LED Lights?

has anybody tryed these?? there pretty cheap and it says its good for growing.

Do a search on it. There are PLENTY of threads discussing the pros and cons. Some even with examples of grows performed.

specialkayme said:

Do a search on it. There are PLENTY of threads discussing the pros and cons. Some even with examples of grows performed.

Click to expand...

ok thanks..

Maybe one day but from most stuff I've seen posted the technology just isn't good enough to grow worth a damn yet.

I bought a few. Not the standard peice of shit that they sell on ebay. I like them personally. I can get a good grow out of it, considering that I only use like 7 watts of energy. But in order to get anything in considerable size, it would cost about $1000 worth of LEDs, and that just isn't really cost effective, regardless of how much energy you save.

i have 1 blue 225 count with 13.8 watt total and 1 red same specs. haven't used them yet, but i'm hoping they give me that extra 1/4 or whatnot. i mean the more bud the better. and i added the leds to cfl/hps grow, so i am kinda using three different technologies to grow bud. i want to add in some color(blue and red) t5ho bulbs too, and a low watt mh then i would be using 5 technologies, that would be interesting.

at that point i was thinking of simulating sun rise and sunset since i would have enough lights i could make the right side come on by itself for the first 2 hours. then have the top come on with it for 2 hours. then just the top for 10 hours then 2 with the left and finally the left for the last 2 hours. of course this would be in veg. and i would have the blue leds and blue t5ho on during the entire time (18 hours). and i would have the top middle one be an mh bulb. or maybe just have them all on? not sure, but i would like to at least try it.

sux to chaching

blacklight - no
incondescent - sux
halogen - sux
leds - sux
compact flourescents - ok
flourescents - ok
window sill - good
hids - kicks ass
sun - chaching

the last 2 are debatable because beyond a certan wattage your actually doing better with hids then with the sun.

it seems like there really good to use i havnt seen any thing bad about them..i might get some theyre really cheap is theyre anything wrong with running leds for only growing in a 3ft by 4ft closet?

hydrogrower420 said:

it seems like there really good to use i havnt seen any thing bad about them..i might get some theyre really cheap is theyre anything wrong with running leds for only growing in a 3ft by 4ft closet?

Click to expand...

yeah youd need $5,000 worth of leds to get 3 bonghits in that closet.

I actually just joined to discuss this, im planning on starting some sort of hydroponic setup using a rubbermaid 18g container.. thats a whole other story, ive grown just with the sun but this will be my first hydroponic experiment i was planning on trying to grow 4 plants under 7 led's equivlent to 400w hps. this will be done in a small 3x3 / 3x4 closet. I was wondering if anyone could give me a simple hydroponics setup using a rubbermaid container thats relatively cheap. I'm aware of the search but i've been researching this out for awhile now cant seem to find a exact step by step.

Welcome japkon. What kind of LEDs are you using? bc I highly doubt that they are equivlent to a 400w hps. That might be what the manufacturer said, or the guy that sold it to you, but that's not what they really are. I have 3 x 7 watt LEDs that ran me about $150 for all three. They are batwings (the good kind). Sweet little things, but they say they are equivilent to a 250w hps, but not likely. More like a 50w hps if that.

The downside that you arn't reading about hydrogrower, is that the 'pannels' and the led 'spot lights' that everyone is trying to sell you for $20 or so are crap. Pure crap. The only ones that will net you anything more than a few leaves off a plant are the batwing ones. I don't know too much about them, a buddy got them for me (at least hooked me up with a source, I still had to pay). The UFO led light I've heard is sweet, and the 100w protocron (or whatever the hell it is called) is suposed to be good, both by led standards and both cost $400-$600. THOSE lights are close to a 400w hps, but not quite there. You would need about 12 of those 'panels' and about 12 more of those 'spot light' leds to do a grow in a 3'x4' space. Even at $20 a pop, that isn't cheap. Those LEDs have a small angle of light released, mainly straight down. So if you don't have enough of them you are F'ed. And as the plant grows if you don't have them positioned at just the right spot, you are F'ed. Plus, those shitty leds don't have the penetration power of actual lighting, meaning that they can barely penetrate into the leaf of the plant to provide enough energy for photosynthesis, let alone peircing through the canopy to get to the rest of the plant.

