Best LED if money was no issue

[TorturedSoul]

Please advise, what would you put in a 4x4 if you would want to grow even the most light-demanding sativas?

The sun.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. But if money and time were of no concern - and adequate skill assumed - I would probably have to go the DiY route and experiment over the course of a couple dozen (if not more) grows, using different combinations of wavelengths of LED light at the highest intensity that I was able to deal with the heat from. Because I would not just want "yield," I'd want things like a great bud-to-leaf ratio, high amounts of "good" terpene/etc. production (assuming that the strain(s) I chose were capable of producing them), et cetera. I don't know that different wavelengths - and different ratios of same - influence such things, but I think they might.

I feel that at the present time - and assuming the best of intentions from the manufacturers, lol - that they're basically just attempting to build/sell a good "general purpose" grow light as opposed to ones that are optimum for specific strains. We're probably lucky that a few companies - such as one of our sponsors, Amare Technologies - actually designs/builds products that are specifically meant to grow cannabis.

 

[fanleaf]

I just bought 3 of their bigger kits. Dan from Timber is great. Cant wait to try them out. They should be delivered Wednesday.
Adding my own UVB and far red to them

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[rastamamma]

The COBs from Timber looks insane....i wish they made a ready to assemble kit...with rails and stuff...

 

[rastamamma]

Also, Amare looks awesome but only 350 actual watts? The former had 450....anyone know why they opted for 350 in the new version?

 

[fanleaf]

I just bought 3 of their bigger kits. Dan from Timber is great. Cant wait to try them out. They should be delivered Wednesday.
Adding my own UVB and far red to them

Sent from my VS980 4G using 420 Magazine Mobile App

If all goes as well as I think it will Im ordering 3 more too.

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[TorturedSoul]

Amare looks awesome but only 350 actual watts? The former had 450....anyone know why they opted for 350 in the new version?

I think you have it backwards - the older version was 350 watts, and the newer is 450 watts (with newer, more efficient/powerful COBs). Thus their names: SE350+UVB (old version) and SE450+UVB (newer version).

 

[jasper19]

I got my Timber kit and installed it on my frame. Par readings rock. Im in a small tent as you can guess. Thanks Dan.

 

[fanleaf]

I got my Timber kit and installed it on my frame. Par readings rock. Im in a small tent as you can guess. Thanks Dan.

Can u share your par readings and at what distances and dimming setting? Also your center to center cob spacing?. I ask because I just built this Timber setup and am now building a second one.

My par readings should be great. Of the 3 rows of cobs if you go up a row long ways the cobs are on 13 inch centers and if you look at the picture and went center to center of top left corner cob to top right corner cob its 13 as well but the middle row is splitting the distance so no cob in my setup is further than 9.5 inches center to center with another cob.
I also built my middle row with 3 5k's and the other 2 rows having 8 3ks. That way in veg I can turn up more blue and vice versa in flower.
Oh yea, and Im also adding 6 385nm 3w led's to the panel as well for some uvb.

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[jasper19]

xx

 

[jasper19]

Can u share your par readings and at what distances and dimming setting? Also your center to center cob spacing?. I ask because I just built this Timber setup and am now building a second one.

My par readings should be great. Of the 3 rows of cobs if you go up a row long ways the cobs are on 13 inch centers and if you look at the picture and went center to center of top left corner cob to top right corner cob its 13 as well but the middle row is splitting the distance so no cob in my setup is further than 9.5 inches center to center with another cob.
I also built my middle row with 3 5k's and the other 2 rows having 8 3ks. That way in veg I can turn up more blue and vice versa in flower.
Oh yea, and Im also adding 6 385nm 3w led's to the panel as well for some uvb.

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Your light looks killer.

 

[Graytail]

What a nice build - very clean - I love to see what engineers end up with!

I checked out your journal, too, and things look good so far. I wouldn't lower the scrog, but make sure you keep pulling the leaders wide. Blue Dream is a pretty good stretcher, so you should expect another foot or so from here. My plants typically use 2.5 sqft and top out at 25-30 inches, and I flip at about 12-14 inches with a dozen main tops. Yours looked a little shorter at flip? I'll be running Blue Dream next cycle and I'd expect a 30+ incher in my garden.

Nice work! I encourage you to check into High Brix organic growing - search here for DBHBB - Doc Bud's High Brix Blend.

 

[Icemud]

Can u share your par readings and at what distances and dimming setting? Also your center to center cob spacing?. I ask because I just built this Timber setup and am now building a second one.

My par readings should be great. Of the 3 rows of cobs if you go up a row long ways the cobs are on 13 inch centers and if you look at the picture and went center to center of top left corner cob to top right corner cob its 13 as well but the middle row is splitting the distance so no cob in my setup is further than 9.5 inches center to center with another cob.
I also built my middle row with 3 5k's and the other 2 rows having 8 3ks. That way in veg I can turn up more blue and vice versa in flower.
Oh yea, and Im also adding 6 385nm 3w led's to the panel as well for some uvb.

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That is one bad azz build!!! very nice job!!!! Love seeing DIY grow lights! amazing!

 

[fanleaf]

That is one bad azz build!!! very nice job!!!! Love seeing DIY grow lights! amazing!

Thank you very much Icemud. In the next few days Ill get a pic of the 2 together.
Then to put it to work on a Hi Brix style grow..

