Quote Originally Posted by Apollonia
About the Procyons - I plan on trying to get more & better numbers/data on the light readings as I haven't seen anything like that out there really. Well I've seen it at greenpinelane.com but again, he's growing cherry tomatoes.

I'm happy with what my lights are doing for me - to my untrained eye, the plants look very healthy & green and I think they look like they're in near optimal health (please, anyone, give me your opinion on this esp if you think I'm wrong). I credit this to the fact that heat isn't an issue and the LED is a "gentler" light in ways, plants grow a little different under them - it's a very subtle thing, but I've noticed they're a different shade of green - more yellow-green than the gray-green you get under an HID. There's also less of a sheen on plants grown under LEDs which I believe means they are not building up protective wax (not the proper term, I know) on their leaves to block intensity & certain frequencies that can "damage" them - but this is all conjecture from me.

I'd say the "worst" thing about my LEDs is the penetration issue - it goes not much farther down than 3 feet - but I have heard HID isn't that much more effective after 3 feet either so, not a biggie. I'm not growing anything I want to get larger than 3 ft anyway. If I may ask, why did you stop using your Procyons? Do you remember where the "sweet spot" was above the canopy for you? What would you say the biggest difference is in terms of Procyon veg/growth vs. HID grown plants?
A favorite subject, those Procyon's. I think you are being a little generous saying 3' penertration, I've found 2'+, not quite to 3'. I got 2 when they where first introduced to use in my mom/veg room. They did a good job tho I did put them on a light rail and found that helped with penertration, when they move the angle of the light to the plant changes constantly. Parts shadowed get un-shadowed in a few moments. I never considered them for flowering till I saw SnStealth's (1/2 of which is WhiskeyTango) grow log. The only reason I stopped using them is I sold them (I needed money bad last year) as part of a small aero grow tray set-up in a tent for a group setting up a small mmj grow. They have worked very well for them, and are growing from cuts to finish with the Procyons' plus a small amount of supplemental light.

I found that 18" above the mom's kept them from growing upwards and kept them bushy while 24" above plants vegging worked well for growth vs. node spacing. The biggest difference I guess is the color of the plants (but you need to move them under some different light to notice). I found I could control the growth better with the Procyon's then with the MH, simply by adjusting hgt up or down. That might just be a product of the MHs having more "oomph" or the ability of the Procyon's to get closer but either way the Pro's worked better.

Keep up the nice work, good growing to you.
oldmac