JohnNeedsMeds
Well-Known Member
Hi James and welcome to the wacky world of LED's.
There are many here on RIU that know much more about LED's than I but I can share what I have learned until someone better chimes in.First of all those Aliexpress bulbs in the link come straight out of China. You may or may not be aware but many knock-offs and just plain junk come out of China so be very careful when ordering from there. There are many who prey on customers around the world by sending them inferior bulbs and get away with it because there is no recourse if they send you crap and the shipping cost, which you would have to pay, is usually as much as the item they sent. I know this from experience. It would probably benefit you to find something from a local USA seller (if you live here) but again be careful because the LED market is full of crappy knock-offs and re-branded items so take a little time to do a bit of research and of course others here can guide you to the right place to buy good bulbs.
Secondly, as I think you know the light spectrum matters a great deal as well as the wattage the lights use and put out. Yes more blue is used during the veg cycle but some red is also good for vegging and yes more red is used during the bloom cycle but blue is also used as well as other wavelengths during both veg and bloom cycles. The sun's spectrum of visible light is pretty wide and if you have ever seen a PAR chart, (Photosynthetic Active Radiation), it shows you the wavelengths that plants absorb most. I recommend checking out CaptainMorgan's thread here on RIU. He is using household LED bulbs in the warm white, neutral white and cool white spectrums in his grows and showing some very good results considering he is using a number of $10 - $14 bulbs from Home Depot.
The lights he is using are rated by temperature in Kelvins, ie., 2700K Warm White is more in the Red spectrum, 6500K Cool White is more in the Blue spectrum, etc.And lastly, can you tell us a little more about your grow so we can better assist you? How many plants are you wanting to grow, how are you planning to grow them, will you be using a grow tent or converting a room or other space into your grow area, what are the conditions like as far as heat/cold, humidity, etc.
I hope this helps some.
does it really save money when coverage is minimal and you need a heater?! Maybe I'm missing something. I don't want to heat a tent. It gets very cold here till spring, so I was thinking bout LEDS for the summer. Rep for wisdom.
at 20-4 or even 24-0 light schedule to keep room temps up. Put the remote drivers near your circulation fan and let the heat get blown around and in extreme cold add a couple cfl's/turn off exhaust to really increase ambient temps. more light and heat to your girls. Electric should still be minimal due to low consumption of the hans(65w each) and never add a heater when you can add LIGHT wattage. yes HIDs will work really well in very cold areas, you just have to tinker more with leds.
