I've got one auto northern lights growing in a 2x4x4ft high cabinet with 2 50w ge plant bulbs, a 2ft t5 florescent 25w and a cheap 600w led from ebay. My seedling is 5 days old and looking great under the 2 plant bulbs and the t5. Should i go ahead and turn on the 600w led or wait till she gets older? The cabinet is in the fruit cellar thats stays 50 degrees year round so heat isnt an issue. Im running a heater with the lights on right now to keep it 80 degrees.
Not enough info. Cheap 600w leds from ebay could mean a lot of things. You need to know the actual watt draw of the panels themselves to size them for a garden. It should be in the stats somewhere. Too much light is in the range of about 50+ watts per square foot with leds. Since you have a mix of lights you may be able to push it up to 60-70 but that is absolute max. Anything above that will cook plants. You have 8 square feet of floor space so that's between 400-500 watts max.
The light box don't say anything but I have read a lot about these cheap China leds only putting out half of what they advertise. That's why I wired in light sockets for bulbs. I've also read that a mixture of lights is good for plants. I already had everything just laying around so why not use it. The only thing I had to buy was the cheap led, a fan, and the reflective insulation.
Here is a link that can explain things better. Its not such a dry cut answer. Plants can be made to tolerate and thrive off more than needed light and temperature as well. Its all in your hands. PSA: Too Much Light?! | Grow Weed Easy
I'm gonna leave the 600w led on for a couple days. If she shows any signs of too much, I will turn off the extra lights until she's flowering. I just don't want to burn her up.
5 day old seedling? the t5s should be plenty for another week. Dont want to over do it with a seedling because they dont tend to recover from issues that early on.
Day 2 on 600w led, t5, and the plant bulbs, and she looks great. I will post a pic when I check her again tonight.