Confused with power ratings: Grow COB Led or Blue/Red COB Led combinations?

[meejay]

Hello fellow growers,
I am doing a feasibility study for my first commercial grow project. It will include DIY options as well. I have a couple of questions here on deciding on which COB Led panels and how many of each for an optimum grow such as; better lighting, lower capital cost. I would appreciate any guidance.

• What combination is best? Grow or Blue/Red combination?
• Does 50W Grow light provide 50W of Blue and Red at the same time or less than 50W of each?

Cheers,

 

[EZCalyx]

It sounds like you have a big project, which is exciting. Generally light in the blue end of the spectrum is good for vegetative state. Light in the red end of the spectrum is good for flowering. Full spectrum white light containing red and blue are good throughout the life cycle. 50W of grow light (assuming it is white) will have a proportion of each color which will add to the total. When speaking in terms of wattage that generally means the power consumed at the wall. For measuring light it may be good to look into PPFD the Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density or the amount of light actually hitting the canopy. If I were you I would look into getting the Mars Hydro FC-E4800 something similar depending on your output needs. Mars Hydro FC-E4800 BridgeLux 480W LED Grow Light

 

[meejay]

It is bir to be honest and I want to see where I can save money while investing in the system. I was planning to build my own lighting originally but now I am considering these commercial ones as well. As far as I understand (which was my educated guess also) light reaching the canopy in either blue or red spectrum is lower for a grow light (white assumption) than the same power rating single blue or red which favours DIY option.

 

[TorturedSoul]

How many square feet of garden space are you talking about? 100? 1,000? 25,000? The best answer for you may not be the same in all possible scenarios.

 

[meejay]

How many square feet of garden space are you talking about? 100? 1,000? 25,000? The best answer for you may not be the same in all possible scenarios.

It is approximately 70 m^2 (700 ft^2).
I am using the approximate figures I got from forum for plants per unit area as 1 for a square feet of the space.

 

[TorturedSoul]

It is approximately 70 m^2 (700 ft^2).

70 m² is approximately 753.5 ft.². You'll want to get your conversions as close as possible when trying to decide how much space you'll need, how much light-energy your space will need, et cetera. Especially if you'll be buying/leasing/building a new space to meet some kind of production goal and won't be able to easily (or cheaply) make substantial changes later.

I am using the approximate figures I got from forum for plants per unit area as 1 for a square feet of the space.

Plant spacing/density is up to the gardener. You can pack nine plants into a single square foot with proper strain selection (although more than four is a pain in the @ss, and is probably not worth it, IMHO) or fill 16 - or more - square feet with a single plant. If your goal is profit - and your taxes and fees are not governed solely by plant count - then a SOG style grow, with rooted cuttings, supplied by your mother plants, going straight to flower at a density of four per square foot in an automated-feed setup might make you the most money per day. Or not; it depends on several things.

But there is no rule about how many plants per unit of area a garden may contain. As demonstrated by the people who use contraptions like these:

BtW, out of curiosity, how may successful grows/harvests have you had so far?

 

[meejay]

Thank you for the explanations!
I had 3 grows so far.