Off the shelf retail store screw-in LED and CFL bulb comparisons

[Samuel Caldwell]

Normally my veg tent but I flipped it to 12/12 around 2 1/2 weeks ago. Lots of LST to keep them down until they get moved to the larger flower room, as space opens up.

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[pothead66]

Hello pothead66!

I have mini grow box of similar dimensions, just a bit smaller(L60,W27,H70).

I am growing SOG from seed (11/13) in small 12oz party cups(0.35L).

Have 78w of SILs in that space. Returns are 1gpw average.

Blessed be

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Thanks so much for this post. the pic speaks a thousand words..
I have a bigger box now at about *85cm height so i`ll be using that.
Gonna do a seed sog too, with some afghan and berry bomb seeds in 500ml cups.. It looks like I`ll need another 20w in there ...
What strains did you grow? Any veg time? I thought about vegging for 3-4 weeks and cut them down as necessary before flipping (saw this in an old micro sog thread)

 

[Dr.Young]

^THIS.

Though I will say you can flower at 20w per sqft with impressive results. That said, I’m switching to 27w per sqft as I’m starting to push em a bit harder.

Yeah, Terpene your 20w-per ft Ethiopian definitely was a good scale for me in my mind.. That showed me that they can penetrate great at 20w ft overhead canopy. If you put the other 20w per*ft as sidelight it would be

Repuk, the Leds are 14w 25 diode. Dunno if 5.6w a diode is high? Basically as efficient as a 150w qb 288 lm561 maxed out.....

 

[noknees]

Thanks so much for this post. the pic speaks a thousand words..
I have a bigger box now at about *85cm height so i`ll be using that.
Gonna do a seed sog too, with some afghan and berry bomb seeds in 500ml cups.. It looks like I`ll need another 20w in there ...
What strains did you grow? Any veg time? I thought about vegging for 3-4 weeks and cut them down as necessary before flipping (saw this in an old micro sog thread)

use some caution when you add the extra wattage. the 15w class bulbs really thump, way more than you'd expect, especially in small spaces

 

[noknees]

If you want to achieve an even canopy, in addition to LST you'll need to play with the SILs Color Temp Mix, watts per sq feet and distance to the tops.

Specially with sativas. I'd rather use two 7-way multipliers with a mix of 11-15W max SILs in addition to your existing 17W ones.

This way it will be easy to play with 25-30-40w per sq feet in a 2'x2'.

If you're in veg, 25w per sq feet should do. 12" should be perfect, watch the plants, do they stretch to individual SILs? or grow straight vertically? happy turgent fans? then the distance is perfect.

Once you flip to flower upping watts per sq feet, and lowering the lights gradually to 6" (again, watch how she reacts) will help stopping the stretch.

Again, it depends on the type of SILs you have. High individual LED chip count? You'll be able to hang down the lights closer. Low LED chip count? You'll need to keep the lights higher.

Mixing mid and high cool whites (4000-5000-6500K) 50/50 or so with 2700-3000K in flower seem to help a lot managing stretch, and promoting frost later on.

In veg using 4000-6500K improves stalk and overall "bulking up" rates in an impressive way.

Hello pothead66!

I have mini grow box of similar dimensions, just a bit smaller(L60,W27,H70).

I am growing SOG from seed (11/13) in small 12oz party cups(0.35L).

Have 78w of SILs in that space. Returns are 1gpw average.

Blessed be

300 posts in 13 years? thanks for sharing, great info!

 

[pothead66]

use some caution when you add the extra wattage. the 15w class bulbs really thump, way more than you'd expect, especially in small spaces

I`ll just add 2 x 9/10 watters .. maybee 4 x 9/10?


Q: if I mount the sockets on the exterior, and isolate them in a small box with a passive intake pc fan will that do the job? This ''cooling box and fan" won`t interact with the growbox, they`re completely separated..

Sooo many variables and ways to just f**k it up .. ph and ppm control, parasites (I`m certain they will appear in this box), height, ventilation, humidity and temps.. strain, lights, substrate.. they`re all scary and I know I`ll have to fail to learn.. fack

Outdoors - No worries with pests that I can`t control, nute issues, ph swings, cheap soils, cheap nutes etc.... I love the outdoors but I guess I gotta move on, I suppose... :friends:

 

[noknees]

I`ll just add 2 x 9/10 watters .. maybee 4 x 9/10?


Q: if I mount the sockets on the exterior, and isolate them in a small box with a passive intake pc fan will that do the job? This ''cooling box and fan" won`t interact with the growbox, they`re completely separated..

Sooo many variables and ways to just f**k it up .. ph and ppm control, parasites (I`m certain they will appear in this box), height, ventilation, humidity and temps.. strain, lights, substrate.. they`re all scary and I know I`ll have to fail to learn.. fack

Outdoors - No worries with pests that I can`t control, nute issues, ph swings, cheap soils, cheap nutes etc.... I love the outdoors but I guess I gotta move on, I suppose... :friends:

the cooling box could be worth doing just for extra height. a couple extra sockets would be good for a nice even canopy (since you're planning a SOG) and increased flexibility--freedom to experiment with spectrum and intensity.

basically if you build your cab around the 8/9/10 watt bulbs and end up needing more light, that's an easy fix. plus the 8/9/10 bulbs are dirt cheap.

 

[Dr.Young]

Looking at quantum board par numbers with, and without a tent.

