My LED fluoro grow #1

Well done for pushing the boundaries instead of just following the standard MH/HPS set-up. I have used an LED bulb before and would do again. For Vegging it works surprisingly well, for flowering not so much. One advantage is the low heat emmission meaning it can be placed closer to the plant. One disadvantage is that the light cannot penetrate to the lower levels of the canopy without LST or SCROG. As a supplemental light current LED technology is great, but we all knw that eventually LED will take over from Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium bulbs...just not yet.

I am speaking from experience (All you LED haters out there) so read the journal in my sig if you wanna see the results. Good luck.

STAY AWAY FROM UVB! Use these bulbs carefully, do not expose yourself to the bulb when in use as UV can cause skin cancer. Also you must remove any males as soon as you find them unless you want to risk pollenating your females.

I had a sunburn in february just because I wanted to make sure I was getting those high energy waves.

I definitely did damage to my DNA that day.

I've been retarded ever since.

So right now I have 9 confirmed females and 1 unknown, not to shabby. Worked on my lighting a bit, I like the set up so far but couldn't get the uvb and the ir up and running yet, bit I understand the dangers of the uvbs will be turning them off whenever in the closet. Here are some pics

I almost forgot I added another exhaust fan. I saw the temps go over 80 F for the first time so I added another 4 inch inline duct fan 80 cfm same as the other one I already have. I'll need it as I'm adding the 2 uvb strips and the IR bulbs

sweet!

where ya'think'n of positioning the infrared? i just got mine installed today and man does it put out a lot of heat! 'wish there was some way of getting the beneficial effects of the IR 'spray' without the detrimental amount of heat that's produced as a side effect...

in any event, real nice work with configuring the cfl's in conjunction with the LED... 'gonna get some nice yield i'll happily predict!



cheers
-g

edit/ps: yeah, the uvb thing's a bee-ach. i went and picked up a pair of khor safety glasses for doing work in my cabinet ( http://www.tasco-safety.com/sglasses/edge-safety-glasses.html )... 'don't want cataracts afterall. think'n though that i'm going to have to start wearing sunblock as well since i'm convinced that after spending time working in my cabinet i come away with a touch of a 'sun'burn!

Ok I was slightly premature about the number of females so far right now definitely 7 and 2 still unknown. Humidity is down to around 50% with both exhaust running 24/7 temps are just now getting into the lower 80's when the lights are on. IR and UVB still not up and running but I'm getting close. picked up some gonzo odor neutralizer 1 inside and outside the closet seems to be working. I just watered them with the 1/2 a cap of the ff growbig and 2 caps of the bigbloom and tigerbloom and a tbls of molasses. I really like how the lighting came together and no more burning the plants with the CFLs. I'm waiting on the ballasts for the UVB bulbs and I just got the timer for the IR bulbs. I hope to have both running by the ned of the week

lookin good man!!keep it up!!!!!

So I plugged in the 2 50 watt IR bulbs and they really didn't put out too much? Now I did have all the other lights on at the time I looked at them( I'll see them in action later tonight with the other lights off) but I expected more. More visible light and heat but the heat was only felt like 12 inches away from the bulb at the most. Do they take time to heat up? I was impatient didn't give them much time How far do you think I should have them from the plants? Do they need to feel the heat Or are they getting more light that I can't see? So many questions

leds
hey this is .... that 5hit
thanks for the + rep check out my(https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/207516-lights-lights.html) thread its in the indoor growing forum tell me what you think. + rep me back

The human eye cannot see IR. Keep up the good work.

Still have 2 plants that still haven't shown sex yet. The others are adding white hairs daily. Growth on all is taking off hoping to SOG them but right now I'm just using string to keep them where I want them. Last night was the first night they saw infared lights. I forgot to check the temps after they were on for the 5 mins but its around 80-81F with the lights on and 70-72F with the lights off. is that too much of a difference between light and dark temps? typical? let me know. But everything still looks great the only blemishes are were some leaves were burnt by the CFLs, back before I raised them. I was told by someone with some experience that I should check out canna nutes anyone used them?

So still stand at 5 females 2 unknown. Been at 14/10 for ten days and have had the IR going for 2 days. On for 5 minutes before the lights turn on and on for 5 minutes on after lights go out. Haven't seen any negative affects of the heat from the IR I have them about 18 inches from the tops. Though I still haven't see them in action just tested the timer they're on. Still waiting on the ballasts for the UVBs.
Here are some pics
#1 under the lights
#2 overhead
#3 IR bulbs
#4 gonzo air freshener

No close ups yet my camera can't take a good pic

So I discovered that 1 of the 2 unknown plants is a female the other I'm still unsure about. Looking back at some of my past posts they said 5 females 2 unknown, but I should have said 7 and 2 but anyhoo, now I'm at 8 females and 1 unknown. Plants are coming along nicely but I might have found some mold on some fan leaves, other fan leaves look worn? just a few thou I'm watching it closely and removing any affected fan leaves. I have to say that directly beneath the UFO looks really nice. I have several plants that I topped that are developing 3-4 nice main bud sites. here are some pics
#1 tried for the closeup
#2" "
#3 worn looking leaves

I like this! Very nice! How do I subscribe? Thank you!

Cool thread! Im using two 105 watt 3000 K CFLs and two banks of four 42 watt 2700 K for flower. One plant LSTed, all organic. I will be following your thread to see the final results with LED combined.

So I finally got the UVB ballasts. Now to try to save money I attempted to make my own fixture. The ones I saw online were $50+. I bought the 2 uvb bulbs t8 24 inches long, $24 each, ballasts $9 each, 4 foot piece of 1 inch square aluminum tubing $10, tombstones (socket for bulb pins) $3. So all in all I didn't save any money really and I'm not sure they are lighting up to their full potential. I bought different ballast originally that were for 20,24,and 32 watt bulbs not 18 like the bulbs I have and it didn't work, now with a ballast for a 18 watt 2 foot t8 it lights up but but not as bright as expected. I don't know if its the LED making it not look as bright , if I burnt them out with the other ballast( the didn't fully light but flickered brightly) or if this is just how they look? here are some pics
#1 overview of the new ghetto UVB's
#2 a lower shot

awesome!
now don't you want to get those leads in a junction box? fire is no fun...

Georgi no worries on my flying splices. Yes it would be neater in junction box, safer too. But I'm an electrician and do much worse things at work for temp power everyday. The junction boxes might make it on my agenda in the future but not right now. I'm still customizing my setup once I get it were I want it I'll make things more permanent and safe