Starting with Florescent lamps...ultimately to be under 1000 watt LED
- Thread starter Durkee13
- Start date
CapollaLabs
Well-Known Member
100 watt LED
Gond00s
Well-Known Member
yup im just tired people say 1000 WATT Led people need to read the fine print lol.100 watt LED
but all those blurples are pretty shitty.
TreeFarmerCharlie
Well-Known Member
If you are looking into buying a “1000W LED” then you have a lot of lighting research to do. That LED will be garbage and a waste of your money.
Budzbuddha
Well-Known Member
T5 would outgrow that “ 1000 watt “ light oddly enough.
xtsho
Well-Known Member
Until they get big enough to need more light. You can go for quite a while under T5's. This plant was started from seed 1-30-2020 so almost 3 months it's been under T5's. Topped a couple times and taken a bunch of clones. T5's grow better than many people think. But that 28 watt you have won't be good for very long. I'm using a 4 ft 4 bulb fixture with 54 watt HO 6500k bulbs.
You were advised "until they need more light". Sounds like an answer to me.
However as you were also advised, 28W won't last long at all. I have more than that over my unrooted clones and seedlings fresh out of dirt. You're also now aware that the blurple LED you've got won't provide much benefit either. It'll be enough to get you going, but don't expect a great result.
I'd put them under both of those lights right away, and immediately start researching a better lighting system.
xtsho
Well-Known Member
There is no set amount of time. Nobody can say X amount of days. That light will work to get a seedling going but depending on the grower the plant will need more light as soon as possible. Some growers fiddle around overwatering and dumping crap on their seedlings stunting their growth. Some do everything right and will need more light than a 28 watt fluorescent right away. I don't know what category of grower you are. Best thing to do is give them more light than that 28 watter unless you want a scraggly stretched out seedling.
just to clear it up...the very first two replies to my original question had nothing to do with my question, just the "MY way or NO way" people...a legitimate reply came AFTER my comment of "neither of you..."
I have never brought a plant past mid-seedling without making a mistake...this time i think i got it down, but i need to work with what i got...i have a VERY little budget for this. So I'm trying to utilize the equipment I have best I can. I have a Mars Hydro 1000 watt LED and a 600 watt blurple LED and a 9w blue spectrum- leaning LED. Currently i am experimenting with just raising the plant from seed to harvest, focusing on just straight organic, no nutes.
My plan is to figure out the best way (for me) to grow and learn the curves of growing. I have a nice big stash of bag seeds to use, so if i lose one or 3 its no biggie. Once I master the ropes of general cannabis care, then i'll start moving up to all the special seeds, nutes, different soil types, etc. At least then I'll know how to keep a plant alive.
I really appreciate "mature", non judgmental replies like this as it works towards the purpose of this forum...and thats to help each other grow pot and be happy! So thank you for the imput, it is duly noted.
It was already bought, thank you for sharing your opinion though...
TreeFarmerCharlie
Well-Known Member
It’s not an opinion, it was a fact I pointed out, so you can research and make sure you properly light your growing area. You’ll be able to grow plants with them but you will see the difference when the plants are in flower.
I've done plenty of research on lighting and for what my grow plan and budget is/was, LED was the way to go with cool running, low running cost and affordability and low maint. and general output power vs power consumption ratio.
Nowhere did I ever read that LED for growing cannabis is a total waste of time in any large consensus. So although i welcome everyones opinion on LED value and use, (i've yet to hear an explanation as to exactly why.(??)) I have a very open mind but an empty wallet... :/ Any comment to go with a different light source will simply be disregarded until i can afford anything else.
Nowhere did I ever read that LED for growing cannabis is a total waste of time in any large consensus. So although i welcome everyones opinion on LED value and use, (i've yet to hear an explanation as to exactly why.(??)) I have a very open mind but an empty wallet... :/ Any comment to go with a different light source will simply be disregarded until i can afford anything else.
BluntMoniker
Well-Known Member
They arent saying LED is a waste of time. They're saying your specific lighting choices were a waste of money/time. It is what it is now, since you already own and plan on using them, but for the future, they are lower quality, and will produce lower quality plant growth.
Those lights dont actually draw 1000watts and 600watts. Manufwcturers of cheap LEDs use misleading naming and wording to make you believe their lights are more than they are. Your likely lucky to have 150-200w actual draw. On top of that, the quality of light spectrum will be very sub par compared to higher quality lighting.
Your research is correct... and incorrect. LED is more efficient, and can run cooler, true.. but are generally much more expensive than an HID alternative equivalent. If your LED fixture was cheaper than a HPS or CMH fixture of equivalent intensity, you likely bought a low quality LED that will underperform.
To answer your original question though.. right now. That 28w LED is likely only producing about 1000-3000lux MAX. She needs roughly 8-12k as a seedling, 20-50k lux in veg, and 40-75k lux in flower.
If you wanna cheap out, download a lux meter on your phone to get an inaccurate rough guesstimate. You could also grab a 30$ lux meter for something a bit more accurate. But either way, taking a measurement will show you exactly what you need to do to achieve the lux parameters I laid out above. If you cant upgrade your lighting, you can at least try to make sure your plant is recieving the light intensity it needs
TreeFarmerCharlie
Well-Known Member
I grow in LED. I wasn’t saying LED is a waste of money, I said the lights you are talking about are a waste of money and have misleading power ratings. Like I said, those will be fine in veg, but your plants won’t grow like they can in flower. Your results will be limited by your lights, because the plants have specific requirements, and what we can afford is not a part of the requirement calculation. If you can’t afford better lights then your best course of action would be to grow less plants in a smaller enclosure that your lights would be more suitable in.
That makes sense. There are so many lighting options out there, they all say they are the better type...I would love an "unbiased" comparison but those are few and far between! I'm very open minded, my planned crop to be is hoped to be 2-3 for personal rec use. I'd like to grow as a business someday as a dispensary supplier, all legal like. Right now I'm just a smoker who has fun growing what he loves! And I have to be very careful with the power use spike...(long story, don't ask!) right now so I have to be discreet all around including on the power and water grid!