Its definitely Mandatory, or a vital key component to have reflective material with SILs the lower the wattage per sq ft the more important.

The difference between reflective vs no reflective is the difference between being mandatory\required to keep 6-12" away without reflective material, or being able to do 18-24" away and actually gain ppfd on setups near the 35w\sq ft area....

Lower watt per sq ft like 20w\sqft you gotta keep them fairly close no with or without reflective walls. With reflective walls you gain a huge distance buffer that allows you distance options. That without reflective walls you would dramatically lose yield results by having the light 1-2" too far.
I'd say reflectors on the lightbulbs themselves is a horrible idea for SILs. One of the main advantages of SIL spread is the ability to take advantage of the horizontal lighting that spills sideways. While being able to keep them close enough for a high ppfd with a very low wattage.

 

[BigHitGuy420]

Anybody know what the par is on these sils.

 

[blackone]

I'm really impressed with what you can do with standard light bulbs Might get inspired to make a small grow on the side myself. Just can't believe how expensive lamp holders are locally... They're very cheap to order from China of course but I'm not really too interested in that.
For now I'm going for retrofit T8 tubes for veg. Just ordered some 15W 4000K Osram Substitube UO. They're supposed to be 2400lm, or 160 lm/W. The old 36W flouros were around 3300lm, but with a 360 degree angle vs the 160 degree angle of the LED tubes I believe they should still perform at least as well - for less than half of the wattage.

 

[repuk]

I'd say reflectors on the lightbulbs themselves is a horrible idea for SILs. One of the main advantages of SIL spread is the ability to take advantage of the horizontal lighting that spills sideways. While being able to keep them close enough for a high ppfd with a very low wattage.

Hood Reflectors are totally useless with SILs.

SILs already direct light in 180 Degrees without any reflexions, which is exactly the key of LEDs being much more efficient than other lightning methods.

Anybody know what the par is on these sils.

Blynx did some measurements at the beggining of the thread I think others too.

Personally, even being a nerdy-techy kind of guy, I don't care... Just look watts, K, and LED chip count on the SIL. GPW will be 1-1,5, (of real watts drawn) those are all the parameters I need to know...

 

[HuffnPufferfish]

Anybody know what the par is on these sils.

0.8 - 1.1 umol back when i had it tested i think the fluor it replaced was 0.8, but nondirected haha

 

[repuk]

Hello pothead66!

I have mini grow box of similar dimensions, just a bit smaller(L60,W27,H70).

I am growing SOG from seed (11/13) in small 12oz party cups(0.35L).

Have 78w of SILs in that space. Returns are 1gpw average.

Blessed be

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Simplicity is the Utmost Sophistication…lovely solution if yield is enough for one needs, lovely pic!

I bet that watt figure is not random at all? That's 44watts per sq feet if I'm not too stoned …

How much plants going on at the same time (guess on different phases)? What's your method key points? coco?



This would be a killer ultra efficient method of "screening" for phenos! take a micro cut as soon as the plant can stand it, and save it.

Once plant from seed is tested, if not worth, cut is culled.

A Huge amount of cuts can be kept with little power, which will compensate for the 20/4 more expensive cycle.

Mix that with coco + salts, and simplicity and efficiency skyrockets: cost can plummet ridiculously for personal usage.

Then once spring comes… let mother nature do its magic outdoors => hauling water buckets

Any veg time? I thought about vegging for 3-4 weeks and cut them down as necessary before flipping (saw this in an old micro sog thread)

That's the beauty of cannanaut method. You don't do anything but set a space with lights to 11/13, sow a seed, feed them, once flower finishes, harvest them; sow a seed… and repeat.

SILs will do the rest: at 1gpw.

As long as you nail it, skills required of course, guess one of the key points is providing a smooth overall "life"?.

 

[BigHitGuy420]

Hood Reflectors are totally useless with SILs.

SILs already direct light in 180 Degrees without any reflexions, which is exactly the key of LEDs being much more efficient than other lightning methods.




Blynx did some measurements at the beggining of the thread I think others too.

Personally, even being a nerdy-techy kind of guy, I don't care... Just look watts, K, and LED chip count on the SIL. GPW will be 1-1,5, (of real watts drawn) those are all the parameters I need to know...

Yeah but I think he just did a measurement on lux and not par but I will look again.

 

[blynx]

It was lux, not par.

 

[Cigarette1]

Hello all been out for a bit. Been reading all the post here is my question and issue.

1- setup is a 32"×32"×62" tent looking to maximize all space thinking of 14- 14.5w the 7way splitters and 6-10w 3way all ( these are what I have lol). How do I wire correctly instead of using 4 surge protecters. Want 250w or more safely

 

[Terpene]

My screw in LED cab got a bath vanity strip upgrade. I am now at 26w per sqft in flower.

I'm a child.

 

[blackone]

Nice big buds for such small pots How often are you watering them?

 

[Terpene]

Nice big buds for such small pots How often are you watering them?

Thanks! I was pretty happy with the development from 20w per sqft (what it was at previous to today) in soil, but felt I could get a more even light spread / better intensity / improved presentation with the vanity strips.

I'm watering every other day on average, I can spread it out a bit if I leave some extra water in the trays and let em wick from the bottom.

 

[repuk]

My screw in LED cab got a bath vanity strip upgrade. I am now at 26w per sqft in flower.

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I'm a child.

hahahahahah! ROFL ! I want that same smoke you were on!