hello again, i just got a new diamond ds600 led. I'm about to turn it on, but i realize i have a few questions. i have a 2'x4'x7' grow tent. I've been running an 8 bulb t5 ho for the full cycle with decent results, but i want better. i decided to upgrade to a better light, so i purchased the diamond. i don't have any experience with led lighting. I've been reading up, but as with many things on the internet, its hard to find a definitive answer. is 16" a safe distance away from the plants to start? i started reading about people adding supplemental cfls on the sides of plants. would it be crazy to put the big t5 on the side as supplemental light? i think max actual draw on both lights together is 800-900 watts. i suffer from the "if a littles good, a lots better" syndrome, so i just want to make sure I'm not getting overzealous before i get ahead f myself. thanks
I have the Diamond ds400 in a larger 4X4X7 tent and it is barely enough for two plants. I have my light at least 16 inches away and my plants are not stretching at all. I would use the T5 and you should get great results. Yes, you can overdo the lighting, I don't think in your set up you are. If you see any stress then raise the light some more and cut the UV off. I had a 200 watt, a 400 watt going in addition to the DS400 in the 4X4 yesterday with no problem other than a little heat build up. I am flowering the 2 big plants I have and took out 8 others to let them veg for another 2 or 3 weeks before I put them back in to flower also. I am using the two smaller lights over the 8. Now I feel the 4x4 is too dark with just the DS400. I just saw that Amazon has the Diamond lights for sale at a much cheaper price than I paid just a couple weeks ago. I am getting a DS600 to go along with the ds400 I already have and use the daisy chain cord. I sure hope these are not Chinese knockoffs. Diamonds are American made, the Amazon listing says 3 year warranty......If they are fakes that is worthless. I will know if they are fakes since I have the real thing already.
i actually bought one of those ebay lights. thats what I just set up. it was like $800. i brought it down to my buddies place and put it next to his legit ds600 and its exactly the same, at least on the outside. the thing is bright as shit when its on, and seems to work properly. not sure if i should be concerned. anyway, i just set mine up, see below... so i set up the lights last weekend. I've got the led over the top, and the t5 along the back wall. i started with the led about 12-14" away. the tops are now 7-8" away and show no sign of bleaching. from everything I've read, this is not normal. they look really healthy, so i figure ill leave the light where it is and see how close it can get without doing damage. my only real concern is that with the light so close to the plants, the footprint is much smaller than i had hoped.
i just checked the info from my ebay purchase. it says its coming from florida. says its diamond ds600 factory unbranded. i know from tracking the shipping that it came from china.
There are a couple of things to note. Most LEDs are produced in China, the primo named ones are first rates but then they are left with literally thousands perhaps millions of lower rate "Blems" They don't throw them away they put them in generic products at a fraction of the cost and 80-90% output. Diamonds, at least the real ones are produced in the USA, there is no such thing as unbranded Diamond lights from China. It's fake. The real ones are shipped from Arkansas. Mine has a production dated "do not remove or it voids warranty" sticker covering a screw on the top and has a serial number on the top of the light. AdvancedLEDlights.com DS0004XXXXX with the x being 5 different numbers. If yours does not have those stickers its a fake. Reason for concern? Maybe not I have 3 other chinese lights two of which I have had for 3 years and they have worked fine. If they tell me its generic or an "unbranded" up front then I'm ok about it. A vast majority of all these lights will last almost forever, it is as simple as that. To top that off the power supplies and the drivers are pretty cheap and easy to replace should you be the least technically savvy. ANYTHING that could go wrong is a few dollars and a soldier gun away from being fixed. I paid $1,000 for the ds400 and I was upset that Amazon had it for much less, now I know why. I guess I will try the 880w cali light. The Amazon light is from this phone number (321) 800-8926 in Florida. I'll pass, I am glad I was able to put two and two together.
Does anyone have any information how much light you need to put on a plant, to just keep it in veg outdoors, til June 1st, after they won't flower on you? I was just going to hang some 14 watt fluorescent flood lights in their, but I was thinking of using leds, so I could direct the light downwards, that way it wont light up the whole greenhouse (84 x30 foot) like ET's space ship.
fair enough, next time ill do a little better research and pay full price. now i've got this weak ass light... well, it seems to work well enough. my ladies are growing very quickly and show no sign of bleaching, but are now 4" from the light. it would have to be pretty weak to not do damage at that distance, right? not to mention, the footprint is basically the size of the unit 1'x3'. was hoping for more like 2x4.
I will be honest with you, I bet the light is putting out close to the specs or even perhaps driven 100% and putting out as much or more light than the real thing. I know for a fact the real Diamonds are under driven to make them last longer. (Only by 10%) As far as being pretty weak to not burn at 4 inches I had a 400 watt HPS and ran out of room and had a plant basically flowered all the way up to the light without much bad effect except heat burn. MJ is one hell of a plant, there is a reason it has a nickname Weed, it is very forgiving and will grow where many other plants will fail. You just about have to try to kill it for it not to do well. One way to tell if you have too weak of light is when your plants stretch, if you get tight nodes then you are going to be very very happy in a couple months. Here is the email reply I got from AdvancedLED. Thank you for your inquiry with Advancedledlights, I am glad to help you! Yes that is correct they are a scam Chinese company, our attorneys are working to get them off of there right away. Thank you for your email and information on this matter. If you need any more information feel free to email me or contact me at the number below. Thank you, Kyle H. Sales Manager Customer Service AdvancedLEDLights.com Office: 800-401-6307 Direct Line: 479-685-7068 Hours of Operation: Mon-Fri 8a.m. to 5p.m. CST The Cool Way to Grow! Like I said I would not sweat it. The light is probably close to the real thing and if anything goes wrong now at least know that you have to fix it yourself and it is relativity easy and usually won't cost much. If it does not break in the first 90 days then I bet your light lasts years and years. The simple fact that it was not DOA is a milestone in itself. Oh and as far as the footprint of the light, just raise it up, I have mine 16 inches above to ensure I get all sides of my plants and my nodes are tight as hell and the plant is so full it is unreal. Just started flowering I am expecting this plant to beef up and become a shaggy monster full of buds. I trimmed a lot of dead stuff as time went on and every spot produced more growth. White widow is going to be ridiculous.
thanks for the info. everything looks good so far. hopefully it'll stay that way. putting them into flower in a couple days.
I wonder if this knockoff light has valid UL approval. Sent from my SM-N900V using Grasscity Forum mobile app
No idea. Im just gonna assume the whole thing is shady as shit. On another note , I did notice some bleaching on one plant that I let get too low on water. Only on some big fans, no tips. Now I just have to figure out how to flower these ladies. With all my messing around I've let them get too big. Gonna be 6' when they're done. I guess there's worse problems to have