Colour temp set up. Led

Ruzz1974

Well-Known Member
Hi all, I've just built this DIY cheap led lamp and was wondering what the best colour temp arrangement to go with, I have 9 available bulb holders to play with for veg and flower? Do I go full spectrum and use that set up throughout or do I optimise each stage by chaging out the bulbs? I currently have a load of 2700k, 4000k, 5000k and 6000k all around the 13watt 1500lm...oh yeah and a 20 watt blue/red grow bulb.. thank you in advance.
 

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Nizza

Well-Known Member
Love your set up. If it were me personally id focus around 4000-5000 (blue) on veg then transition to 3000-3500k (red) during the flowering. If you end up with a plant too short, give it extra red on the side it is on during the flip, and if you have one that is too tall, put extra blue on the side with the taller plant. Basically you can use blue to shorten internodes spaces and red to increase.

since you have 2700k bulbs id do a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of the 2700k to 4000k for flowering. 4000's and 5000's for veg, and the 6000 seems like it might be good for a finisher or photography bulb
 

Ruzz1974

Well-Known Member
Love your set up. If it were me personally id focus around 4000-5000 (blue) on veg then transition to 3000-3500k (red) during the flowering. If you end up with a plant too short, give it extra red on the side it is on during the flip, and if you have one that is too tall, put extra blue on the side with the taller plant. Basically you can use blue to shorten internodes spaces and red to increase.

since you have 2700k bulbs id do a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of the 2700k to 4000k for flowering. 4000's and 5000's for veg, and the 6000 seems like it might be good for a finisher or photography bulb
Sounds like a plan, I guess that way I can optimise the lighting to the plants requirements at both stages instead of a one for all light fitting. I will probably swing towards a dedicated light eventually but I suppose with what I've already got I can play around with it or even add some extra lamp holders to increase intensity... Anyway cheers for your input
 

Nizza

Well-Known Member
Sounds like a plan, I guess that way I can optimise the lighting to the plants requirements at both stages instead of a one for all light fitting. I will probably swing towards a dedicated light eventually but I suppose with what I've already got I can play around with it or even add some extra lamp holders to increase intensity... Anyway cheers for your input
Nizza's Nuggets 2022 | Rollitup
glad to help! Here's a pic of my flower tent all decked out. left left is a mixed fixture of 2 4k boards and a B-spec. Right right, back back, and front front are all R-spec's
the fixture in the middle is a VS-3000 by inkbird which is a mixed array. Next to that on either side is a UVA fixture, and a UVB fluoro fixture. Also to the left of the VS-3000 is a 730 NM far red strip I use for end of day and emerson effect.

Note that 660 NM and 730 NM is used for emerson, 730 only is used for end of day treatment to simulate sunset.

Way overkill on the amount of LEDS , but more LEDS driven at a softer wattage means better efficiency and lifetime. Hope this helps on what you choose!!

I basically take the tall plants and put them under the blue side on the left, and vice versa with the right side
 

Ruzz1974

Well-Known Member
Nizza's Nuggets 2022 | Rollitup
glad to help! Here's a pic of my flower tent all decked out. left left is a mixed fixture of 2 5k boards and a B-spec. Right right, back back, and front front are all R-spec's
the fixture in the middle is a VS-3000 by inkbird which is a mixed array. Next to that on either side is a UVA fixture, and a UVB fluoro fixture. Also to the left of the VS-3000 is a 730 NM far red strip I use for end of day and emerson effect.

Note that 660 NM and 730 NM is used for emerson, 730 only is used for end of day treatment to simulate sunset.

Way overkill on the amount of LEDS , but more LEDS driven at a softer wattage means better efficiency and lifetime. Hope this helps on what you choose!!

I basically take the tall plants and put them under the blue side on the left, and vice versa with the right side
Great info there, sounds like you've got it honed in pic would be nice lol
 

Nizza

Well-Known Member
Great info there, sounds like you've got it honed in pic would be nice lol
haha far from honed in, but it is nice when running different strains to be able to use the light color to encourage/discourage growth. Hope this helps you figure out what you like!