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[rastamamma]

How is Bridgelux Vero 29 LED COB compared to CXB3590?

/RM

 

[TorturedSoul]

How is Bridgelux Vero 29 LED COB compared to CXB3590?

I have seen mention of those Vero 29s (but I don't know exactly how they compare, either). I have also just read of Citizen Electronics' CLU048-1818 COB, which may (IDK) outperform some of the Cree COBs when wattages for both are higher. They also have a CLU052, which is larger than the '48.

I just did some searching, but the only comparisons I saw seemed to be using different COBs than what appears to be used in the newest LED grow panels, at least as far as the Crees go (articles weren't published late last night ). IDK about bin selection, and that would seem to be highly important. And most comparisons spoke in terms of lumen per watt instead of PAR or PPFD. And... I don't know enough to understand half of what I did read, lol. Things like running the Vero 29s in series (instead of parallel), which requires a DC power supply capable of providing ~107v made my head spin. I mean... I understand that it might be difficult to find a quality power supply that is both capable of supplying that and reasonably inexpensive - but IDK why the author of that particular article stated series was better than parallel for that particular brand/model. Efficiency? Ease of design/build? Personal preference, lol?

The fact that much of this stuff will remain hypothetical for me probably doesn't help (but it does keep my stress level from ringing the bell when I realize how much I do not know :lol: )....

 

[fanleaf]

From what i can see is that if you run mor cxb' s at a low drive their efficiency cannot be matched. And the crees run just as efficient up to around 2 or so amps and then the varos become slightly more efficient when both are driven real hard but thats harder than anyone pushes them. Also ive been told by a few that when the veros are driven that hard it shortens their lifespan quickly.

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[mmmnq]

I'm in the process of buying CXB3590 from Timbergrowlights. I want to ask how many should I need for my 3x3 grow tent? I've read that 65watts per sq foot is optimal for growing. So does that mean that I need to have 585 watts of power for my tent? Also will the 3x3 tent be able to handle 12 * 50 watts COB kits? Will the heat become unbearable for my plants?

I've also read that 3500k is good for flowering and 4000k is good for flowering? Can I have something like 6 4000k and 6 3500k in my set up?

 

[TorturedSoul]

That'd definitely be a hella-bright tent, lol. I think that a common wattage range for (high quality) LED lighting is 25-55 watts per square foot, but I can't swear to it. I'll be using a ~350 watt (manufacturer-built) panel in a space that size and hope to produce a decent harvest. That's only ~38.8 watts/ft². Another member here used a newer and more powerful version (~450-watt) in a 16 ft² tent and thought it could have used a little more lighting - but that only averaged out to 28.125 watts per ft². I used to read that 50 watts per ft² was the minimum recommendation for HID lighting (which, of course, was a somewhat wasteful spectrum), and I liked to run at least 62.5 watts/ft² - and, if I could provide adequate cooling and was growing varieties that were mostly sativa, considerably more. However, although some of the wild claims that were bandied about when LED grow lighting first came on the market proved to be... wildly inaccurate, I believe that the ability to provide a tailored spectrum still helps a good bit.

I could easily be wrong, lol, as I have no experience, as of yet, with growing cannabis under LED. I'm also interested in reading what the experts here write on the subject.

BtW, those kits look pretty cool. Thank you for supporting one of our sponsors!

EDIT: What strains will you be growing? I mean, will their genetics be predominantly sativa, indica, or more towards the middle?

 

[fanleaf]

65wpsf is a ton for white cobs. For hid maybe 65 but white cobs no. 360 wall watts or 40wpsf of these cobs maybe

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[mmmnq]

That'd definitely be a hella-bright tent, lol. I think that a common wattage range for (high quality) LED lighting is 25-55 watts per square foot, but I can't swear to it. I'll be using a ~350 watt (manufacturer-built) panel in a space that size and hope to produce a decent harvest. That's only ~38.8 watts/ft². Another member here used a newer and more powerful version (~450-watt) in a 16 ft² tent and thought it could have used a little more lighting - but that only averaged out to 28.125 watts per ft². I used to read that 50 watts per ft² was the minimum recommendation for HID lighting (which, of course, was a somewhat wasteful spectrum), and I liked to run at least 62.5 watts/ft² - and, if I could provide adequate cooling and was growing varieties that were mostly sativa, considerably more. However, although some of the wild claims that were bandied about when LED grow lighting first came on the market proved to be... wildly inaccurate, I believe that the ability to provide a tailored spectrum still helps a good bit.

I could easily be wrong, lol, as I have no experience, as of yet, with growing cannabis under LED. I'm also interested in reading what the experts here write on the subject.

BtW, those kits look pretty cool. Thank you for supporting one of our sponsors!

EDIT: What strains will you be growing? I mean, will their genetics be predominantly sativa, indica, or more towards the middle?

I plan to grow mostly sativa strains. I like energetic high. I got some here, but it is indica and I'm always sleeping when I toke. I plan to toke during daytime lol.

65wpsf is a ton for white cobs. For hid maybe 65 but white cobs no. 360 wall watts or 40wpsf of these cobs maybe

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Thank you! So I only need 350 watts. I'll buy 400 watts since that's the only set up in Timber. Can I combine two different color spectrums? Like 4000k and 3500k for my set up, will that be better for my grow? And will 8 COB lights fit in a 3x3 grow tent?