Complete LED Setup

Discussion in 'Indoor Grow Journals' started by jrsaw0711, Jul 4, 2013.

  1. #1 jrsaw0711, Jul 4, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 6, 2013
    I have been a hps man since I started (about 3yrs ago). I started using LEDs to vegg for about a year now and I loved the results. First off, I use soil as my medium. I use a 270w blue & white LED to vegg a 2.5x2.5 area. I started out with multi-spectrum (red&blue) in my vegg area but I noticed the blue & white seemed to promote faster growth and green green leaves with very tight internodes. I swore that hps had to be the choice for flowering though. I started with a basic ballast, upgraded to the LUMATEK 1000, then to the Baddass, and finally ended up with Phantoms. 3 of them. They by far out-performed the others, quiet and cool. But after seeing what LED was doing for my vegg girls, I began to wonder what can LED do for flowering. So after some research, I took a leap of faith and sold all my brand new hps equipment and got a 2100w (actual) LED setup consisting of 5 MARS 700 panels, each pulling 420w. LEDs are supposed to peak perform at a gram per actual watt, so each light should do about a pound. I am confident in my research and have faith in my decision to switch. I currently have 2 of the panels setup and about to hook #3 up. I got 5 for a 10x10 tent setup I'm moving to (1 for each quadrant and 1 for the middle). I just wanted to tell my lil story and show off the setup. If people care or start posting, I have no probs giving updates. I currently have like 8 girls under the 2 lights but have an army of clones just about ready to flip. That's the real test... image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg
     
  2. #2 jrsaw0711, Jul 5, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 5, 2013
    image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg

    sour blueberry from Humboldt Seed Org at 35 days into flower
     
  3. image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg

    Cantalope KUSH from reserve PRIVADA at 41 days into flower
     

    Attached Files:

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    1st pic- Blue widow x kandy KUSH at 20 days into flower.

    2nd pic- Cantalope KUSH: my strongest girl. she supplied my army of clones then I decided to flower her out to check her yield & test her fruits :)
     
  5. Very nice! I've always used HID but your results are very nice. Will you be saving electricity (compared to your HID setup)? The difference in temperatures must be really nice.

    Best of luck to you in this. Let me ask - what was the price difference in equipment as compared to HID setups?

    J
     
  6. Hey, thanks for the good vibes. Right now I am saving electricity while running the 2 Mars 700 panels. The two 700w panels are equivalent to my old 2000w hps setup. Follow me: the 2 Mars 700 panels put out 1400 LED watts. That's equivalent to about 2200 watts of hps. And even though they put out 1400 watts, they only draw 840 watts (actual 420w each). So to achieve the same result, running the 2 panels uses 840w compared to 2000w of hps, so I save about half on my electric. So with the 5 panels hooked up I'm only using 2100w (actual). This is comparable in terms of potential output to about 5000w of hps... Hope all that wasn't too confusing
     
  7. #7 jrsaw0711, Jul 5, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 5, 2013
    Oh yeah... the temperature issue...

    My room was beginning to get unbearable with the 2000w of hps. It was settling around 100 degrees and even though I didn't notice any effect on my girls, it was effecting me. Now with the LEDs, the room is back to about 80 degrees. And the Mars units daisy chain together so plugging them in is mad easy. No cords strung everywhere and no extra temperature control needed. But honestly, people will put up with the heat or the cords or the cluster of ballasts & heavy duty hoods, if it produces higher yields. But if LEDs can not only lose the mess of cords, keep a room comfortably cool without extraordinary measures & free up space by eliminating external ballasts & hoods, if LEDs can do all those things AND be shown to produce higher more sustainable yields, what reason do we have to continue neglecting superior technology... Price? WRONG. My LED setup was CHEAPER than my hps!
     
  8. #8 jrsaw0711, Jul 5, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 5, 2013
    I spent the last 6 months trying & testing every LED on eBay and online to see which worked & which didn't. Some Chinese-made panels were straight junk and worthless, others I came to find were better than their name brand counterparts. Start with this: my 2 1000w Phantoms, 2 hoods, & 2 bulbs cost $1000. My two 700w (420w actual) panels cost me $760. The name brand version (BLACKDOG LED), which is exactly the same as my Mars, 2 of their 700w panels (450w actual) cost $2400. More than 3x the price of mine, and the only difference is the logo'd cover panel that comes on a BLACKDOG. And my lights, I got to pick the spectrum. they allow you to customize. I got an 11 band spectrum, IR & UV with it based more towards flowering (red). All I did to get my panels was email the factory directly and they sent me an invoice. AND they accept payPal.

