what LED lights can I start with?

VACAVILLE,CA.GROWER

VACAVILLE,CA.GROWER

Well-Known Member
I have a 48x24x60 tent. I would like to grow 2 plants. I was thinking of trying a LED light. What is a good LED that someone can start with. I have seen area51 but thats alittle out of my price range. I have seen ufo lights. How many would someone need, How many watts, what spectrum, how many bands. any help would be great.
 
I just started an LED grow.

I found a pretty reputable seller on Ebay for my panel. Pretty sure it was Galaxy Hydro. It's a 300W LED Full Spectrum Panel, and I paid about $150 for it I think.
 
LED only makes sense if you need to reduce temps or electrical usage. If that's the case, you have to pay for efficient LED (or DIY). If it's not worth it to you, then CMH is a better choice than inexpensive/inefficient Chinese lights. (T5HO for shorter spaces, or Cree lightbulbs from Home Depot.). You'll get more light and less heat than from a Chinese light using epi-whatever diodes.

OTOH, $100-200 isn't a lot to lose on a Chinese light. Just don't hold it against LED generally if you're not happy with the heat and amount of electricity needed (or, if the buds are airy if you don't provide enough of it, around 50w/sq ft.).
 
VACAVILLE said:
well lets say it will be a cheap grow. Lol. I am just looking to buy a light thats complete already. Its just a small simple grow.
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A 400w HPS would be hard to beat if 'cheap' is the main motivating factor. Most of the cheap ebay lights are only marginally better than T5HO. They'll grow a plant for sure though.
 
VACAVILLE said:
I just found a 4ft x 8bulb T5 light for 135.00 would that be a better choice for 2 plants
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It should be. The 8 tube is around 2' wide. 40w/sq ft is said to be optimal for T5HO. 50 is said to be the point of diminishing returns. I supplemented with CFLs as sidelight in flower and felt it helped.

EDIT: HPS will be better for taller plants but if you have head issues (summer's coming) it's a bad choice. T5HO produces a lot of surface-area light, but not a lot of intensity for taller plants. CMH would be a better choice IMO if you're willing to spend a little more for a longer-term investment.
 
8bulbs*55w=440watts

T5HO is around 22% efficient. 400w HPS is around 30-35% efficient.

400w of displaced power is 400watts of displaced heat no matter how you slice it. May as well get more light in the process. T5 will warm up the space more than an equivalent HID.

Also, buying new bulbs for HID is cheaper. 400w HID's can be found at most hardware stores.
 
VACAVILLE said:
well I was thinking maybe the t5 would work better for me. I was thinking of scrogging the 2 plants.
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I've never scrogged. If you don't need a lot of penetration (intensity for distance), T5HO will work for you. It's a useful backup light for when you have a more expensive light (which will eventually need service and you'll need something to at least keep the plants alive).

HID makes me nervous because it's like a small ball of controlled fire. :) There are reports of those things bursting and a molten chunk of (whatever) starting a fire. Also reports of the ballasts causing interference, leading your local ham-radio operators sniffing you out and reporting you.

DIY COB wouldn't be too expensive or difficult. bcit could guide you on that.

It's also not hard to create your own "fixture" using Cree PAR38 spots/floods from Home Depot. Just some 1x4" planks of wood and outdoor PAR38 sockets. You'd need 12 over a 2x4' space for 25w/sq ft, and then a couple Cree 9.5w "lightbulbs" per plant for side lighting to bring it up closer to 30w/sq ft. (But, you're scrog and sidelight may not make sense. Might want an additional PAR38 over each plant.). That would cost about $300. Cree bulbs have 10 year warranty. Easy to replace. More of a long-term investment for relatively efficient LED. Not as much DIY as wiring drivers and drilling heatsinks (although that wouldn't be too difficult). Something that could be disassembled and configured in a variety of ways, used as supplemental light. I.e., more flexible than a solid flouro panel. I flowered under 22w/sq ft and it did well.
 
bicit said:
400w of displaced power is 400watts of displaced heat no matter how you slice it. May as well get more light in the process. T5 will warm up the space more than an equivalent HID.
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There must be something happening because T5HO doesn't need heat extraction from the hood. Definitely not as much radiant heat. Perhaps HPS produces more IR. I haven't used HID, but I've seen tents using it. Subjectively, they seemed much more hot than flouro.
 
440w of fluoro runs pretty damn warm. I would hypothesize that the reasons for the subjective difference is the IR output and the fact that the HID is a point source while the Fluoro setup is rather distributed.
 
150 HID $65 shipped. 1 of these would probably work by itself for 2 small plants. A 250 would be better. $65 shipped. It will heat up your space and you will need to ventilate. A 250 would be hotter.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150W-HPS-CO...597?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item257bedd705

Mars 180 LED. I own an older model of this from the same company. It works well for 1 plant alone, but will give a pretty good yield used with the 150 HPS I linked above for 2 plants with dense buds. Just rotate your plants and they get a bit of this and that spectrum. Not much heat used alone. Seems kinda pricey compared to the 300 watt below. Pulls about 109 actual watts or something.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MarsHydro-1...949?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43c8ce733d

I have never used this light, but I have used Mars before and they work well. I expect 1 of these would work for 2 small plants and they don't generate very much heat compared to HPS and CFL.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/300W-LED-Gr...365?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27f55dc385

Anyway, just addressing cheap starter lights. I really like the 150 HPS which is also the cheapest. Just LST or something. It will work alone for two small plants. Say veg 2 weeks and flip or autos.
 
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