3500k vs 4000k vs 5000k ?

BOBBY_G

Well-Known Member
true. so this 110 lm/W would be midway between a 70-80 lm/W a t5 delivers to canopy and a 130-160 lm/W cob
 

Trippyness

Well-Known Member
Well shit, this thread got off track. But here are my two cents.

Light is light.

Is there a difference in spectrum? Yes. No question there.

Is there PROOF of spectrum effecting growth? No.


When I say No, I'm talking about my personal experience. Ive veged/flowered the same strain with t5's, lec, mh, and hps. The fact is that there is little to no visible difference of structure or growth from what I can see. Everyone says blue light gives shot inter-nodal growth but I havent seen it.

Difference is quality of light and wattage.
If your light is poor quality (hps/mh) then you need wattage to compensate.
If your light is good quality (lec(3100k-4100k)/led) you can achieve the same result with less wattage.

Again thats just my thoughts on the matter with no scientific results. When there is a "truth" I would rather see it than hear about it. If I dont see it then its false knowledge that people repeat it like birds.

MAIN POINT
Dont go 2700k, you'll lose 7% efficiency from 3500k. Simple as that.
quick math:
hps efficiency = 35%
3590's (3500k) 1400ma = 56%
3590's (2700k) 1400ma = 56%-7% = 49%

Might as well stay air cooled hps at that point. Why would you shell out 2k for a 1000w led set up when your only 14% more efficient? Might as well buy a 80 dollar magnetic ballast and a 40 dollar air cooled hood on craigslist. Like come on $2,000 verse $120 dollars to only be 14% more efficient.. People buy led's for efficiency so why fuck with it and screw yourself over for spectrum?
Professor Bugbe at Utah state University who is one of the foremost experts on plant lighting has conducted tests saying that photon output is the main reason for growth and there is no propf that a higher blue spectrum increases vegitstive growth or node spacing in plants. My main goal is to get the max photon putput. Hence checking out 5000K
 

Trippyness

Well-Known Member
This is not a HPS thread. HPS is less efficient than COB plus delivers less PAR per watt. This is not a debate anymore. COB led is the best lighting. Currently. Less wattage same yield or same wattage more yield. Yes electricity is just a benifit. However more yield is a huge plus and less hvac and ac that hps. Anyways back on track. More photons are more growth. So let me make this sinple. Which CCT at what CRI produces the most photons per watt? Quit with the hps bullshit.
 

BOBBY_G

Well-Known Member
Those look just great under the high cri. That's what the high CRI is all about, produce natural realistic looking (for us) colors. That is a result from the spectrum though, and is this case a MUCH better one if you use 3000.

2700-3000k at 90CRI is what people should be using instead of being blinded by luminous efficiency and picking 80cri 3500K. Those are the ones for fat colas. Especially buying 3500k and 4000k cri 80 and adding photo red show nicely how the lum/per watt at the light source epeen race leads to idiocracy. Buy lower color temp with cri 90 and you don't have to.

Buys led roughly 17% more efficient in producing light (top bin 3500k 80 cr vs , especially blue yellow orange, and ignores the cobs with the excellent spectrum for photosynthesis with a 640-660 peak 40% higher than the 80cri. Can buy grow light, buys bay lighting instead... All some Unlucky Brians material.

More stem elongation compared to more blue light is to be expected. It's not that big of a problem as people make it out to be though. And easy to fix by adding some cooler temp, or adding xpe for more blue. If you care about the effectiveness of efficient led you barely veg in a flower space anyway. When you have to choose only one, you obviously pick the best one for the two months flowering. And add steer lighting when necesary. That's one of the major advantages of led horticulturist and professional grow light designers are a lot more interested in.

Supra wrote a good post once with some key info:


The 80cri (and higher K) are better for warming up plants though lol

Rough, but should be obvious enough for those with more than half-a-brain:

View attachment 3694615

The 3500k and up users are mainly focussing on chlorophyll b. You're all running, as many others knew already, an efficient veg light. Which yes, can grow bud too, just like mh can. And yes, plenty of margin in efficiency to beat hps with it it gpw-wise but when you design a led grow light that is not the goal... The energy saving is inherent to led, you don't have to use a sub optimal spectrum.

