I am planning on getting a good LED grow light, since I have been hearing the new COB ones produce superior flowers and tastes and smells. Is this a good one? Suitable for my 2x2x5? 300W Led Grow Lights - Full Spectrum by PRAKASA® Similar ones appear to be all over ebay, German or Chinese made, and the cob ones, they all seem to be about the same price. I'm guessing it's just the same COB lamps, and that is the main cost. This is meant to be superior to traditional lighting isn't it?
I'm very keen to try full spectrum COB as well, have been using a 300w "mix colours" full spectrum to veg and flower. What I found was, it helped my ladies to grow super strong dark green leaves and very dense colas, to some extent, my ladies seemed to recover faster after a nutrient deficiency correction. But comparing to traditional MH/HPS, LED has weaker penetration power to cut thru the foliage, so they have to be placed very close to the plants( about 5in in my case), this limited my effective coverage area, that means I will need more lights to cover the same area. Overall, I'm very happy with LEDs as a supplementary light source, but never as a replacement for MH/HPS.
Hmmmmm, seem to be getting a lot of conflicting information. Lots of people say the new LEDs, I guess the COB bulbs, are superior to HPS. What if I put LED strips on the side for supplemental light? I already have two LED strips supplemental lights on one side. But I need to decide on my main light source. Since my grow cab isn't that big, only 2x2x5, I am thinking coverage won't be a problem and an LED grow light would be superior? I guess if DIY I can just cover my cabinet with LEDs.
That light looks really good to me for the price. Each of those are 50w COBs (probably driven to 30w) that are multi-spectrum. I have a very similar COB: 50W Multiband 7-band Full Spectrum High Power LED Plant Grow Light 380nm-730nm and it works really well. Heres a shot of some plants growing under it now. . Sorry the iPad can't take decent pictures under the LEDs. The plants are super healthy, budding well, and producing tons of trichromes. The light costed me about $60 USD to make just one. Those would cost about 20% more for the light and it is a nice premade assembly. If it is decent quality, it is quite a bargain. It will also be a good amount of light for your cabinet size and probably draw about 200w. If you get it, spacing from the plants will be important to get right. Use a phone app to measure lux and keep the top of the canopy in the 25000-40000 lux range. As far as the debate on LED vs HPS, I would like to see some real data on effectiveness. I use LEDs for a few reasons: 1. They have a VERY long lifespan. 2. They can produce light in a native spectrum, allowing the light to be tuned to the plant's needs. You should get more yield per lumen, since it is more "nutritious". 3. My personal experience with COBs so far has been good. 4. DIY is fun with these, and I can make a perfectly tuned assembly for my tent that uses little space and pipes the heat out (see my LEDzilla thread).
Wow, that is incredible. Your setup is insane. I am now trying to decide between DIY and that one I posted. It would certainly be a lot more convenient to just buy it, I just want to make sure that they are using the latest generation of COBs. I will email them asking for the model COB they use. Is there any visual way to confirm which gen COB they are using? Building it would ensure I am using the best parts, but it seems a little complicated. Does the emitting color make any difference? On Alibaba, they have the Cree CXB3070 lamps, at pretty great prices. Building it yourself is barely even cheaper, but it emits white color. Will it still really be full spectrum? Can you take a look at this dude? Cob Led Grow Panel Light 300w Full Spectrum With 6pcs Cr Ee Cxb3070 Or Cxa3070 Or Vero 29 And Meanwell Drivers - Buy Led Grow Light,Led Grow Panel Light,Led Grow Light 300w Product on Alibaba.com
The emitting color makes a difference. The good grow LEDs don't produce white light and then filter it. They actually produce it at targeted spectrums. Studies have shown that the light spectrums affect the plant growth (multiple ways, not just plant mass). My personal experience has shown me that the plants love red-blue LEDs. They seem to be healthier under the red-blue ones than under white LEDs. Also, the next-gen COBs seem to have about the same effectiveness as the old ones. I like them because they are more amenable to DIY. Part of why I build my own is because it is a hobby. I don't think it is much cheaper or higher quality than some assemblies like you have linked. More reading: Growth and Photomorphogenesis of Pepper Plants under Red Light-emitting Diodes with Supplemental Blue or Far-red Lighting http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/ssl/led-color-characteristics-factsheet.pdf How Does Color Spectrum Affect Growing Marijuana Plants? | Grow Weed Easy http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0022-3727/38/17/S20/meta
You've just got to come up with enough money to buy enough of them to get the coverage you want....which, at the prices I'm seeing right now for quality LED lighting, is going to be a HUGE chunk of cash regardless of what size grow you're running. I looked at a KIND 700 watt (at least I believe he said it was a 700 watt light), and the list price on it was almost $1,300.00. We currently run 4 1000 watt hps lamps per room and I wouldn't mind having some LED's thrown into the mix just for the added spectrums you get with them to see what a difference it would make, but I don't buy crappy equipment. I would rather save my money until I can buy equipment that I know I'm going to get my money's worth out of. I am shooting for 4, 400 watt KIND LEDs to fill in between the hps fixtures but I'm not there yet. And honestly, these plants absolutely LOVE hps lights for flowering. Having enough of it to support the number of plants you're growing is the key. You don't want to overcrowd the space that the light will realistically cover. Of course, the higher you raise the light, the larger coverage area you get with it, but if it's too far away from the plants, they'll start stretching to try and grow closer to the light source. You have to grow a particular strain usually for a little while to figure out what is best for that particular plant. They're like children...each with it's own personality, some stubborn has HELL and some that grow like a dream. But you'll only have to grow a few before it starts to make more sense and get easier. Working out all the bugs will take some time, but like I said above, the more you know, the easier time you'll have overall. Happy growing!! TWW
When you are talking "per room", I think you are on a different scale than someone who is doing this for personal use/medicine. I definitely agree that if this is your business, you need to invest in the highest quality equipment. Even so, the HPS lights need to be replaced 5x as often as LED and may use more watts for the yield, depending on the quality of the lights. I also agree that you should find a strain the works well with your setup or a setup that works well with the strain you are growing. Use a LUX meter phine app to position your lights and calculate coverage. You can't do it with your eyes or from some distance number someone threw out in a forum/book. If you have a smart phone, then you have a light meter. It doesn't even need to be accurate as long as it is consistent - you can compare readings with direct sunlight/shade/cloud cover outside. I'm thinking about making an app for personal growers that would have this built in.
Ok I'm sure everyone will say it's chinese junk but has anyone actually tried the "Roleadro" COB lights on for sale on Scamazon? My friend is using them and they seem to work well for him, but I'd like to hear more reports from other folks who actually own them. I'm moving my plants into a larger area and I'm thinking of getting some of these to supplement my hps's rather than adding more of them. I'm on a bit of a budget right now and I can't afford for 1,300$ for a US made 700 watt light. Adding more hps lights would either mean upgrading my fans to 8 inch or installing a second 6 inch system.
Your options seems reasonable. Indeed, there are many Cheap LED grow light available in the market. To help define the good LED grow lights, we can consider the following factors: 1. First thing is the lighting efficiency, to provide the bright and intense light for your plant, we will need high power LED lights. However, high power also mean high energy consumption. You can select the LED grow lights having 130 - 150 lm/W 2. Life span. Nowadays LED can operate for 80,000 to 90,000 hours, which gives almost life-long use.