Has any one tried LED GROW LIGHTs?

HPS/MH setups are much more effective for growing than any other type of lighting system, LED included. The lumens per watt ratio of an HPS or MH cannot be matched by any other type of light. If you can afford the expenses associated with HID lights than definitely go with it. If you would like to experiment with an LED setup than be sure to report it to GC!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_efficacy#Examples

 

I am starting a LED grow here in a few days it should be good so far what ive read is that they emmit the kind of rays a cannabis plant uses for both veg. and flower. From what I understand is 4 panels that have 250 leds on each panel should replace about 400 Watts of power give or take, So I will be using 8 panels plus 3 grow led bulbs with 170 LED's on each. This should suffice for 9 plants which is what i'm trying. The problem ive seen is people dont bring the LED's close enough, they emmit no heat so putting them almost on top of your plants wont hurt anything but give them more efficient light. The only person on YouTube who did a true comparison put the LED's as far as a HPS away.

Hopefully my grow can clarify some things for people look for it soon, I will put the LED's no further than 3 inches from the plants, and they will start cloned after 3 weeks in 12 12 from the beginning.

The size of the rays emitted are 650 in the red and 440 in the blue. Supposedly chlorophyl operates at 410 - 480 in the blue and 630-670 in the Red. So these LED panels should hit those good.

IF this works I payed 300 for lights, and am using 300W of power, that will suffice for almost 10 plants if im correct. So im interested in finding out how it all works

 

not true.

HID lights generate most of their radiation (lumens) as infra red light, which to you and me is heat. I am not certain of the statistic, but with a 1000W HPS, up to 80% (someone correct me if i'm out on this?) of the lumen output is IR... and therefore wasted. Other wavelengths such as green (~510nm) are also useless. HID lights generate light over a very broad spectrum.

What is important when it comes to a grow light is the PAR, or Photosynthetically Active Radiation (sometimes referred to as PAL, or P.A. Lumens). LED grow lights have very precise wavelengths, producing very high efficencies of PAR. Nearly 100% of the energy used by a LED grow light is absorbed in a useful way by your plants.

a device such as the following:

http://www.hidhut.com/catalog/the-led-ufo-p-1372.html

This would provide equal or better growth than a 400W HPS lamp, while using only 80W. Also you have the benefit of not having to cool your grow area so aggressively. LED grow lights are the future.

If you can afford them, then they are a worthy investment. Even if you don't purchase the 'UFO' or a similar high power unit, LEDs can assist your grow by preventing the 'stretching' effect of plants reaching for light, as well as plugging gaps in your spectrum for different stages of growth.

They're bloody expensive, though.

 

Yeah, leds are way more efficient. You can choose the wavelength of light (color) and not waste energy producing other wave lengths of light, such and green. Also new power leds are as efficient as HID lamps, but you can narrow down your spectrum.

But leds are not cheaper. http://www.luxeon.com/products/line.cfm?lineId=19

If you get 40 3watt red leds that could cost 200$ just for the leds. Then you need to power them, and you will need regulation circuits, which can also be bought, and are not cheap. Also you might need multiple regulators, because I don't know of any 120w regulators.

 

What would be wrong with this (if anything) for a small veg box? Say...4-5 small vegging plants.

Is this roughly the equivalent of say a 100w CFL?

http://cgi.ebay.com/12-Volt-DC-Hydr...ryZ42225QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Those looks like crappy leds, and they probably are. I would stick with power leds.

I doubt that even touches a 100w cfl, at only 13watts. But it is cheap.

 

i'll be watching for these led grows! i like the idea, just really expensive.

 

Yea they do look a little cheap, but they look exactly the same as the ones HTGsupply sells and others. I guess I was just wondering if anyone knew if these panels were worth it at all? I don't veg my plants very long due to size restrictions, so the veg box I have will only hold about 3 plants of 1- 1 1/2 ft tall. But the low wattage combined with the low heat was intriguing to me. So no one thinks this will touch a 105w CFL huh? Price between the two isn't that much different (LEDs being slightly cheaper).

 

not only would u be completely eliminating the heat problem, you would also get a slow, dense growth from the led's. I read a full led journal on here somewhere and the guy didn't have the patience for a 6 month grow so he cut them off around 4.5 months (2 months into budding) and said it was the best smoke he's ever had from that strain he's grown several times before.

you can put the led's as close as u wish, except the cheaper ones (like the one u linked on ebay) don't have a wide angle output so if you put them closer than say 2-3 inches you would see dots on the leaves where the led's were hitting them but not spreading enough to hit the entire plant.

I have no clue how many panels of those it would take to provide enough lovin's for numerous plants.

 

check out the UFO GROW LIGHT its only 90-watts but its equal to a 400-watt hps or so they claim!

 

there is a video on youtube or something comparing a standard mh bulb and led grow side by side, the bud from the led SUCKS! and you dont get much