LED Choice Help

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savge17

Member
Hi all, I have a quick question with regards to my setup about lighting.

My plant was to grow 3 or 4 plants in a 2.6x2.6x5 tent.

As far as lighting is concerned I have been thinking either:

1x progrow 260w LED

or

2x Prosource Illuminator 90w LED

or

1x Blackstar 500w LED

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I have also been thinking about throwing in some CFL's into the grow to help boost yield as I am a bit skeptical about using LED's.

Any input as far as what combination I should be looking for would be greatly appreciated, I have a 500/600 budget on lights so I want to get the most bang for the buck.
 
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jcmjrt

Well-Known Member
I don't know all of the ones above but you may want to take a serious look at the Kessill H350. You can get a true (be aware that the wattage given by most companies is IF the LEDs were being driven to max and of course they are not and cannot be for very long) 90W LED backed by a major company (one which employs engineers and botanists!) for $270 from growers house. I purchased one to start with and now I have 4 and a spinner for a 4 x 4 area since I was impressed. I'm also using fluorescent side lighting and it doesn't have much to do with being skeptical...you just can't light under a fan leaf any other way. I purchased the Kessil after I took a day course from Cree on lighting. I can better appreciate the excellent engineering....the cooling tech is really interesting with a phase change disc which provides cooling. And cooling is very important - whether the LEDs are on wavelength, power out and finally longevity of the LED. You'd want two of them. I'm having trouble keeping my grow space warm enough now and that's with the fluorescents. Such problems are easily overcome. :)
 
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savge17

Member
savge17 said:
Hi all, I have a quick question with regards to my setup about lighting.

My plant was to grow 3 or 4 plants in a 2.6x2.6x5 tent.

As far as lighting is concerned I have been thinking either:

1x progrow 260w LED

or

2x Prosource Illuminator 90w LED

or

1x Blackstar 500w LED

-------------

I have also been thinking about throwing in some CFL's into the grow to help boost yield as I am a bit skeptical about using LED's.

Any input as far as what combination I should be looking for would be greatly appreciated, I have a 500/600 budget on lights so I want to get the most bang for the buck.
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Which light are you using the purple or magenta, or both? Looks really good, and it's quiet! Perfect for my setup.
 
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jcmjrt

Well-Known Member
All four are magenta at this point as flowering is always the more challenging part of the grow than veg so I wanted four for flowering. The magenta does have some blue in it and I've got CFL lighting that's toward the blue end for veg...which seems to be working well as this point. I may add a purple at some point but I was thinking maybe Kessil would add to its 350 line with a deep red too. I do like the modularity of the unit and ease of changing spectrum.
 
PSUAGRO.

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
jcmjrt said:
Here's a link to youtube which shows a Kessil spinner in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpzVUtP2A5g There are a few others as well on youtube. I actually need to get back to trimming. I just took a break but the Space Queen awaits....
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Yeah I've seen it before.............wanted to see YOUR grow with it in action.......Oh and something that I've noticed(maybe you can answer this)..their seems to be no light attachment in the center of the spinner correct? so all the light is directed on to the outer arms coverage area?, kinda wastes allot of space under it directly...I understand that by design you want the light blending through movement but I still think you need a light source in the center......IDK maybe you can shed some "light" on this from personal use.......happy growing
 
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savge17

Member
well for 2-3 plants would 2x kessils be enough? Also I dont plan on buying a spinner, so not sure if that would work out. I could pop in 1 or 2 CFls as I would likely need to add some heating element.
 
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savge17

Member
Scratch what I said earlier, gonna get 1 kessil and then 2-3 CFL's. What do you guys think about using a blacklight during the flowering phase for some extra UV light, gonna try to find one that has good UVB but I can only seem to find UVA bulbs.
 
ineffablegreen

ineffablegreen

Member
I'd get California LightWorks units. They have the Solar Flare units that you can get in Veg, Full Cycle, or Bloom spectrums. A few websites are doing specials on them this month. Growershouse.com is selling them for $314 delivered if you call in--normally they're like $400-450 depending on where you look.

I'm also for the Kessil's, but I think you would need like four Kessils to match the power of these two, in that case you will spend like $1000+
 
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savge17

Member
dunno Im stuck between the pg260, kessilx2 (or 1x + 4 CFL) or this new light you showed me....

The Kessil plus 3-4 CFls would be sexy and quiet.
 
J

jcmjrt

Well-Known Member
As far as the spinner goes, the light is typically somewhere about 12 - 14 inches above the plants and the overlapping light spread takes good care of the middle...at least it looks that way. Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind if this flowering doesn't go well. ;) I'd say that 2 Kessil H350s could take care of three plants well...and if you use more than a little fluorescent sidelighting you could start with one Kessil and then add another next grow.
I think that the Kessils are very well engineered and will last well. LEDs are good enough now to invest in them but I'm also keeping in mind that LED tech (and plasma maybe and ...???) will march on and eventually, I'll probably buy into something else....but the Kessils are very modular, quiet, light and easy to setup as sidelighting too. You can even purchase the gooseneck arm to make it easy to set up each one. Anyway, I'm thinking of it as a long term investment that I can use in many ways.
 
Endur0xX

Endur0xX

Well-Known Member
savge17 said:
dunno Im stuck between the pg260, kessilx2 (or 1x + 4 CFL) or this new light you showed me....

The Kessil plus 3-4 CFls would be sexy and quiet.
Click to expand...
I would not use Kessils on their own unless you get their fancy spinner and multiple spectrum, the magenta on it's own is definitely lacking imo
 
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