ok so i grow in an apartment and as many of you know that makes heat and incredible issue to deal with. usually i just blast the A/C but recently ive been looking into LED lights. ive looked into some grows and read some articles but i havent been able to learn much. most of what i read is very elementary and so far all i know is that i need to cover 400-500nm spectrum, 630-700nm, and 700-750nm. is this all i need to cover or are there other spectrums i should consider? how much cooler do they burn compared to CFL's? and how many lumens do i need of each spectrum. Im planning on experimenting with leds on four plants when i get it all figured out so any help would be great. i know its still rather new tech but any help would be greatly appreciated.
Those are the correct spectrums. basically. the only lights I know to cover the entire ranges of those spectrums are the Enhanced Spectrum Models of HIDHUTS superNova. And Hydro-Grow-LED Lights. Everything else only uses 2 color spectrums, red and blue. and sometimes orange and white. People seem to get better results with a white in there, gives a little full spectrum. the orange is kind of s gimmick as far as i know. Good luck, let us know how it goes.
Thanks im looking into just buying some panels off of ebay but how many lights do i need? most of the things say that a 14 watt 225 panel is equivalent to 250 watt hid but could i do 4 plants with just the 3 panels? ive more or less figured out spectrums for myself now but im still concerned about how much light i will need... any help is greatly appreciated.
This is an example of what im looking at on ebay White 5mm LED Aquarium Grow Light Panel 12" 14w total - eBay (item 330360740840 end time Sep-19-09 16:21:17 PDT) this is the white light i would buy but i also have found 2 other red/blue panels that together would cover all 4 critical points in the light spectrum as far as both reds and both blues. will this work for 4 plants with the 3 panels in a 2x2 grow tent?
In a 2 x 2 space you'll want 100 Watts of LED's, covering the appropriate spectrums, and at a minimum 1W Diodes. I suggest adding a couple CFL's, too...
ok yeah thats what i was concerned about thanks for the help though. i didnt realize you had to worry about leds penetrating through but i guess it makes sense. i think im on the right track though thanks guys
right now one of my flowering areas has a 400 watt hps and a 90 watt ufo on each side (1 watt diodes red/blue/warm white mix on each), 8 total plants under them they have been flowering about 4 weeks and the inital stretch is over when i water and such i move them around and so on and as of right now my canopy/ bud production is equal thro all go with 1 to 3 watt diodes, otherwise you will be dissappointed (not known thro experience but lots of research before i bought any leds) they are doing their job and all is well but i am unsure how the would preform without the help of the hps
