Senseimilla
Well-Known Member
Comparisons have been done. Last one I saw LED won on g/watt.
So is this a SOG grow? How many watts and what is the size? I have found that 30watts leds per sq/ft on a tracker (moving only a couple of feet) works well for veg. I also have a suspicion that to mix LEDs and HIDs would work best. When I first started using LEDs, the typical red/blue ones I did not get very good results. I wasn't till I added white spots and then a tracker that results seemed to surpass HIDs in Veg. (Plants did not stretch under LEDs). HIDs are a pain though because you need to vent the cooling tube and it just gets worse with a tracker. Not that LEDs produce no heat. They are hyped about this but the HIDs have a technology (cool tube) to remove the heat. With LEDs the heat is just added to the room so in my case the temp is barely lower. Seems to me there should be a way to remove this LED heat more efficiently. After last nights big fatty I got to work almost destroying one of my LED UFOs. Why is it that when something does not work you tend to push on it harder. My goal was to find a way to vent away the heat from a UFO. All the ones I have, have 3 fans blowing in. So I opened it up and flipped over one fan so that one blows out. It was more difficult than I imagined but I was able to do it. Now there are 2 blowing in and this switched one blowing out. Now all I would need to to hook up the blowing out one to a vent like in a cool tube. I did notice that the unit seemed to run cooler with this 2 in - 1 out configuration but it could just be the 2nd fatty. It does blow the heat up and away from the canopy. Before you try this I did scratch a wire and crack a fan casing so think about that. I was able to fix it all. Next time though I should be better at it. With my spots I haven't yet figured out how to remove that heat. They do get hot and it all adds up. Of course compared to an HID the heat output is low but as mentioned earlier the cool tube technology works well.HID isn't needed - I did full LED last flower and it came out like any other crop some plants dense, some less. I got solid yields (avg 3.5 oz/plant, one over 4). I'm doing HPS + LED this time just to see what kind of difference/extra yield I see, though it won't be a solid comparison since i'm growing vertical this round too.
You came to the right place! Lots of knowledgable LED people here. Need to know:So far I have had unwelcome results with the led growing lights I'm using. I am not going to quit quite yet, if something doesn't start helping I will go back to the HID's next run.
why did you ask if he is supplementing with cal/mag? do plants under leds need more cal/mag than normal plants?You came to the right place! Lots of knowledgable LED people here. Need to know:
a) What brand/model/wattage light you have
b) How far the lights are from the top of the plants
c) When you say 'unwelcome' results, need more explanation of what kind
d) What kind of soil/hydro/nutes/etc you using
e) Are you supplementing cal-mag?
I had great results with my LEDs, and I know others have too. LEDs are a bit different and do take some different tweaks compared to HID to get best results. I've only grown with Blackstars so they're the only ones I know for sure work But I've seen good results with other brands and home made. Unless you bought the shittiest/cheapest chinese LED or it's outdated (mine are 2012s, I've heard previous years had more issues), it's probably something you can tweak.
I'm getting good results so far, it's just a matter of using a good quality light, making sure your wattage is not right for the space/number of plants growing, and tweaking certain things in your grow. For example, when using a soilless mix I found that a lighter mix is needed because LED's don't evaporate water as fast as HID's. So to keep my roots from staying damp and not getting enough oxygen, I use a mix with a lot of perlite. Thats just an example... But don't give up, growing should be a little bit of a challenge and the technology is here despite what anyone says.So far I have had unwelcome results with the led growing lights I'm using. I am not going to quit quite yet, if something doesn't start helping I will go back to the HID's next run.
Some people (including me) believe so Ca-Mg deficiencies seem to be a lot more common for LED grows, particularly Mg.why did you ask if he is supplementing with cal/mag? do plants under leds need more cal/mag than normal plants?
so they would need more cal/mag than a plant under other light? i have a plant that is showing a weird cal/mag like deficiency it is only on the leaves that are closer/closest to the light which is 160w led and is 10 inches above the topsSome people (including me) believe so Ca-Mg deficiencies seem to be a lot more common for LED grows, particularly Mg.
I would disagree with the 'uses less water' quote. my Bubba Danko is drinking her 5gal almost dry daily (moisture meter is 2-4 out of a 10 all around the rootball). are you using airpots, standard plastic or ??I'm getting good results so far, it's just a matter of using a good quality light, making sure your wattage is not right for the space/number of plants growing, and tweaking certain things in your grow. For example, when using a soilless mix I found that a lighter mix is needed because LED's don't evaporate water as fast as HID's. So to keep my roots from staying damp and not getting enough oxygen, I use a mix with a lot of perlite. Thats just an example... But don't give up, growing should be a little bit of a challenge and the technology is here despite what anyone says.
I also Use Airpots. I just find that there is no need for as much water as when I was using HPS. Theres a line between how much water the plant actually uses, and how much gets evaporated. In my small grows I notice these things based on how often I've had to go to the water store to get RO water in the past vs. present.I would disagree with the 'uses less water' quote. my Bubba Danko is drinking her 5gal almost dry daily (moisture meter is 2-4 out of a 10 all around the rootball). are you using airpots, standard plastic or ??
my own data testing shows airpots (fabric) far out perform and outyield any other soil potting solutions out there (the cost-benefit ratio is off the charts. I've yielded 2x the amount with just changing pots). they supply massive amounts of breathing to the roots and create conditions to make a massive rootball, quicker.
today's pics of the girls, a few weeks to go on the BD in the middle
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