Best Wavelengths for led grow light?

[thebluntman]

Just wanted to pick the brains out there that have used led lights for a while. Besides just the color any one seen one nm produce better than another? If you were to get a led light what wavelengths would you get and why?
Thank you in advance!

 

[PeytonManning]

Most lights come with the standard spectrum for growing, so most of the guesswork is done already. But if you're looking for diy, look up hosebomber, he's the led guru

 

[epsilon]

Reefll (reef led lab) had some amazing full spectrum led boards with incredible versatility. You can customize the spectral output on the fly.

 

[epsilon]

My understanding is that the veg stage primarily utilizes the lower blue / uv spectrums where as flowering is more in the red. Supposedly not much use to the muddle green&yellow but idk on that.

 

[Icemud]

In all my research I don't think science has completely figured this out yet.... some say that red drive photosynthesis harder based on watching gas exchange under different light, but when blue is added to the red spectrum, increases in growth were seen until the ratio of blue was too high and then it stunted growth. I've also seen studies that say green actually drives photosynthesis harder than other wavelengths at high intensity in full spectrum lighting, and now I am seeing that blue light also is now being found to drive plants harder than other wavelengths due to each photon containing more energy than red.. I've also read that photosynthesis is driven by photon count rather than wavelength, therefore in that case spectrum would be irrelevant to a point. As you can see where I am going...its still a guessing game to an extent.

Light effects many processes in a plant, red typically is what plants use to determine flowering triggers, where blue drives up anthocyanin production. Then there is photomorphogenesis which different spectrums affect plant reaction/growth differently such as red has been known to cause more stretch between nodes and blue less stretch but a mix of green and IR trigger shade avoidance where it causes a very severe stretch. Blue light in the morning causes stomata to open larger than red light, and also blue light is responsible for heliotropism, where red and far red are involved with photoperiod and circadian rhythm.

With all that being said.... I don't think anyone knows what the perfect spectrum is, and until controlled lab experiments can be done on our specific plant, I think it will just be a guessing game based on what we know. Even reading through scientific abstracts, there is arguments within the science community on how plants use individual spectrum, and even that the same plant type, but different phenotypes react differently to light.

 

[PeytonManning]

I know i said hosebomber, but it might have been you i was thinking of icemud. But either way, nice breakdown, a lot of good info in there

 

[thebluntman]

Ya thanks for your input everyone. Nice break down icemud. So sounds like full spec would be a good choice. Yea thinking about making a cob light down the road. Interested in the different nms. As far as money goes i think i could make a big light cheaper than i could buy one for. If it worth doing its worth doing right. Then there is the discussion about what chip would be best, high output and right colors.

 

[epsilon]

That's my suspicion too,which is why I like the full spectrum approach. I feel like the closer we can get to emulating the suns spectrum the better. Also realize it changes from day to day and month to month bad on season and weather conditions...

 

[Icemud]

That's my suspicion too,which is why I like the full spectrum approach. I feel like the closer we can get to emulating the suns spectrum the better. Also realize it changes from day to day and month to month bad on season and weather conditions...

Very true, and plants have evolved to deal with this changing light...

 

[thebluntman]

Yep thats what I like about indoor. You can emulate the pros of out side and keep the cons down. Such as bad weather high heat and cold weather ;0. Have any exp with cob chips what ones with the highest output?

 

[epsilon]

Exactly, which makes me wonder what effect of simulating not only the suns spectral output would be, but other factors to sick as seasons, storms, moon cycles etc. For example, in the aquarium hobby it had become common place among higher end setups to try and mimic the lunar cycle as they've found that some coral species reproduction cycles are sensitive to it. A ton of work will need to be done to verify any of this of course and how it relates to land based plants and specifically mj.

 

[thebluntman]

Well iam a fisherman and i know the moon puts off alot of light. Night time fishing is best 3 days the day of and 3 days after a full moon. What wavelength does the moon put off i wonder... Thinking of a light you could turn on for lights out time lol just a thought. Sounds like a million dollar idea to me.

 

[thebluntman]

Well iam a fisherman and i know the moon puts off alot of light. Night time fishing is best 3 days the day of and 3 days after a full moon. What wavelength does the moon put off i wonder... Thinking of a light you could turn on for lights out time lol just a thought. Sounds like a million dollar idea to me. Any one got any idea what the best cob chips that are out?

 

[epsilon]

Oh... duh... supposedly, and it does make sense, the spectrum coming from the moon is the same as the sun...because it's simply sunlight being reflected... just at 12% strength so it's purely a intensity thing. Still, I wonder what the spectrum intensity like like at full moon.