Flowering with Cree bulbs

The cree bulbs are about 85 lumens a watt so I'm only using them for cloning,early veg and maybe some side lighting now. You can now buy LED's that will do 200 lumens a watt so the cree bulbs are less attractive and don't make sense for larger scale.

yeah my box is super small, only 2' x 1.5' footprint, and my veg doesn't have a lot of height so my options are limited currently. I need to wait until my first harvest to see if I can move the veg height up a bit (I would have to sacrifice flower height)

What would you recommend for veg of this size if height is a big limiting factor?

The bulbs are very cheap were I'm at,like $7 for the 2700k so it's attractive for a small space. You can always do the cree bulbs to start then do some COB's later and then use the bulbs around the house.

You might want to try some LST or mainlining to keep your plants short.

captainmorgan said:

The bulbs are very cheap were I'm at,like $7 for the 2700k so it's attractive for a small space. You can always do the cree bulbs to start then do some COB's later and then use the bulbs around the house.

You might want to try some LST or mainlining to keep your plants short.

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Yup that is my exact plan.. starting with the bulbs, then I want to get into building my own panels.
And yup, def will be LSTing.. perpetual scrog to be precise.

I SHOULD have extra space in my flower chamber, though, which means I can move the partition between veg and flower up a bit, giving more room to veg.. but I am not even sure it's needed yet.. I just gotta see how the first grow goes in my new box.. this is all fairly new to me.. new box design, new to LED and new to perpetual growing.. but I am excited to get it all rolling!

You've been a great help, Captain, thanks!

The plants can grow right up to the bulbs without hurting them,may burn them a bit if they're touching.

captainmorgan said:

The plants can grow right up to the bulbs without hurting them,may burn them a bit if they're touching.

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Yeah this is something I wasn't sure about, I swear I've seen conflicting reports, but I trust you more because, well, you've actually experimented with this.

This is also great news because currently my screen is about 6" from the lights, so I can move that up to probably 1" below the lights and still be fine if the canopy stays under the screen. Then, bigger veg, bigger yield up in the flower box.

Sounds good to me!

100 watt Cree from Home Depot plus 2 T5s and a kessil H150 purple:






Cheers,
Mo

Beautiful stuff in this thread Captain and I hope you're feeling much better. Sorry to resurrect this thread but I've narrowed it down to an xgs for my 3x3 with the same 8 cree hanging in the corners as you, except I'll have those crees ready to go as soon as I flip for max yield when I turn the xgs to full flower power.
I'll also be using the xgs from seed to harvest, utilizing the veg mode. 2 plants max for now in 5 gallon buckets. Will germ seeds in water 12 hours regardless of root sprout or not and right in to the 5 gals.
Sorry for my whole rundown but after 4 months of my phone glued to my hand till 5am reading and reading you've become my led yoda!

• my main question(s) is exactly what crees did you end up using, the br30's 2700k, for the side lighting? And what are those just basic 2 bulb fixtures mounted to 2x4's which I guess are strapped to the ceiling support bars? And lastly what kind/size inline filter combo are you using because all I see is a jungle of goodness and no circulating fan or anything.Thanks for your time!its much appreciated.
• On a side note I was looking at the onyx bloom but not sure if it's wise since this will all be a 1 tent grow from seed to harvest unless I can find a cheap veg light that would veg up 2 plants nicely, then throw in the onyx for flower.

  captainmorgan said:

  The start of day 50 and it's almost ready to chop,5% amber in the center of the tent and just a few scattered ambers on the edge of the tent. Now I just need to find the time to do it.View attachment 3157707

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captainmorgan said:

The start of day 50 and it's almost ready to chop,5% amber in the center of the tent and just a few scattered ambers on the edge of the tent. Now I just need to find the time to do it.View attachment 3157707

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Also wanted to add this be a straight soil grow, preferably ffoceanforest/perlite, but if I could find a local nursery with a good custom organic soil so I can just add just straight water over most of the cycle with minimum nutes that would be even better.im intimidated to to try scrog first time out so will just top and lst. My gear is 3 chemdawg, 3 blue dream all feminized from Hso and two freebies.dinafem ww and cheese also both fem. I figure I'd try those first so less error when I pop the chemdawg in January. .really looking forward to those.

I saw which ones they were, there was just a lot of different things going on at the same time and me old eyes ain't what they used to be
A lot of different things I'd love to try with it. A red ufo on each side, the 8 crees in the corners, 4 ft t5's vertically in each corner etc...