The whole blue for veg and red for flower didn't fall out the sky... More blue is more compact plants, depending on R:FR ratio. In combination with daylight/fullspectrum, more FR is larger and thin leaf surface, more blue is smaller but thicker leaf surface.

This is still confirmed and researched daily by photobiologists for different plant species. As I said long ago, grow led is all about steer lighting. And the high cri version offer a very solid basis instead of the higher color and lower cri versions. Besides, as you all know, red light is way more efficient for the plant....

@Rahz: remember what I said about that the quest for lum efficiency should not lead to wasting space or light... Well here you go. That max ppfd depends on the quality of light as well. High ppfd with suboptimal spectrum leads to photoinhibition much faster. As is evident in the grows from people who claim cobs bring out the colors better... and follow that up with pics of plants showing the clear signs of photoinhibition. The unusual anthocyanin production to protect the plant against all that excess far less useful green and some blue (absorping those and removing those from the reflected spetrum, hence the red/purple appearance). At the same time it causes a decrease in quantum efficiency and reduction in net photosynthesis.

Malvidin is a common anthocyanin:



Moral of the story, most here are doing led all wrong and it's time you start talking plants instead of light source efficiency. Buy 3000k 90cri instead. Or the 2700k even, no spectrum data in the specs and may be overdoing it in terms of lowering blue,

Proper color, under hps of course:
View attachment 3694639
yes but why are the light sources that "bring out the colors" like cobs and 93-cri LEC beating hps across the board on yield as well?
 

Trippyness

Well-Known Member
I have said it a million times...pay attention to my WHOLE statement.

The main goal of a grower is to provide the maximum amount of photons while still staying within plant requirements.

Ready, set,...Google
So would you say GG that 3500K is the optimal photo to plant requirements? As opposed to 4000 and 5000K?
 

hillbill

Well-Known Member
In flower room now I have 630nm reds, 5250k, 4500k, 3500k and 3750k diode and cob panels. The higher blues of most LEDs and cmh seem to make for colors like purples and deep blues late. Stems of some individual plants will redden where the higher k light his them but not where shaded.

Love variety I guess.
 

JungleTime

Well-Known Member
So would you say GG that 3500K is the optimal photo to plant requirements? As opposed to 4000 and 5000K?
I'm not GG nor have his level of experience but I would have to say that 3500k is the best all around spectrum for cobs for veg and flower.

You stay within the general plant requirements, efficiency/lumans per watt are still high enough to defend dropping from 4k-5k. You dont lose much. You only lose a real noticeable amount when dropping under 3000k, aka the 2700k.
 

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
I'm not GG nor have his level of experience but I would have to say that 3500k is the best all around spectrum for cobs for veg and flower.

You stay within the general plant requirements, efficiency/lumans per watt are still high enough to defend dropping from 4k-5k. You dont lose much. You only lose a real noticeable amount when dropping under 3000k, aka the 2700k.
I'd honestly really like to see a side by side of cuts taken from the same mom that are exactly identical. Length, nodes, leaf size, rooted same time. One under 2700k crees & the other under 6000ks. I think that'd be the best way to really get an idea of what differences if any there are between the different CCT's.
I can't remember who, but someone's doing one with 3k& 4k with very little noticeable difference.
 

hillbill

Well-Known Member
Spectrum is important, just not the only important factor. The fullness of spectrum is a win for LEDs. Even if hps was more efficient, the lack of a natural spectrum would limit the full expression of a plant. Sure, the plant will "catch as catch can" and make the best use of that lacking light source but under full spectrum light it can reveal it's true nature.
 

Trippyness

Well-Known Member
I'd honestly really like to see a side by side of cuts taken from the same mom that are exactly identical. Length, nodes, leaf size, rooted same time. One under 2700k crees & the other under 6000ks. I think that'd be the best way to really get an idea of what differences if any there are between the different CCT's.
I can't remember who, but someone's doing one with 3k& 4k with very little noticeable difference.
I agree. Why 2700K?
 

Trippyness

Well-Known Member
Spectrum is important, just not the only important factor. The fullness of spectrum is a win for LEDs. Even if hps was more efficient, the lack of a natural spectrum would limit the full expression of a plant. Sure, the plant will "catch as catch can" and make the best use of that lacking light source but under full spectrum light it can reveal it's true nature.
Indeed, but it seems that photons matter more than spectrum acording to Prof Bugbee at Utah state.
 
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