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Light emitting diodes (LEDs) basics 101

Vandenberg

Active member

LED grow lights are composed of multiple individual light-emitting diodes,
with a heat sink of various configurations.
LED grow lights do not usually require a separate ballast and can be plugged directly into a standard electrical socket.

Individual LEDs usually provide only a single narrow range of colors, and so different color LEDs are mixed in grow lights in proportions depending on the intended use.

It is known from the study of photomorphogenesis that green, red, far-red and blue light spectra have an effect on root formation, plant growth, and flowering, but there are not enough scientific studies or field-tested trials using LED grow lights to recommend specific color ratios for optimal plant growth under LED grow lights.

It has been shown that many plants can grow normally if given both red and blue light.
However, many studies indicate that red and blue light only provides the most cost efficient method of growth, plant growth is still better under light supplemented with green.

White LED grow lights provide a full spectrum of light designed to mimic natural light, providing plants a balanced spectrum of red, blue and green.

The spectrum used varies, however, white LED grow lights are designed to emit similar amounts of red and blue light with the added green light to appear white. ...

The diodes used in initial LED grow light designs were usually 1/3 watt to 1 watt in power.
However, higher wattage diodes such as 3 watt and 5 watt diodes are now commonly used in LED grow lights.

To prevent leaf burn, LED grow lights should be kept between 12 inches (30 cm) away from plants for lower wattage lamps (under 300 watts) up to 36 inches (91 cm) away from plants for higher wattage lamps (1000 watts or more).


Historically, LED lighting was very expensive, but costs have greatly reduced over time, and their longevity has made them more popular.
LED grow lights are often priced higher, watt-for-watt, than other LED lighting, due to design features that help them to be more energy efficient and last longer.

++++++±+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
As for myself, I've done gone and fallen in some very serious love with my Samsung chipped, "Quantum Board" style of LED growlights and do highly recommend them.+++++++:wave:
This particular brand of the current 2020 generation lights threatens to offer a good to excellent high efficacy rating of PPF per Joule (2.7 ?mol/J @ 110V AC), if that means anything to ya.
P.S.
If buying new led grow lights,
friends don't let friends buy "Blurple" lights.
):wave:

Happy gardening ya'll
Vandenberg :)
 
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Vandenberg

Active member
She's a sexy little thing ;)

She's a sexy little thing ;)

I could easily fall in love with your product line, ( but don't tell my other lamps ;) ) this equipment just oozes impressive quality (of the components) at a very fair price for what's delivered.
I was about to pull the trigger on these and buy a pair of your Mars Hydro led 2000's lamps but the wife surprised me on my birthday and gifted me with a competitive brand of lamps out her piggy bank.

I would certainly highly recommend the Mars Hydro LED product line to anybody (Newbie or advanced) that wants to set themselves up with a quality led to help assure cultivation success right out of the gate.
Stack your deck to make sure you win.
Bad to do while playing blackjack and Poker...
Good to do when growing.

Happy Gardening Y'all :)

Vandenberg :)
 
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Vandenberg

Active member
Life's funny, try not to blink much, because the decades do roll right on by.
Thirty odd years, (odd, to say the least ;) ) if she buys something for me, I do smile and say "Thank you very much honey" and I'm grateful that she loves me.
Openly wishing it was another brand upon opening would not earn me any "brownie points", of this I am sure. ;)
I think Santa is probably on the hook this Christmas for an overstuffed "Lazyboy recliner", but don't tell anyone. :)
"A happy wife is a happy life", to coin a real old saying.

Vandenberg :

Advantages of LED grow lights

LED lights should be used for indoor gardening because they're energy efficient, easy to install, have a longer lifespan than other lights, and produce less heat than other lights.
Compared to other lights--like high pressure sodium lights, metal halide lights, incandescent lights, and high-intensity discharge lights--LED have a lot of benefits.

LED lights last way longer--typically around 10 years or 50,000 hours. That's tremendously long, considering the fact that other types of lights might burn out within just a few months or a year.

Another huge plus to using LED lights is that they have very minimal energy consumption (compared to energy hog HID's) which means that LEDs will cost you far less than any other type of light after the initial investment.

Let's stack on another benefit to using LED grow lights: Since LED lights produce less heat, you can put them closer to your plants.
They can be placed between 12-30 inches above the plants and have a low probability of burning the plants.

Speaking of stacking:
An interesting advanced technique revolves around being that since you only need relatively little space between an LED light & your plant, you can stack shelves of plants & lights vertically, somewhat easily, doubling, tripling, or even quadrupling the amount you can grow from each square foot of floor space.
Stacking vertically with led lights is a relatively new practice that has a lot of yield per (think 3Dimensional chess) square foot potential for an ambitious hobbyists.
Interesting technique.
 
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