LED Grow: 1st grow, 56W max, Northern Lights

[maspino1]

grr now i have to spend more money lol
it's cool though, im just gonna see how far these panels will actually take me

[SnSstealth]

Please do finish what you can! One of the main reasons we started our thread was to show everyone (including us) what these products can do on their own. They're being sold as grow lights so it would be a good thing to know how they grow, without changing mid grow because of results or advise by others. thats how we will know.

Doughboy:smokin:

[maspino1]

sweet, it's great to hear encouragement like that
and yes, i am going to go all the way to the finish line and make use of what i paid for lol
but i think after led's, depending on results from yours and my log, im gonna switch to t5ho
because it just seems more for the money and t5 lights give off a wider spectrum based
on their spectra anyway
not to mention people keep asking what that purple light in my room is lol

PS>wider spectrum based on their spectra in my own scientific world lol
is like all frequencies varying in amounts based on bulb temperature

[SnSstealth]

and yes, there are 2 of us
whiskeytango and doughboy

[maspino1]

umm.. update?
my third set of leaves are growing in already but they've grown underneath my second
set of leaves
out of all the cannabis seedlings i've seen this hasn't happened, it's so fucked
i would take a pic if my camera wasn't so 2005

[denial102]

Please do finish what you can! One of the main reasons we started our thread was to show everyone (including us) what these products can do on their own. They're being sold as grow lights so it would be a good thing to know how they grow, without changing mid grow because of results or advise by others. thats how we will know.

Doughboy:smokin:

word!

umm.. update?
my third set of leaves are growing in already but they've grown underneath my second
set of leaves
out of all the cannabis seedlings i've seen this hasn't happened, it's so fucked
i would take a pic if my camera wasn't so 2005

thats fucked up dude, you have to take a picture sounds interesting, try and think what you might have done to get that to happen, you might be the FIM of the LED'ers :-)

teeeeeeheee,

Peace,
Denial

[maspino1]

wait, what's a FIM?

i'll take a pic as soon as the third set is big enough cuz my camera
is a piece of digested excrement

[SnSstealth]

we unfortunately ARE the test subjects for this matter maspino, you too now that your in it... so we gotta figure alot of this shit out...dont know if you saw our mutant, but i think it might be something with the LEDs...ours keeps putting out 3 leaves instead of 2 at each node....hope that means more bud production too:thumbsup:
if that plant is still living, i would keep it for now man...mutants can make DANK!!!!
:smokebong:
whiskeytango

[maspino1]

yup, my plant is definitely growing 3 leaves :O lol
i can't show you though because, im sure everyone knows by now, my camera isn't that great

[Paht_Hed]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, those "grow lights" aren't actually grow lights. I have seen those before when I first started doing my LED research and delved a little deeper into them. First of all the amount of lumens put out by a single light is next to nothing when talking about growing plants. Second, those LEDs aren't even close to te wavelengths needed for optimal growth. When I say aren't even close I mean someone just took some blue LEDs without looking at the wavelength and so red LEDs and wired them to a board. I don't have all the numbers at hand anymore, the Procyon 100 is about the best LED grow light you can buy. It comes as close to the spectrum needed for plant growth as you can get but even it is still off a bit. Growing properly with LEDs is going to ream you out the ass when it comes to cash. The proper LEDs needed are some of the MOST expensive on the market. I have seen the argument that LEDs are way more energy efficient than HPS/MH/T5. That efficiency drops dramatically if you don't have the correct spectrum and also drops dramatically once you achieve the correct spectrum. This is b/c the LEDs that are needed are no where near as efficient as the white high power 1-5 watt LEDs that put out 100 lm/watt. You would be lucky to achieve 70-90 lm/watt with the correct LEDs.
Simply put, LEDs are not where it is at right now. Give it a few years and it may be there. China recently manufactured a 2 inch x 2 inch 200 watt diode that boasts and INCREDIBLE 200,000 lumens. Unfortunatley EACH of these diodes cost over $1,000,000, thats right 1 MILLION US DOLLARS, now this includes the cost of research and development of these diodes. The cost to create them is negligible BUT you won't be able to purchase them cheap b/c of the amount of money that went into designing them. To top it off these diodes ran for only a short amount of time (no longer than 24 hours each) before they burnt out.
I am not discouraging experimentation with LEDs, just trying to educate those who really want to start growing with them. You cannot be cost efficient and still grow with LEDs as they are now.

Looking for a good alternative to LEDs that don't put out much heat and are still reasonably efficient, go with T5's. You can purchase a 432 watt system that emits 40k lumens for 200-300 US dollars. The great thing about T5's, you can put them 2-5 INCHES away from your plants and as we all know, lumens degrade at a distance square to your light right? Well put you light that close to your plants and you will be using nearly ALL 40k lumens which is more than enough for two plants. Also, T5's have the best spectrum for growing plants. 2700k and 6500k almost dead on hit the two peaks of cannabis plants which are roughly 425 nm and 660 nm (this is the combined photosynthesis of all the pigments). Also T5's unlike MH and HPS run cool. I ran a CFL setup for my last grow and they ran so cool I could put my cheek to them. Try that with an HPS/MH.