IF you are new to LED and want help choosing what to buy, POST HERE!

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Positivity

Well-Known Member
Good advice there. Since you have a good budget I'd go for the gorilla tent. It's nice being able to set it up quickly and more importantly take it down quickly if the need arises. Just be sure to get a quality tent. I've had a cheap aviditi break at the light rail corners where there's plastic fittings. Don't ever buy an aviditi unless they've redesigned it. They are gonna burn someone's house down.
 

420Kitty

New Member
Each Area51 light can cover a 2 x 3 area although a little smaller at 2 x 2 may be a little better. You would want at least two of these fixtures for a 4 x 4 space. These are excellent lights and should provide good service for a long time. Hans - bonsaihero.com - also makes a good panel...and there are others like rhino grow and apache. Hans provides fair recommendations for coverage as well...most manufacturers streeeeeetch the truth at best. I wouldn't purchase Blackstar - they have a reputation for needing repairs within about a year or so. You can easily supplement LED lighting - say sidelighting or in the corners, etc with fluorescent, if you desire/need due to the shape of your tent.

I built my own room and would recommend that you get something that is sturdy; it seems there's always something else that needs to be hung and everything is heavy. You don't want to ruin expensive equipment or a crop after you've put 3 - 5 months into the effort. I have heard that Gorilla tents are good but I'm definitely no expert on tents...just know that rooms take use/abuse so I'd look for sturdy and not try to cheap it unless you just have to.

A good exhaust fan is a must. If you can afford a variable speed one, you'll make it easier to control your environment. Good air circulation within the tent is also important so a nice oscillating fan for the space and a thermometer/hygrometer so you know the space temp and humidity.

You've said nothing about your grow style - maybe you haven't decided? Anyway, if you are interested in soil and possibly organic soil growing, I would go into the organic section here and start reading. I do soil only grows - little to no bottled nutrients - and have started recycled organic living soil (ROLS). There's also a good book that provides a lot of info laid out in an easy to read format - True Living Organics by The Rev. It's only $15 and easy to get from amazon. I don't slavishly follow any method but pick and choose and learn from many sources.

A good water source is something that you need to consider. Chlorine and chloramine are your enemies and hard water can make life difficult as well. Keep reading. :)
thanks for the knowledge. and i was looking into using coco coir and perlite mix, maybe 60 coco 40 perlite? ive been reading and reading and think the fact that it is harder to over water using the coco/perlite medium that it will be a good choice for me, i feel that i will not be able to bare not watering my plants for even a day or two. i certainly will not be dumping tons of water on to my babies but giving them something to drink daily will ease my mind that they are not being neglected lol. and i have read over and over not to give the plants too much nutes so that i know, i am just confused as to when i start to ease them into feedings. i have read other growers starting anywhere from 10-14 days and also some that start right away with the strength being 25%-50%. so another question :roll: i know that all strains are different but are there signs that the plant will give me that it is ready for nutes? like yellowing or showing some sort of deficiency? or will they just look a little lifeless regardless of whether they are ready to start nutes? lol thanks a million!
 

PSUAGRO.

Well-Known Member
thanks for the knowledge. and i was looking into using coco coir and perlite mix, maybe 60 coco 40 perlite? ive been reading and reading and think the fact that it is harder to over water using the coco/perlite medium that it will be a good choice for me, i feel that i will not be able to bare not watering my plants for even a day or two. i certainly will not be dumping tons of water on to my babies but giving them something to drink daily will ease my mind that they are not being neglected lol. and i have read over and over not to give the plants too much nutes so that i know, i am just confused as to when i start to ease them into feedings. i have read other growers starting anywhere from 10-14 days and also some that start right away with the strength being 25%-50%. so another question :roll: i know that all strains are different but are there signs that the plant will give me that it is ready for nutes? like yellowing or showing some sort of deficiency? or will they just look a little lifeless regardless of whether they are ready to start nutes? lol thanks a million!
You should look into Rev's teachings if you use soil, very sound organic gardening for Mj as jm said. Now your mix cocco/perlite is INERT(devoid of nutrients) so you start feedings asap at lower % of course. No reason to run organics in this medium IMO because it's TOO airy and has NO soil in it=== bacteria won't thrive.

I would look at this for cocco on the cheap http://www.hydroponic-research.com/our-products/ RO soft or dirty whichever , one part and highly concentrated ......feed-flush--flush ----feed ....to keep the salts low........ from beginning to end. Make sure to PH everything according to Hydro standards in this mix!!!!

..............It will work probably, but for how long????????????? don't buy cheap leds IMO, you'll be pissed off when it fails.........
 

bicit

Well-Known Member
Any LED suggestions for the DIY'er? There are a lot of options and I'm a bit confused as to which ones are suited for horticulture use. I'm looking doing at both top and side lighting and experimenting with water cooling. What LED combinations have people had good results with?

Thank you for your time.
 

scarecrow99

Well-Known Member
You should look into Rev's teachings if you use soil, very sound organic gardening for Mj as jm said. Now your mix cocco/perlite is INERT(devoid of nutrients) so you start feedings asap at lower % of course. No reason to run organics in this medium IMO because it's TOO airy and has NO soil in it=== bacteria won't thrive.

I would look at this for cocco on the cheap http://www.hydroponic-research.com/our-products/ RO soft or dirty whichever , one part and highly concentrated ......feed-flush--flush ----feed ....to keep the salts low........ from beginning to end. Make sure to PH everything according to Hydro standards in this mix!!!!