It can be a huge challenge growing different strains from seed, and working a full time job. The part of growing I love most is not just the end product but the equipment set up and strain selection. I would love to mono crop but I have so many seeds to go through and want to try them out before they become unviable.

when mono cropping you can certainly decide easier what spectrum works best for you with LEDS, and when.

One cool trick is not giving it extra red until after stretch, it will reduce your stretch and build a tighter cola/ canopy. I screwed up on this last grow giving it far red (730nm) too early and all the plants stretched like crazy. I haven't learned my lesson i guess because it happened to me before. Even on my lowest dimming I was running too much light because the plants are all too close to the lights

at the end reducing total light is something I do to save power, and hopefully preserve extra terpenes. Dimming is not only a great feature for this, but it saves power usage.
 

Ruzz1974

Well-Known Member
I’d run just the 4000k seed to harvest personally
OK so what are your thoughts on running let's say 7 x 4000k + 2 x 5000k for veg and 7 x 4000k + 2 x 2700k for flower? I know we can go on and on with this topic lol and we're all gonna have slight variations on what we think is better.. The joys of this hobby, I wish I could just convince the wife in letting me take over half the house and letting me do some comparisons all at once, that way it don't take 4 months lol to work out I should have done something different.
 

Ruzz1974

Well-Known Member
Nice setup. Nothing to say about the topic as you know I grow outdoors, but just want to say "hello, how are you". Pokračuj v krasojízdě.

This guy could be helpfull:

Cannabis Grow Lighting Myths and FAQs with Dr. Bruce Bugbee - YouTube
Dobrý večer, I am good thanks, my last grow went OK to say a messed up in the last few weeks, as you can see I am trying to improve on my lighting, I will let you know how it works out. No outdoor growing here at the moment, - 10 degrees and 12" of snow.. You will get the same soon hey!!
 

husita

Well-Known Member
Dobrý večer, I am good thanks, my last grow went OK to say a messed up in the last few weeks, as you can see I am trying to improve on my lighting, I will let you know how it works out. No outdoor growing here at the moment, - 10 degrees and 12" of snow.. You will get the same soon hey!!
Love snow, only about 10 cm here, -8°C. No growing, but was some fine mushroom (Psilocybe bohemica) picking few weeks ago. Looking forward another growing season.
 

Ruzz1974

Well-Known Member
Love snow, only about 10 cm here, -8°C. No growing, but was some fine mushroom (Psilocybe bohemica) picking few weeks ago. Looking forward another growing season.
Go indoors my friend, it's all year round then. As you know eastern Europe is only good for so many months, may get another crop if you go Auto, but as you know the sunshine is free lol
 

husita

Well-Known Member
Go indoors my friend, it's all year round then. As you know eastern Europe is only good for so many months, may get another crop if you go Auto, but as you know the sunshine is free lol
Was thinking about it. I have plenty of space in my house, my wife doesn´t mind, I even bought lights-and using them only for seedling preparations. It´s just not traditional, I take it as a seasonal hobby. I like moonshine brandy making as well, so season is running now. Cheers.
 

1212ham

Well-Known Member
I'd go with 4000k and two or three 2700's for flower. Many think 3500 is a good all around temp so thats what my strips are.
 

Ruzz1974

Well-Known Member
So just an update on my DIY led lamp, I've rebuilt it and mounted all the holders onto an aluminium backed reflector sheet, I've also wired in a flying lead so that I can place a lamp below the canopy at ground level, in total the fitting is pulling 116Watts of power.
 

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Ruzz1974

Well-Known Member
So just an update on my DIY led lamp, I've rebuilt it and mounted all the holders onto an aluminium backed reflector sheet, I've also wired in a flying lead so that I can place a lamp below the canopy at ground level, in total the fitting is pulling 116Watts of power.
I've created a PPFD map which doesn't look too bad.
 

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