Y'all are debating LED lighting in the growing section? Kids today, I tell ya!
Look, first; if you already have some panels by all means supplement with them. Get them close or don't expect to see anything but a higher light bill. Same with the 400W lamp- but only if there's less than 6 months run time on it, otherwise it's a waste as well.
Now, about new LED purchases; you see those ads flashing at the top of nearly Web page here on RIU? Those are all regulars here who've started making their own lighting for sale.
Why them? First, they're growers. Second, they don't have an agenda except to sell the best equipment, which also means the highest performance. Third and by far the most important, the lights they're selling are using completely different and much more advanced chipsets than those blurple panels people mentioned above.
Johnson Grow Lights
Tasty LED
Area 51
Pacific Lighting Concepts
(Forgive me if I missed some!)
They're running high wattage white light COB LED chips from brand names like Vero and Cree. Example;
The graphs don't match visually, check the scale to see just how well various Kelvin temperatures of chips match the PAR needs of plants. People are pulling over 1.5gpw, even in dirt, time after time.
Check it out yourself. I was an LED skeptic for many years because I knew tiny little diodes just weren't going to cut it for growing weight and frost, but I've done my homework and I'm convinced. These are big, bright and they get warm, but they're as efficient a light source as anything you'll find.
So convinced, in fact, that I kicked down five figures for enough of them to do commercial scale testing.
Sooooooooo... do your homework, tell them I sent you- and happy growing!
