the truth about leds....

[igrowwithleds]

Thought I would help. Before I started using leds.....i was looking at a bunch of different indoor growing options. Hydro....soil.....hps.....cfl......nutes....Holy shit theres a lot of options. Then i bumped into leds. First off...i was seriously interested and secondly.....liked the idea of no heat.
I looked at literally 50 sites on leds....reading and trying to understand how they work. Then i started seeing the videos on you tube and thought this was going to be a long ride but i also figured it was a bunch of guys trying out something and maybe they werent doing it right. They werent and after talking with some pretty smart people.....gardeners.....botanists.....i was able to understand the aspects of lighting. Plus I read the shit out of light spectrums...wavelengths....nanometers.....lumens.. ...par.......quantum meters.....it goes on and on. Then the search for the right light.
Not all lighting companies are the same....even hps people know that. My hps experience shows that hortilux is the best. Same was true with leds. i called a bunch of places...and like anything else....the smartest people and the better product was there. I really didnt want to try a "hopes it works mentality" with leds....too effin expensive.
So....long story short......if you want to know how leds....good ones.....read and investigate and youll see the right lights are there. Just like anything else....if your not doing what your plants want....you get shit results. Lil water....lil grow....lil bucket....lil plant.....lil co2....lil bush......etc. etc. Im here sharing like everyone else and btw.....this site rocks compared to others. peace!!!!!!

[curbendurben]

LED lights are shit am not convinced this is the way forward in light technology
how can a little thing that was designed to let you know that your TV is in standby
grow ganja plants Doesnt add up
You cant beat a Good old 1000watt HPS badboy, gives off alot of heat but so does the SUN !!!

[igrowwithleds]

apparently you didnt read. thanks though. i dont care what you "think" about leds the fact is you "know" nothing about them or youve used leds that were under powered. Actually sounds like your just a hater and have never tried them. Its ok....its my choice not yours and i love them. have a great day....and peace....

[Jim Dunlop]

LED's will never compare to HIDs in terms of growth and yield. PERIOD.

[boricuapuffer]

Originally Posted by Jim Dunlop

LED's will never compare to HIDs in terms of growth and yield. PERIOD.

i agree with the gentleman as before, LED's are great! provided you use one's with the proper wattage, you will be ok!, i started using led's and i can say that they do a wonderful job at vegetating the plants quickly and im about to start flowering so i will see how good they do at that. once i have perfected my grow technique i plan on doing a whole section on my led grow with pics and stats on everything! dont simply write off LED, its still in its infant stages of development but after what i have seen first hand it is definately the future in terms of indoor horticulture growing! just do your research and you will see that it is indeed a viable option to grow MJ!

[blazned]

check out the led grow by buffbuds, he was at reeferworld, but that sights down, im pretty sure he also was posting at icmag. ive seen others growing with the ufo led and another brand thats even better, the ufo has comparable results to a 400W hps. this is fact. if i could afford it id get one for each plant, but i cannot even get one currently so cfl's it is. anyway, they work and work well if getting the right kind, if you believe otherwise you are ill informed or not informed at all. check out the led grows on icmag. plenty of evidence to support that they work and work well. they are definately going to be the future of indoor growing if not banned. they work so well with no heat whatsoever that i believe when perfected they will prolly get banned. thats how good the right ones work. the only downfall to the leds currently out is the price, but given some time and advancements, this will come down as they catch on. the ufo has already dropped $200.00 in price in the last 6 months. starting to get in the range of affordable, especially when you consider their life and no heat. $399 isnt bad when it will last nearly something like 15 years.

[chemicalcomfort]

I got 2 big problems with LED's.

I've yet to see some real side-by-side evidence that shows LED's grow as good or better than HID. I've caught a number of videos on youtube showing side-by-side grows of LED's vs. HID lights and it always seems like they try to talk up the LED's but I can see with my own two eyes that the HID lights are producing better plants and buds.

Secondly, I don't buy the whole "LED's put out the exact light spectrum plants need" argument. An LED might put out exactly 6500k but has a very limited spectrum and won't put out anything else. HID lights on the other hand have a very wide spectrum of light output, more closely replicating the sun. Since we as people don't fully understand what the plant uses with all the different spectrums of light, i'd rather have a nice broad spectrum. I know you can mix and match LED's but that's still not enough.

That's my .02

[rave420]

Well... I am quite the science guy and have a degree in physics. I believe that LED's are vastly superior to HID's, comparing only facts.