    It just took a lil bit of research and homework to pick the right set of lights and establish a relationship with the supplier. But in return, I got a fantastic deal & a sik sik setup.
     
  9. Just a lil heads up. My cannalope kush threw out nanners. Might just wanna do a real good check. It wasn't even real nanners, they were tucked in with the calyax.
     
  10. Thanks for the heads up. I gonna keep giving her weekly physicals until the end. I just had a feminized blueberry headband come up male so I been on the look-out for any trespassers. 'over here, we cut boys' balls off'.
     
  11. Haha nice. Yeah that bitch threw out balls and pollinated just about every single bud with at least a couple seeds. All the smoke was good though and only for myself so it didn't really bother me.
     
  12. Plants look good by the way man :D
     
  13. Subbed. Been looking at full-on LED grows for awhile.
     
    Looking good dude.
     
  14. #14 jrsaw0711, Jul 5, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 5, 2013
    thank u. I appreciate that. the past 2 months... my thoughts, my dreams, my world has been nothing but 'LEDs'. Every ounce of energy & thought has been spent solely focused on this project. so honestly I appreciate the recognition. Ironically, all this pondering over 'the switch' has left me so little hands-on time with my girls. Them doing well, it's only icing on the cake. My main concern was finding/deciding on a setup that could put me ahead of the game, eliminating the possibility for the need to upgrade again anytime soon. Not only having, but knowing that I can count on my setup to produce leaves me the ability to focus & worry about 1 thing. the most important thing... my girls :) image.jpg
     
  15. #16 jrsaw0711, Jul 5, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 23, 2013
    Check out

    Lgledsolutions.com

    Blackdogled.com

    Tell em 'JR Saw' recommended you for a good price. As you read this thread, you will see a lot of people are learning & trying for themselves an LED panel from LG LED SOLUTIONS.

    .... and remember the MARS II series from lg led solutions are 1/3rd the price of the new BlackDog series. If anybody wants, I can give you contact info for lg led solutions. I have spent 2 months testing & evaluating EVERY grow panel LED available. The MARS II series is not only (in my opinion) the best in terms of quality, it's the best in terms of price too. They run for a lil less than $1 per actual watt (my 420w-actual draw- was $380 shipped). So 420 actual watts for $380. 5watt chips. 11 band spectrum. IR & UV. You try to find a better deal. Can't do it. The fact that the MARS II use 5watt chips is just clutch. everything about this light is 'gold standard'... and make sure when ur looking at lights, make sure the watts u are considering is the actual watts not the output. [from my research] the way you evaluate LEDs potential is (ideally) 1 gram per 1 actual watt.
     
  16. #17 jrsaw0711, Jul 5, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 5, 2013
    ... put it like this: the Magnum 357 Plus (which everybody raves about) is 357 ACTUAL watts. It retails for $1000+ while my Mars II 700 with 420 ACTUAL watts costs $380. And I believe the Magnums are not 5watt chips and have less spectrum bands. The Stealth Grow 602 (which people drool over) is 400 ACTUAL watts. It retails for $1200. Again my 11 custom spectrum, 420 ACTUAL watt Mars II costs $380... word is borne.
     
  17. ... I apologize if I been coming off like some sort of LED used car salesman. My bad lol. I've just spent so much effort learning & absorbing 'the world of LEDs' that I want to share what I learned. I hope that's straight with anyone who takes the time to read over this thread. And especially cause I want to change the misconception that a legit LED setup is only for the 'rich & famous' when the truth is an LED setup can cost less than hps. Don't get it twisted, if u need 'name-brand' a nice LED setup could set ya back $6000. And it seems counter-intuitive that the LEAST expensive LED choice can also (in my opinion. for whatev thats worth) be the BEST choice... mind-blowing :)
     
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    pic 1- Cantalope KUSH @ 45 days

    pic 2- sour blueberry @ 42 days
     
  19. I made the switch from hps to LED half way through the flowering cycle for Cantalope KUSH & sour blueberry. That was about a 7 days ago. Since then I have noticed a 25% increase in bud size on those two. I have a few other girls that were at like week 7 of flower when I made the change- chocolope & lemon THAI KUSH. The chocolope has almost doubled in size; not sure If its just a late bloomer or if the LEDs had that much of a positive effect on it.
     

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