PlatinumLED Mars-Hydro comparison grow

Final update for the evening. We have temps in the same place, RH is decent, and I removed the seed helmet on the Platinum Bulk. Mars Bulk is opening up, and should be 100% ready to go tomorrow. I figure the Platinum Bulk will be 100% ready to go tomorrow evening.


PlatinumLED:







Mars-Hydro:

 

Just a quick update on the ladies.


Whole tent:



PlatinumLED Bulk:



Mars-Hydro Bulk:

 

Glad to see you made your way over here, it's been a pretty cool place here and all the people that made the switch seem to be enjoying it so far.


Making the move to LED isn't easy, there's a lot of choices out there, with a wide variety of price ranges, watt draws, and some manufacturers list PAR output, others list LUX, others just claim to be better than other brands, so it makes comparing lights difficult for us consumers. Comparison grows are always my favorite to watch, because on paper, specs can say a million different things, some of it we don't always understand, but seeing the lights perform side by side is really the best way to make a decision, at least for me.


I think it's going to be a fun grow too, comparing two very popular lights, each of which has their own group of users that swear the light they use is the best.



Glad to have you aboard!

 

Morning update for the girls.


PlatinumLED Bulk:



Mars-Hydro Bulk:

 

And here's the answer to your question Smitty:


PlatinumLED Bulk measures right about 1.25" 3.17cm



Germination range is 24-30" 61-76cm. Since we started our lights at 26" 66cm from the soil, the light is now 24.75" 62.8cm above Platinum's Bulk, so we'll leave it there for now.


Mars-Hydro Bulk measures right about 2" 5cm.





Germination range is 24-30" 61-76cm. Again, we started the lights at 26" 66cm above the soil, so the light for Mars is right around 24" 61cm above the plant, so we will maintain the 24" 61cm distance for now on the Mars side.


I am figuring the Germination stage will last for approximately 7 days from sprout, and will transition to Veg light distances at that point.


They have both been above ground for 3 days, so roughly 4 more to go, and I'll start lowering the lights gradually to reach the Veg distances.

 

Good morning GC!

Here's a little update on the girls today


Whole tent, lights are still at 26" 66cm from soil, which gives us a distance of 24.625" 62.5cm from the Platinum to the Bulk, and a distance of 24" 61cm from the Mars to the Bulk.





Here is the PlatinumLED Bulk:

71.6F


Top view of leaves:



And the height measurement:



Here is the Mars-Hydro Bulk:

77.3F


Top view of leaves:



And the height measurement:



Keeping in mind that the Mars Bulk sprouted a little bit ahead, and that the Platinum Bulk wore her seed hat, and later seed beanie (the inner coating of the seed was on her leaves after the seed was removed), so far things are pretty even. We did see a little stretch on the Mars side, but so far she's holding at 2" 5cm tall for the last 48 hours. On the Platinum side we saw her grow from 1.25" to 1.625" in the last 48 hours.


If we have any new developments, or changes worth noting, I'll update as soon as they happen, if not, I'll continue to update every 1-2 days during our seedling phase.


Have a great day everyone!

 

Thank you, and Welcome aboard MrRay. LEDs as a beginner can easily be done, but before making a purchase, you'll want to do a little reading. There are some LEDs out there that are sold at "great deal" prices on sites like Ebay and Amazon, however they lack the power to grow a plant effectively. Usually you'll find these lights selling for $50 or less, and only have approximately 14w total draw. You'll definitely want to avoid these for a complete grow.


But wattage also isn't everything with an LED, you also want to find a panel that has the correct spectrum for the plants, and you also want some intensity to allow the light to penetrate as far into the canopy as possible.


The lights I'm comparing here both have a rated wattage draw of 150-200 watts each, and we'll be able to see which light has better penetration and intensity when we start getting further into Veg, and then Flower.


As a beginner, I would suggest a soil grow with LED. If you grow in hydro, hempy, coco, or other soilless mediums, the lights tend to create a stronger need for Calcium and Magnesium, the Calcium especially being a problem in coco, as the coco tends to absorb calcium, and not release it to the plant to be absorbed by the roots.


I haven't seen any problems with Magnesium or Calcium deficiencies when growing in soil so far.