See, HID's are monstrous devices if you look at it. They create a lot of light that escapes everywhere unfocused randomly in every direction, and creating a lot of heat. They have a verry spread out broad spectrum that is has "just a little bit of everything". Further, their life is extremly short.

LED's are tiny little devices. They create a fair amount of light that escapes in a focused way, creating hardly any heat at all. LED's emit one wavelenght only, therefore all their energy goes into this one wavelenght. Their lifespan is more realistic.


Now, if you compare these, you see the advantages. It's easy to fire up one huge HID and have the thing growing. But you could use lots of LED's to make your own spectrum and fit lots of them on a smaller space.


I think it's a misconception that people think plants need visible light to grow. We know exactly at what wavelenght the photosynthetic response in plants is triggered. Plants get all their energy from one certain frequency of light that is absorbed by chlorophyl. That is all we need. Now we produce a ton of that wavelenght only, and the plant will grow. Isn't that way more optimized that the HID?

With the 400W MH we might only have a tiny bit of energy going towards that certain wavelength, and the rest is wasted. Imagine what you could do if yout take these 400W, put them in LED's and produce this one special wavelenght


IMHO, as soon as they get affordable and maybe a tad more powerfull they will kick HID'S ass

[igrowwithleds]

Its great there are people who actually study. and learn. and just dont repeat the constant "leds suck" rant because they saw an under powered led grow.
I agree with rave 420 because its truth and science....it isnt up for debate. Facts are facts.
To repeat without actually spending the time and money to grow your own with leds.....your really just re-spewing biased negativity that has no real fact to it.
The one question I have....and believe there is a relevancy to this question....is....Im wondering.....for marijuana....if the plant actually needs to reflect more light to be a better yielding plant. An auto-immune reaction caused by the stress of refecting light which in fact may be the missing link to bettter yields for leds. Scientifically the lights are getting the perfect wavelength to support extremely fast veg growth from leds and I wonder if uv or uvb is necessary in a bad/good way for weed growth......
The hps isnt my choice.....but i wouldnt say anything bad about them either. vacts are facts......hid lighting is hot and costly but for the people who chose that light....those are acceptable variables for them. I dont want to argue in here.....or bad nouth.....just share with others who have a common interest.
and about the pics.......no one would believe it if I posted great grows with my leds.....the next arguement would be Im lying and just saying it was leds....so im hesitant about the pics. Im on day 3 of flowering and i will post the entire flowering in week intervals....after my grow is finished.....for safety reasons... peace!!!!!!!!!!!

[igrowwithleds]

also......there are TWO different ufo's. ledufo and growufo. I use the growufo. The ledufo uses a 7:2 ratio with blue and red....and the growufo has an 8:1 I find for me.....the 8:1 ratio of 90x1 watt is a better choice. I want to do a side by side grow with each to see where the differences are. Peace

[oskillzzo]

Originally Posted by curbendurben

LED lights are shit am not convinced this is the way forward in light technology
how can a little thing that was designed to let you know that your TV is in standby
grow ganja plants Doesnt add up
You cant beat a Good old 1000watt HPS badboy, gives off alot of heat but so does the SUN !!!

your comparing a 1000watt hps to a 13watt led setup? that doesnt add up

[igrowwithleds]

haha!!! who's comparing that dude? The growufo is a 400 watt equivelent that draws 90 watts from your box. I would compare your 1000 watt hps to a 300 watt led though. Please read. I never mentioned a 13 watt anywhere.

my set up:

"Germination station" 45 watt led panel

seedlings get moved to the 90 watt for veg

flowering.....harvest 300 watt

and im not comparing anything. or debating. its my choice and im sharing it....like everyone else. Would I care if you flowered with 600 bic lighters...lol....nope!!! YOUR CHOICE!!
Have an awesome saturday folks...."lights bowl" shaaaawing!!

[chemicalcomfort]

if you didn't want to debate about it, then why'd you make a thread about it?

basically you just wanted to make thread saying how much you love LED's and anyone who disagrees is a moron?

I know you like to think your opinion is fact, but it's not.

[liquidswords01]

i think i will stay with more traditional methods until i see some real evidence.

[igrowwithleds]

i started a thread about it to share my experiences.......isnt that what its all here for?

its not an opinion...its fact. Mine work. Its your "opinion" that they dont...but your not growing with them and have no facts. I totally respect your "opinion" even if its wrong. lol. peace