..............It will work probably, but for how long????????????? don't buy cheap leds IMO, you'll be pissed off when it fails.........

thanks for your answer PSUAGRO, I thought the vipar's panels were pretty good...

sorry for my english [FONT=lucida grande, Segoe UI, Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

[/FONT]
 

Scotch089

Well-Known Member
thanks for your answer PSUAGRO, I thought the vipar's panels were pretty good...

sorry for my english [FONT=lucida grande, Segoe UI, Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

[/FONT]
I don't think Psu was talking down specifically on Vipar, but more that they are from ebay. You just cant completely verify the source, and actual panel youre getting. Dont get me wrong, in some cases- you can. Rarely though.

You see the diamond series, blackstar, and big ass penetrator rebranded panels come up on ebay too often. Like. 100 new items every fucking day. But what inside those panels? Along with what comes with them? Customer service? Haha... if you consider shipping, service.

Sounds like you are in Vipar's reach though? Maybe look at their site and email them about an order? I would feel much better getting them directly from Vipar, and it's their "new" series- offers a warrenty... I've spoken to the dude's a few times and they were very open, and straight up.

Good luck
 

nme

Member
I'm moving and my house has a 18x20 room for growing and I rather not setup again with hid's. I'd like to make the jump to leds.
I have built a few fixtures for reef fish tanks and they work well, but not great but I had to build them for heat purposes.
Currently I have a sog setup using a simple ebb and flow table. I have 2 rooms for this, it's small and sucks.
Could someone please point me in the right direction. I don't want to build fixtures again but I will if I have to.
 

420Kitty

New Member
You should look into Rev's teachings if you use soil, very sound organic gardening for Mj as jm said. Now your mix cocco/perlite is INERT(devoid of nutrients) so you start feedings asap at lower % of course. No reason to run organics in this medium IMO because it's TOO airy and has NO soil in it=== bacteria won't thrive.

I would look at this for cocco on the cheap http://www.hydroponic-research.com/our-products/ RO soft or dirty whichever , one part and highly concentrated ......feed-flush--flush ----feed ....to keep the salts low........ from beginning to end. Make sure to PH everything according to Hydro standards in this mix!!!!



..............It will work probably, but for how long????????????? don't buy cheap leds IMO, you'll be pissed off when it fails.........
thanks for your response. you know i was researching using a coco medium and read some place (cant remember where) that you should not use fresh water when using coco just do small doses of nutes at each watering. If my memory serves me right, as you have stated coco has no nutrients in it and does not hang onto nutes. so by feeding a little each time the plant is watered the old nutes/salts etc are flushed and the new nute solution is all that is left in the medium, but you must water until you get 10% run off. if you do not water until you get run off you can get salt build up. lol idk this was a regurgitation of information that i have read in at least two different places at an earlier date.

Sorry i know this is the wrong place to discuss this. I began a thread about getting my own set up off the ground, i have made no purchases and need HELP! Im working with $2500. Please head to my thread and put my questions to bed.... haha corny i know:roll: but seriously any information will be much appreciated!

Help a sista out =)
 

ellydee

Well-Known Member

ranger6

Active Member
my bad but these LED lights from china don't really have much description to them I just got one for cheap and I am an out door gorilla grower but I want to try growing under leds thanks for your time
 
Seeing some cool "ufo" leds on ebay direct from china. Joyhydrogrow is the seller. Anyone have experience with these type of lights. Seems like they are mass produced and sold under many brand names by many sellers.
 

Ganja.Queen

Well-Known Member
I'm slowly working my way through the beginning of the thread and can see there is a lot of info available for me to go through...really appreciate the efforts to make a compilation in one spot!

One quick question if anyone can be bothered to answer. I have a small cab that I'm using for a microgrow and am becoming curious about using LED as an option. This is the cab:







If I was to go LED, would something like a 135w UFO be ideal, or would that be overkill?

Here is link to exact one I'm looking at: http://www.amazon.com/Light-Watts-Flowering-Wavelength-Growing/dp/B00B7APQQA/ref=sr_1_30?ie=UTF8&qid=1383120300&sr=8-30&keywords=led+grow+light

If it's not a good choice, feel free to recommend me something else :)
 

jcmjrt

Well-Known Member
If I was to go LED, would something like a 135w UFO be ideal, or would that be overkill?

Here is link to exact one I'm looking at: http://www.amazon.com/Light-Watts-Flowering-Wavelength-Growing/dp/B00B7APQQA/ref=sr_1_30?ie=UTF8&qid=1383120300&sr=8-30&keywords=led+grow+light

If it's not a good choice, feel free to recommend me something else :)

That looks like a fairly small cab with very little height so you'll need a light that you can get very close without burning. Take a look at captainmorgan's thread using cree LED bulbs. Also CFL isn't a bad choice either as you can surround the plant with light very closely...and neither of those options produces a lot of heat.
 

Ganja.Queen

Well-Known Member
That looks like a fairly small cab with very little height so you'll need a light that you can get very close without burning. Take a look at captainmorgan's thread using cree LED bulbs. Also CFL isn't a bad choice either as you can surround the plant with light very closely...and neither of those options produces a lot of heat.
Ok, will try to find thread.

I'm familiar with CFLs, was just wondering if LED was perhaps cooler per watt? CFLs are cool but they can get hot when you add enough...would be nice if there was a cooler option to squeeze out more yield in such a tiny space.
 

pRoSilent100

New Member
I have a space about 9' long, 6' from floor to ceiling, and 7' wide, I would like to grow 5 autoflowering plants in there, and was wondering what kind of LED light would work best for 5 plants? Also, if im using LED lights, they don't give off nearly as much heat correct, so I wouldn't need an expensive ventilation system?
 
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