Shed a little bit of light on the situation for you?

Yeah thanks for the help, the bulbs i was looking into are 11 watts each. I saw the LED ufo so i figured this setup would be about the same output. My main problem is just setting up some sort of grow box. I suppose i could use soil and try it but i was hoping to move on to something more interesting. Also, the led option was chosen because of the utilities being a college student i cant be too obvious. any suggestions?

I don't think people realize how much energy HID lighting actually consumes. Even a 400 watt HPS system running at 12 hours per day, every day will only cost about $30 roughtly a month. That isn't really that much, and that's a 400 watt. If you are concerned about energy consumption and $30 a month is too much, stick with a 250w HPS, or even go to home depot and get a 150w HPS security light, or a 70w security light. It won't consume that much power, and it still doesn't look suspicious on your electricity bill. Your computer can consume about that much energy.

Leds are good to play around with, maybe even to veg with. I personally like them for their potential. The UFO still can't beat a 400w HPS, but it can produce more bud per kWhr of energy used. Plus with LEDs you don't need to have an extraction fan for ventilation purposes, wich cuts down on cost and on sound, which helps with stealth issues. Not to mention the power savings, and the fact that many of the LEDs last 10+ years. But the current price tag just blows it out of the water. Not really feasible for a successful grow right now, but for clones and somewhat for veging its ok.

If HID lighting doesn't work for you, either due to the heat issues, or the power consumption, stick with CFLs. Personally I wouldn't really waste your time with LEDs right now. Five or ten years down the road it might be different, but for right now it isn't your best bet.

Actually, sorry, my numbers were off. A 400w HPS running at 18 hours per day will cost about $30 a month.

A 400w HPS running at 12 hours per day only costs about $20 a month. All of that depends on how much the electricity company will charge you for energy, of course.

thanks i'll have to research more noobie stuff about building and growing. i assume a 250w hps would be find for like 3-4 plants through veg to flowering? i regret buying all the stuff i did now for cloning and preparing this project but at least i'll have it for down the road. if only i could get a led ufo for like 200 bucks....

found this site for any ballers out there.

LED Lights : Buy LED Grow Lights, Procyon 100

no doubt those 200, 300 , 400 watt led bulbs would grow. I would hope so for the price tag.

That's the thing I was talking about. I forgot how to spell it.

lol i think ill just stick with the 400 watt hps...

Good choice

hey japkon,

for the veg just use regular floresent. thats all you need. then when flowering comes, you should move up to either HPS (best way) CFL or LEDs. Let me tell you what i have set up.

I have two grow boxes: one for veg and cloning using floresent (5' x 2' x 3')and the other for flowering using 400w HPS (8' x 3' x 3'). (i got the HPS light used for $150 at my local hydro store).

anyways its nice to have two boxes because you can have a harvest every few months.

Oh yeah this was supposed to be about the LEDs hahah sorry. before i had the HPS light and the second box I was planning on veg/flowering in the same box so i bought two 250 LED LED panels. in my veg box i was using the aerogarden. i rigged up a little deck on each side of the AG for the LED panels to mount on. this way the plant was getting light from above and two sides. i started the flowering stage around the 5th week (master kush) and the plant started to flower on the 7th week (2nd week of flower). so far the plant was lookin good. the 8th week of flowering comes and its ready to harvest. i got a good 7g off one plant. i had two plants by the way. so if you think getting a half oz is worth the long wait then go ahead but i highly recomend getting a HPS. my bill only costs about 40 bucks more a year and i get way better yields. i get about an oz per plant with the HPS.

So go to your local hydro store, become cool with the owner, and ask him for his old light. thats what i did so good luck with your grow!!!!