White LEDs?

ficklejester said:

I've skimmed both of those but they're so poorly written it's hard to understand the logic behind the claims.

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Poorly written or poorly read

Obvious poke. Why not just get straight to the point?

Since your so well read why don't you explain to us your logic on lighting.

Oh...and logic needs to be accompanied with real world examples to be worth a shirt..lol

Famous edit...lettuce doesn't count

Here is some real world proof...

3CoolWhite:2Red

Positivity said:

Poorly written or poorly read

Obvious poke. Why not just get straight to the point?

Since your so well read why don't you explain to us your logic on lighting.

Oh...and logic needs to be accompanied with real world examples to be worth a shirt..lol

Famous edit...lettuce doesn't count

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Poor choice of words on my part. I generally can follow scientific studies and the like fairly well, but I am by no means a scientist or expert on any science. I had a lot of trouble following stardustsailor, though. Apparently, I need to do some more basic research on lighting myself and I will comprehend him better. I appreciate what he has done and definitely have respect for him.

Greengenes707 said:

Here is some real world proof...
View attachment 3223833 View attachment 3223834 View attachment 3223835
3CoolWhite:2Red

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Gorgeous plants, man. With no background in the science of things I think it may take personal experimentation to fully grasp. Maybe rotate a white panel into my setup.

ficklejester said:

Poor choice of words on my part. I generally can follow scientific studies and the like fairly well, but I am by no means a scientist or expert on any science. I had a lot of trouble following stardustsailor, though. Apparently, I need to do some more basic research on lighting myself and I will comprehend him better. I appreciate what he has done and definitely have respect for him.



Gorgeous plants, man. With no background in the science of things I think it may take personal experimentation to fully grasp. Maybe rotate a white panel into my setup.

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Fair enough..

But back to light. It's really not that complicated. Red and blue hasn't lived up to the hype in anything but low irradiance situations. In that scenario it does seem to do well enough.

White has always worked. In nature...in hid...in cfl...in plasma..etc.

Red and blue has been the hype that hasn't reached the potential everyone hoped for.

In my experience...terpenes, overall health, and potency all suffer in a red and blue targeted spectrum.

AirAnt said:

The argument for white LEDs is ridiculous, actually.
Blue light is better for Veg, Red light is better for Flower.

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The problem I have with your argument is simply logical: To believe plants do better with very notched, monochromatic lights implies plants evolved for billions of years and not a single one adapted to use all the energy from the sun, and achieve dominance over other less-adaptive species.

You kind of acknowledge this evolutionary trait by noting plants veg under cooler springtime light, flowering under warmer autumn light. If plants would adapt to such subtle differences, why wouldn't they adapt to utilize more than very notched, narrow bands of light?

I think red/blue monochrome use was just a market reality. Whites weren't cheap enough. The only way to make LED light reasonably cost-effective was monochromes. Whites are becoming more cost effective.

az2000 said:

The problem I have with your argument is simply logical: To believe plants do better with very notched, monochromatic lights implies plants evolved for billions of years and not a single one adapted to use all the energy from the sun, and achieve dominance over other less-adaptive species.

You kind of acknowledge this evolutionary trait by noting plants veg under cooler springtime light, flowering under warmer autumn light. If plants would adapt to such subtle differences, why wouldn't they adapt to utilize more than very notched, narrow bands of light?

I think red/blue monochrome use was just a market reality. Whites weren't cheap enough. The only way to make LED light reasonably cost-effective was monochromes. Whites are becoming more cost effective.

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hmm, well I'm not exactly sure how sunlight works. But a MH bulb actually does give off almost notched, monochromatic light like a series of mono LEDs would.


Anyways, I think you guys are mostly right and I'm mostly wrong. The CRI index is probably the most crucial thing. I can tell my plant's favorite light is these regular (not even HO) 4ft wide spectrum plant and aquarium fluoros. The light has some kind of regenerative properties that I haven't found in any other light. Plants get less stressed, are able to recover from injury or sickness quicker, it's the best. I can also tell it isn't phototropism, as it actually does gradually improve the plant's health to use this specific light. Probably is because of CRI.

Well, it will sort of be a moot point in a short while for me anyway, because I'm going to have an entire room full of various plants and lights including MH, HPS, and LED so whatever light the plants need they'll be able to just find.