Top LED grow lights
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David Bowman
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I PMed Sara the same ? and received the following reply - "the price on our website is the best now, so please oder on website directly. thank you.".
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Thanks for doing that . I just thought it wouldn't hurt to ask.
Also,looked at your beautiful pictures in the gallery...was looking for your grow with led. For some reason I can't connect with the ones on the forum. A little question if you don't mind...why do you choose, like, or grow with soil ?
Thank you
David Bowman
New Member
No problem, you're welcome grannyT! I'm starting with LED for my next grow to get the temps down in time for summer. I'm only growing for myself and do not need high quantity, but greatly desire high quality. I read a lot from members with more experience with both soil and hydro comment that cannabis matures with more complexities in soil and has better taste and other subtle qualities that aren't present with hydro. I'm a very down to earth person, literally and figuratively. I like to grow things in soil and with cannabis being such a difficult weed at times, I figured it would be best to stay with something I'm familiar with to help with the transition over to cannabis. Everything happens slower in soil and that gives me a better chance of correcting a problem before it becomes fatal, hydro is much less forgiving. I like to let nature do the majority of the work instead of replacing her with some program of my own. If I was growing where quantity mattered, then I might consider hydro but until then I'm quite content with soil.
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David Bowman
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You're welcome grannyT, anytime!!
Hosebomber
New Member
Look into aquaponics ColoradoHigh, it's the best of both worlds for my view point. You get all of the organic and natural benefits of soil, with a growth rate that is higher than and uses less overall water than hydro, with no waste water or chemicals.
David Bowman
New Member
Thanks Hosebomber, I'll check that out. Soil is enough of a challenge for me at the moment. After almost killing my ladies this last grow, I'd like to get a grow or two under my belt where I'm not constantly having to deal with some issue that I inevitably brought upon myself.
I would completely dispute this. No one in the aquaponics world would ever admit that they get higher growth rate, infact completely the opposite, than hydroponics. The reason is simple... fish hate salts and plants love salts. By combining and balancing the two, you get lower fish growth and lower plant growth than each system separated. MJ would not be a good candidate for aquaponics as MJ wants much more nitrogen than typical growing aquaponic crops like lettuce and basil. Most aquaponics try to run their systems around 60ppm NO3- and as low NH4+ as they can, under 10ppm usually. MJ needs much more N than aquaponics can handle. While it "can" be done, that doesnt mean its the best alternative.
The sell for aquaponics is 'organic produce potential' as opposed to higher productivity than hydroponics. Personally i would dispute this too as hydroponics can be just as 'organic' as aquaponics, only with faster growth and more ability for the farmer to 'tune' his crop depending on the needs of the plants, not the limitation of the fish.
Hosebomber
New Member
Feel free to disagree. Take a look at my nug of the month for this month. Ammonia is ran at close to 0ppm because the bacterial process converts all of the ammonia to nitrites then to nitrates. I was using hydor before and have proof that my growth rates are better. I do have rather high nitrate levels due to my current stocking rates, but those who only grow lettuce and basil may not be making the most out of their systems. I can have have grown most plants under 5' in height in my system. The high nitrate levels does make tomato plants explode into monsters if left unchecked.
Have you measured your nitrate levels? MJ could easily take 250ppm of N during much of flowering which is pretty excessive to your fish. So if you are getting success with aquaponics, you must be running significantly less N than optimal for your crop, which is my original point. Erm, lets say significantly less than what the literature says is optimal, Im not going to argue with your success... Most aquaponic systems run their N around 60-80ppm which is a good number for the fish and leafy greens but very low for high feeders like MJ. Dr Nate at Bright Agrotech has run as high as 150ppm but he is a PhD in aquaponics.
Im curious hosebomber, have you measure your brix levels?
Hosebomber
New Member
First things first, Nate's PhD is in agronomy. That is the science of using plants for food, fuel and land reclamation. There is no such thing as a PhD in aquaponics and other than the Virgin Islands test, there are very few (but growing) other Universities that have done any real research into the field. Secondly, If you google search for compression growth rates you will see that aquaponics nearly always beats hydro. As for MJ using 250ppm of nitrogen during flower, I would love to see that study. My system is usually in the 140-180ppm range and is still a bit high even for cannabis. Once the ammonia is turned into nitrates, it is no longer harmful to fish. I have had spikes to over 250 (the highest my equipment can measure) and have had no ill effects on the fish. I haven't done a brix test, but I may consider it in the near future.
David Bowman
New Member
Since you would have to reply to me publicy anyway I will answer here. To which room sizes are you referring?
David Bowman
New Member
Very well documented grow room layout! 
Now remember that this is JMHO as I'm also new to LEDs. Regardless of whether you grow your plants tall or low in a SOG/SCROG setup, you have approximately half of the 42 sq. ft., ~21 sq. ft. or so, of usable space due to the sloping walls. Any larger and tall plants won't have head room and low plants near the edges will have problems getting enough light, unless you want to mount LEDs along the sides angling downwards to fill in the edges. Given the height of your room I would suggest MARS II, the 5 watt diodes should be enough to penetrate well enough even with the tall plants. As far as canopy lighting is concerned, the smallest I would go is 2 700w for that area, the highest would be 2 900w. I think one 1200w has insufficient coverage and 2 is overkill.
Now remember that this is JMHO as I'm also new to LEDs. Regardless of whether you grow your plants tall or low in a SOG/SCROG setup, you have approximately half of the 42 sq. ft., ~21 sq. ft. or so, of usable space due to the sloping walls. Any larger and tall plants won't have head room and low plants near the edges will have problems getting enough light, unless you want to mount LEDs along the sides angling downwards to fill in the edges. Given the height of your room I would suggest MARS II, the 5 watt diodes should be enough to penetrate well enough even with the tall plants. As far as canopy lighting is concerned, the smallest I would go is 2 700w for that area, the highest would be 2 900w. I think one 1200w has insufficient coverage and 2 is overkill.
David Bowman
New Member
Well, you really can't do better on the price per watt point anywhere that I've researched. Throw in great customer service and high quality products and I would be surprised if she wasn't doing well here on
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