LED for other plants (not weed) during dormancy

Jonnn

Member
I believe I'm in the right place. There is a lot of knowledge and experience out there and that's what I'm hoping to draw on.

I'm looking at trying to grow a bush partially indoors - during it's dormant period.

So to understand what I'm trying to achieve, the indoor temp will be 43F (6C), the bush is 6 ft tall and the canopy is not thick. There are a moderate amount of leafs that will be defoliating but it isn't a thick bushy plant in full growth. Because it's dormant, I don't think it needs really high intensity light for photosynthesis. Further, I want to greatly limit the heat output of the light because I don't want to it to raise the temperature of the room.

What I don't need is a light that will take me through the full production cycle of a plant, I don't need a higher heat output, or one that is super intense lighting. For the actual flowering and veg cycle I will let the sun do it's thing.

All that said, there seems to be a lot of misinformation about LED lighting out there as multiple sites say different things.

I understand that a lot of people say that you need a 3W bulb and if it's only pulling a few W of electricity then it is crap. If it doesn't have a heatsink and fan it runs the risk of overheating and failing. I also see some makers defending their products.. So really I don't know where I stand. More importantly, for my application, would a cheaper less intense LED suffice?

Specifically, I've been looking a few and the top of my list is the LGM550 from led-grow-master. It runs 9.6W per bar and has 190 5mm HBLED. It has 33 and 45 degree spreads. Also, he specifically addressed some of the other manufacturers here: http://www.led-grow-master.com/LEDGardenerJan4.html

If you guys have other suggestions that I should look at for my application or any thoughts in general, please let me know.
 

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
Well as you say you just want it to stay in "dormancy" throughout the winter with no actual MAJOR growth right? how big is your legal bush:)??

I wouldn't bother spending that much $$$$ on those low watt bars......go down to your local Home Depot and buy the largest W led flood bulbs you can afford like this http://www.homedepot.com/Electrical-Light-Bulbs-LED-Light-Bulbs/h_d1/N-5yc1vZbm79Z1z0xeuk/R-203321688/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051#.UL4Pe-Q71XE couple of these will do well and can even flower MJ!! Warm white/neutral white/cool white whatever.... should do the job for you......
 

Agito

Well-Known Member
if its vegative leafy growth and not fruit and flower the led size wont matter as much

shoot for about 20w per sqft in that case so if your bush is 2x2 a 90-100w decent branded led should be ok only issue is the bush being 6ft light will struggle to get to lower growth due to inverse square law
and with 1w diodes as a min for a touch more intensity
if it was a fruiting flowering plant double thise figures
9.6w will grow next to nothing and it would be cheaper to buy a t5 fitting that site is lying to you there no way 15w of led is 500w of hps at best effiency wise of led is about 1/3 better and no one uses 200w of hps per square foot that would kill your plants
 
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