LED's

Are LED's worth the money? i was thinking of using them as i need to conserve energy and also there leww of a fire risk!!

Any information, websites etc you've got Lay it on me!

i grew with leds, you can see my video at youtube "LedGrower"

id say LEDs arent worth the money. at least if you use 10mm LEDs.

No, they are a scam. I have about 120 watts worth. They work good for mother plants and for cuttings. In side by side comparison, I found watt for watt that CFL performed better than the 5mm arrays. They are about worthless for budding out a plant since they simply don't have the light intensity needed for robust buds.

High power LEDs are a different story but they still perform no better than CFL and they're to expensive. Despite the marketing hype, they will not conserve energy at this stage of technology.

Save your money and avoid LEDs. Don't listen to the LED grow light manafactuers, they will not actually show their product in side by side testing with HID lighting; the one that did was a seriously flawed test. Also, the spectrum charts they show are bullshit. They ususally show charts of the absorbtion of different molecules suspended in a solution rather than the charts that show total photosynthetic activity. Even then some of the total photosynthetic activity charts are actually for green algae rather than land plants. The claims of 10 or 20 times the performance are completely without merit.

rant rant rant...save you money.

nemad said:

i grew with leds, you can see my video at youtube "LedGrower"

id say LEDs arent worth the money. at least if you use 10mm LEDs.

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In your video you switched from LEDs to CFL. Have you actually done a whole grow cycle with LEDs? Try budding with them and see what happens.

id say leds suck monkey balls. based on the fact that they are VERY WEAK. yeah if you get like 300 of them they put out some light, but a few cfls would do the same. and probably better. i like cls. HID outdo CFLs. thats how it goes.

In your video you switched from LEDs to CFL. Have you actually done a whole grow cycle with LEDs? Try budding with them and see what happens.

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I spent too much money on blue LEDs. i wont spend more for red LEDs, wich is for flowering.
But i Truly believe that they really help plants grow using CFL + LEDs.
CFL = light, LED = clear spectrum. and togeather theyre rocks.

nemad said:

I spent too much money on blue LEDs. i wont spend more for red LEDs, wich is for flowering.
But i Truly believe that they really help plants grow using CFL + LEDs.
CFL = light, LED = clear spectrum. and togeather theyre rocks.

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Do you know any good websites that are good for ordering from? where i can get hold of some? looking to spend a bit under £60. UK sites preferred!

nemad said:

CFL = light, LED = clear spectrum. and togeather theyre rocks.

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From an engineering and photobiology perspective, this statement makes absolutely no sense. Keep in mind that I've actually used large LED arrays, both high power and lower power (5mm), in veging and flowering and I can state with empiricism that they are not worth the money.

If someone wants to waste their money on LEDs, particularily the crappy 5mm LED arrays, then more power to them. Some people just need to learn for themselves.

From an engineering and photobiology perspective, this statement makes absolutely no sense.

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please explain why do u think so anyway, yes, i agree with u, leds arent worth that money.

but keep in mind that 5mm cant compaire to 10mm or 1w, 3w or even 5w's leds. im not that rich to experiment with 1w's. but after 10mm 25mA + 100mA Leds all what i can say: dont try it.

Do you know any good websites that are good for ordering from? where i can get hold of some? looking to spend a bit under £60. UK sites preferred!

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i never saw cheep, good led panels on net. you want to buy leds at ebay and make your light by your own. for 60 british pounds you may get ~20 1w or even 3w's at ebay.

nemad said:

please explain why do u think so anyway, yes, i agree with u, leds arent worth that money.

but keep in mind that 5mm cant compaire to 10mm or 1w, 3w or even 5w's leds. im not that rich to experiment with 1w's. but after 10mm 25mA + 100mA Leds all what i can say: dont try it.

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I've experimented with up to 15 watt LEDs. They're expensive crap at this stage of technology.

Your statement does not make any sense because they are both lights ("CFL=light" is a tautology on your part) and " LED=""clear spectrum" " is a nonsensical term not found in engineering or photobiology.

Your statement does not make any sense because they are both lights ("CFL=light" is a tautology on your part) and " LED=""clear spectrum" " is a nonsensical term not found in engineering or photobiology.

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LEDs make light only in 1 spectrum, but CFLs make light in many spectrums..

nemad said:

LEDs make light only in 1 spectrum, but CFLs make light in many spectrums..

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Yet once again, "clear spectrum" is not a term found in engineering or photobiology (I'm an electronics engineer). White LEDs also emit a broad spectrum and I do use 5 watt LEDs as supplements in grow lighting because the green part of the spectrum will boost auxin levels. You need to understand what you're talking about before posting.