I read through this thread numerous times and the one thing I couldn't find is what you used for a hood in your original 16 bulb cree set up. Would love to know if it's something pre fab. Seeing as crees are 5.98 for a19's in home depot right now I think I'll give it a shot, like today

NapalmD said:

I read through this thread numerous times and the one thing I couldn't find is what you used for a hood in your original 16 bulb cree set up. Would love to know if it's something pre fab. Seeing as crees are 5.98 for a19's in home depot right now I think I'll give it a shot, like today

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I made my own hood out of a piece of plywood and I bent up some metal sides out of aluminum and I got parts from here.

http://www.mylampparts.com/

Thanks Captain!
I was very very impressed with what you pulled from that setup and would be plenty happy with that each go round.
maybe stick 2 or 3 pots in mine.

I will use the same set up of 12 2700ks plus 4 5000s in the hood with 8 2700ks hanging near each corner for flower,

Now if I wanted to veg from seed with this fixture I was thinking 6 5000s plus 4 2700s in the hood with a single 5000 in each corner for side lighting. How does that sound? This way when it's time to flower I just add/rearrange the lights.

i need some of you guys to help me out im love the way this is setup but im stuck in a hard a place cant decide on lights so if you guys have a suggestion let me kno and props to capn for leading me in a cheaper direction

Check this out:

https://www.rollitup.org/t/diy-led-grow-light-vero-18-economy-light.842794/


Cheers,
Mo

Rrog said:

Clear glass is said to absorb 10% of the light. That silicone cover wouldn't surprise me if it were a LOT more than a 10% light drop.

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I know this is an old post, but wanted to chime in. I removed the silicon film.[1] I got about a 3% improvement in brightness on an 18w (100w equiv) bulb. I used a free app on my phone (beeCam light meter) to measure lux. Not a scientific test.

I just hope that film isn't some kind of UVA protection.

I removed the globe on a 9.5 (60w equiv). I plan to use these bulbs in clamp-on reflectors. In a reflector, I didn't feel the globe-less was an improvement. I couldn't compare brightness because the light was concentrated differently. The light cast on a wall showed a much more defined circle, the "cut-off" of the reflector. Looking into the light there was a much more concentrated ring reflected at me. Without the globe it might have better penetration. But, I want to have it close. I worried the harshness or concentrated reflections would create hot spots. I didn't think it was worth losing the softer, uniform light.

Not a waste though. I put it in a ceiling light which has a translucent globe. Looks perfect.

[1] Easy to do. Score the bulb surface with a razor or knife blade, then rub the cut with your finger. It rolls up like contact cement.

I have some A19s (60w/9.5w). I overlooked the BR30s (65w/9.5w floodlight) because its 650 lumens seemed like a loser compared to the A19's 800 lumens. But, I got to thinking lumens isn't a good comparison because that's a measure of the light emitted from a source, not the amount reaching a destination (lux). I.e., I wondered how 800 omnidirectional lumens would compare if made directional with a reflector.

I got a BR30 and compared it to an A19 in an HD clamp-on reflector (small size). The A19 delivered 25-30% more lux than the BR30 in the same socket (with reflector removed). Socket is clamped to the back of a kitchen chair, shining down on the table. Measured about 14" away. I even went back and forth between bulbs to make sure I hadn't moved something.

Both bulbs had the rubber coating removed.

That surprised me. I was expecting the BR30 to be brighter because I thought a reflector designed into the bulb would be more efficient than a cheap generic reflector.

I used the free "beeCam light meter" for my phone. It's not high-end equipment. But, as a comparison it should be reliable.

EDIT: I originally posted "nearly double the light." I accidentally compared the BR30 to a 75w A19. But, it's still a significant difference if you need directional light.

Here's how I mounted my four 60w "warm" A19s in my autoflower tent (2x4x4' tall):



I got rid of the clamps and mounted the reflectors directly to the tent legs. Added "legs" with PVC pipe. It's a compact fit using the corner spaces around the plants. I like the adjustability up/down on the tent legs, and being able to slide my PVC "legs" closer. The clamp-on's swivel is still present too.

I documented how to do this in my blog (<link). It's a little over-the-top, but I wanted to play with a creating a blog entry. Seemed like a good topic.

I think I may put 5k lights on the veg side and save that Blackstar for use on the flower side whenever that one dies.

BTW: Those are my deep-wall saucers made from Home Depot buckets. 4" deep.

I love your trays!