Basically, does it live up to the hype that is behind it. I used a 120 watt triband led light from HTG supply awhile back and the plants just looked incredibly unhealthy and discolored. Maybe my light was bad or something though. I am sure this has been discussed, but is there an LED solution that is truly worth it without supplemental lighting from other sources. My main draw has always been the heat control, but I am more concerned with results.
Imo LED grow lights are crap. You can get the same (or better, depending on which LED unit you use) results by using Fluro tubes, especially the T5s. For a lot less cost. I did research into the professional LED architectural market and how Cities use LEDs on experimental basis. The biggest factor every time was cost. The ones commercially available (this includes all grow LEDs btw) are no better than fluros and are often augmented by T5s.
FarCyDed: My big beef with LED's has been mostly the cost. $400 to $500 for a fixture 14" by 14" is a little too rich for my wallet. I have a friend who has more money than brains and he always buys the newest and the best regardless of the cost. He invested in a LED set up and I noticed that he had the same problem as I do with florescent lighting, it doesn't spread efficiently. It only does a good job on the plants directly underneath the fixture. Maybe someday when they get the price down. Right now you can buy a whole bunch of other kinds of lighting for four or five hundred dollars. I hope that helps. Hank
Thanks for the input guys. I have viewed a few good LED journals here at the city since my post and I have seen some very successful grows. You are both right about the price tag though. It can get a bit steep since you will have to get multiple lights depending on the size of the grow. Especially if you compare it to the cost of other choices.
All depends on what you get. People are usually constrainted by budget and want the cheapest they can get. In the LED world thats the worst thing you can do. I have a Solarstorm by California Lightworks 800w 5 watt Diodes with built in T8 UVB lights that pulls on my killawatt about 700 watts. Does it work? Works as well or better then my 600w HPS that I had. Covers easily a 4x4 or 5x5 area. I use no other lights with it. 5 watt LEDs rock. But as others have said on the cost...it was 1000 bucks for that light and it was half off since I was accepted into there growers program...normal cost is 2000 bucks. Anyhow if you want LEDs and your using something like what you are then you can forget it. Wattage still counts dont fall for there advertising. LED Grow Lights Review
Thanks for the input and the source. Looks like an interesting read! I definitely cannot afford to drop 2k or even 1k on a light. That is a bit much, but I have seen some cheaper solutions that are not bottom tier lights. I am wanting to do a science experiment of sorts by growing various plants (not pot lol) with LED's. I just don't want to get ripped off in the process. I don't mind reporting proper results...but I don't want to be completely lied to by a seller either.
I didnt mean you have to spend 1-2k to get a good one there are plenty of good ones for the 300-500 range. Just be cautious on them.
LEDs in Floriculture LED technology, i rst used in the mid-1980s, has come a long way and may make its way into the greenhouse in coming years. Light-emitting diodes have been around for decades. Sometimes we see them used individually, such as power indicators for stereos or televisions. Other times, dozens of them are clustered together to form an array, such as the red light of trafi c signals. In horticulture, LEDs were i rst used for plant-growth studies in the mid-1980s on the space shuttle and in space stations. At that time, LEDs were only available at a high cost in a relatively dim red. But LEDs have since advanced to the point that we may see them in greenhouses in the next decade.Potential Bene?tsLEDs have several advantages compared with traditional lighting sources. First, most LEDs emit a narrow range of light; only red or only blue, for example. This might seem like a disadvantage at irst, but it actually enables the combination of different LEDs into an array to produce a specific light quality. For example, we know that green light is less efiicient at eliciting a photosynthetic response compared with red or blue light. Therefore, we could design an array based on plant responses to light. Second, LEDs are much more efi cient at converting electricity into photosynthetic light when compared with tradi-tional artificial light sources. One recently published report states that LEDs consumed about one-third the amount of energy as high-pressure sodium (HPS) and metal halide lamps that produced the same light intensity. Because they produce less heat, LED arrays can be placed closer to plants than HPS lamps, which enable a higher light intensity without an excessive increase in plant temperature.A few other advantages of LED systems: They have a long operating life (at least 50,000 hours), can be easily dimmed if desired and turn on instantly; there is no warm-up period, unlike HPS lamps. Finally, LEDs don’t pose as much of a disposal problem as lamps that contain mercury or other heavy metals. With all of these advantages, why don’t we see LED arrays used in greenhouses today? Cost.Current Drawbacks Although the cost of LED arrays continues to decrease, and light intensity for individual diodes increases, they are still cost prohibitive for commercial greenhouse applications. Small LED arrays can already be purchased for home use, but their light output is quite low and, given their cost, aren’t economical for low-intensity photoperiodic lighting. However, LEDs are beginning to be used in Japanese commercial plant factories that produce vegetable transplants. We face a “which came i rst, the chicken or the egg?” quandary with LEDs: Because there is very little demand for LED arrays for plant growth, they require a lot of labor to manufacture, so cost is very high. Because they are expensive, demand for LEDs is low and restricted to specialized situations, such as research on growing plants in space (Figure 1) or other scientii c experiments. With adequate demand, manufacturing can be automated, and in theory, costs can dramatically decrease.Many plant-growth studies have been performed with LEDs as the sole light source, but few have studied LEDs as sunlight supplements. Research for greenhouse applications is therefore needed to determine desirable LED array spectrums and their impacts on plant growth and plant morphology.
I take the youtube videos with a grain of salt. People always show the success but what about the fails. Im a LED user but so many say there fail but I hardly ever see a video on there on a miserable failure which there must be tons of for LEDs to get such a bad rap.
How r U Guys ! Since the thread seems going in a nice way ! I will pop my question here as well. Like the title says ! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I need a better light for my Veg Area not so big. 1.5 X 2 X 3. I'm using CFL, however I have multiples strains, multiple heigths and keeping closer the CFL can be a task. I'm looking to invest in a LED 135W 7-Band (Have no idea what that means). I just want to Veg., I do not care about flowering with LED just yet ... An LED is recommendable perhaps for Veg Time better than Flowering Time ? Can I cover safely the area I just mention ? I ask because I send an email tob the Website Customer Service and reply "It can be use to Cover a 4 X 4 area" I'm not Jimmy Neutron (Genius), but I can say is a little bit too much or is it right ? Just for Veg Peace ZS