90w LED is fine for 4 plants??

ziv2002

ziv2002

Well-Known Member
Hey!
i used to grow alwys small with only 2 plants and a 250w HPS
was just fine for me, but now i want to start growing 4 plants
and wondering about getting this 90w UFO led light.
will that be enough for four flowring plants??
 
i am no proponent to leds but i have heard great things about vegging with leds, or supplementing with leds and the black star leds units are supposed to be very good, little spendy but you make it back in your power bill
 
I've been growing with led for a while now. The short answer no. To elaborate all leds are not created equal you'll want to know what type of diode (brand and wattage) are employed in the light, its true power draw and true output. Anything that uses single watt diodes and less than 6 different bands is probably going to be weak sauce. There is a journal in my signature. It offers my first hand experience as a former HPS and CFL user. I dedicate at least 100w of true led output to each plant. That has given me the results I was after.

If the company you're considering doesn't at least offer a 3 year warranty on their products run for the hills brother. My advice would be to do a ton of research and not listen to people who can't give first hand advice.
 
^Agreed. I was going to say that a 90 watt UFO might do okay for one plant, but not 4. From what I understand, there are many different LEDs out there now, that call themselves "UFO", and many are crap, so ya might want to do you research, and find a company that produces a decent product. It's quite expensive to get into LEDs, if you want to do it right.
 
From what I've read, that's barely enough for one plant. And the type of diode matters, too. Try to stick with Cree or Epistar... but even with those, you need more that 90w per ONE plant... good luck my friend...
 
It's diode dependent for sure. A no name Chinese single watt chipset dual band 90 watter will be enough to grow 1 auto and it probably won't be that great. A 100w GLH 12 band 3w chipset is a totally different story. That will easily grow 1 photo period plant that will be super healthy. Bridgelux and Orasm diodes are also good (in addition to the ones mentioned above). A lot of the crap on ebay uses automotive grade leds which are shit for growing.
The companies I had on my "I would buy these" list after doing a lot of research are (in no particular order) Stealth, Advanced, Hydroponics Hut, GLH, & Pro Source. All are backed by solid warranties the only ones I can rec from first hand experience are GLH and Hydro Hut which have worked very well for me. I also own, and am about to sell some no name 90w Chinese models which I only found to be effective as side lighting.
 
I agree with not waiting too long. The time is right for LED. The early adopters have done the heavy lifting already. If you are looking to do just 4 plants, LED is the way to go. But don't waste money on a UFO. I think Hoss is right on with his picks. The more reputable companies tell you both the vegging coverage and the flowering coverage for their lights.

Full disclosure: I have not bought my LED yet, but I have been researching and plan to purchase soon. I'm going to replace my 400w HPS with the DS300 from Advanced LED.
 
I looked at getting one mega panel but found having several smaller wattage to be the best fit for my garden. They cost roughly the same, wattage roughly the same, being able to move them around as I see fit - bad ass.
 
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