabis cultivation. Let's exchange ideas and methods so we all can grow better.

Practical application?
Now we're talkin'.
The proof is in the budding, indeed.
Had some very nice budding last year.


Experience in practical application?
'bout all I do have.
See my albums.

Can't help much with math n details.
See KNNA for that.
I'm a lazy, cut and try, kine guy.
I know a li'l electronics and have a "busy mind" so with all that in mind, how can I help?

Aloha,
Weezard

[SOTF420]

I use LED exclusively now I am an old school HID grower now fully converted. I use Procyon 100's for veg (have 3) and 330 watt Lumigrow ES's for flowering. Plants veg faster than outdoors or HID under LED and they grow stocky short & bushy. I have excellent results in flowering with dense potent delicious nugs that are better than what I used to grow under HPS lights. You can check my album for pics and I fully recommend the Lumigrow lights they are very effective and extremely well made.

Greeting Weezard!

I already have built my own DIY LED light and have been using them for a few years now, but your offer here is greatly appreciated! I was hoping to generate some discussion on the grow and how it differs for the other methods. Kind of a clearing house for such info for those who haven't done so.

SOTF420,
While I can appreciate your recommendations for brands, that's not what I'm looking for.

Let me start the discussion and anyone can jump in here.

1) I have found that I should run the temps a bit higher than I did with HID's due to less warming by radiant energy. What are your (pl) experiences in this regards?

2) Through experience I have found that my trichs will only cloud up and not turn amber using LED's so now I harvest when I get 100% milky. I also found if I lay the harvest in the sun for a few hours, the milky trichs start turning amber. I suspect the lack of UV, but I'm not sure. BTW even the non amber'd trich's pack the same wallop and the ones exposed to the sun. So I suspect no net gain by this. Comments?

3) How design affects and various packaging of emitters, frequency ratios etc the distance both using inverse square law and color/frequency manipulation.

This is where I was hoping this discussion would go, not one mfr vs another kind of stuff.

Joe4444, see the above, but again I will not squash or rebuke any kind of information exchange on this thread

Go get it folks!

H.G.