How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Needs

[Icemud]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

ice! should i lower my lights then??? they are a good 35" away 480 96x5 reflector

Hey Iseckz...

Sorry I got distracted and since UncleCannabis is using that exact same panel, I would probably suggest following his recommendations as they would be better than what I could provide...

I typically base answers off the PPFD (PAR) measurements. I searched the internet and couldn't find the PAR measurements for the 96x5w so for me to give an accurate answer, its tough to do. For Doozy's question, it was easy to answer since I have used the 400w Mars II, tested it with my PAR meter, and also found PAR measurements done by another source as well for the 400, so a recommendation was easy because I had supporting data/measurements to base the recommendation off of.

I would suggest asking Mars Hydro if they have measured the 96x5w model. I know they just bought a PAR meter and are working on getting the readings out, so you may want to request the data from them, and I will help you analyze it for optimal results.


Here is a video which explains PAR pretty well and will help you understand how I personally judge plant lighting heights.
[video]

So for Cannabis you are looking for these PAR readings...

(First number minimum requirement for optimal light)(Second number Maximum requirement for Optimal light)

(255 - 752 micromoles) on 24 hours daylight schedule. (VEG with 24/0)
(383 - 1128 micromoles) on 18 hours daylight schedule. (VEG with 18/6)
(510 - 1504 micromoles) on 12 hours daylight schedule. (Flowering at 12/12)

In regards to flowering at 12/12.

We want over 510 micromoles across the entire grow space for the minimum optimal growth
We want 800-1100 micromoles across the entire grow space for Maximum Optimal growth without added CO2)
We want 1,000 to 1500 micromoles across the entire grow space with added CO2 supplementation)

Anything measuring less than what is recommended above will still grow buds, but will not grow at optimal levels, so yield may significantly be affected.

 

[iseckz]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

I'll post photos tomorrow night. I changed things around.

 

[Icemud]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

You should probably begin gradually lowering the light until you reach about 14" to 18" from the top of the canopy. If you start to notice any signs of leaf stress or bleaching you'll need to raise it back up a bit until they appear to be comfortable.

A good way to tell if you're too close to the plants is to place your hand and forearm at canopy level with palm facing up toward the light and leave your hand there for a minute or so. If the tender skin on your forearm feels hot then your plants will feel the same way. Raise your light a little until you can hold you hand in that position for at least a minute without discomfort due to high heat. (**General rule of thumb that seems to work for many folks.)

This is great advice and I would second that opinion Thanks UncleCannabis

 

[Dave Groomer]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

Great stuff

Yes it is. Amazing the so many stoners like UC and Ice are able to put such coherent thought together to help explain lighting for the average user. While I have an understanding of the test that Ice runs, I don't have the knowledge or the equipment to run those types of in depth tests. I value all the work that you guys do to help others understand.

 

[UncleCannabis]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

Haha, Uncle, finally show some love to Mars Pro, you love Sun Series, you will love Mars Pro, too. It's like the pro-generation of Sun series. The price will come down. I will keep in touch.

I'd love it a bit more if it came w/o a remote but with a lower price.


Please do keep in touch.

 

[UncleCannabis]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

If you care to take the time to read through my current journal you'll see that the previous grow that yielded .8 grams per watt was not a stellar grow by any means.
The plants were all neglected clones that were cut back, potted up, and tossed into my flower tent to bloom same day. This is not a good practice and hurts yields.
I then encountered white flies and mites around week 3 or 4 and sprayed the newly formed buds with neem for a week which further stunted bud development.
Then to top things off, my tent collapsed with my lights falling on the plants around week 8 resulting in some lost branches and lots of burnt foliage.
With all of these issues and problems I still ended up with .8 grams per watt. Don't you think that it's possible that others with more experience than I have using hydroponic grow methods along with healthy plants couldn't exceed the yields that I had? I assure that it's possible and has been done by several folks.

With a bit of effort on your part you can achieve these types of yields as well. But it will take a change of mindset and probably a bit of help and advise from experienced growers.




Peace

 

[Evo-Rat-93]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

I have been growing for 30 yrs. and I have had good yields and bad yields. I have never blamed my lights for poor yield. Lights do not make a good grow the grower does. If this was your first grow with these lights. Learn from this grow and improve on what you are trying to achieve.

 

[Dave Groomer]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

BTW. I purchased my 3 Mars lights and my 2 Mars tents and I love them. No complaints. They did give me a discount though. Use COfinest at check out and you will get the same one.

 

[iseckz]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

I am not a commercial grower. I bought these lights to grow my medicine and they are working well for me. - supergroomer

THIS!

 

[Doozy]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

I have been growing for 30 yrs. and I have had good yields and bad yields. I have never blamed my lights for poor yield.
Lights do not make a good grow the grower does. If this was your first grow with these lights. Learn from this grow and improve on what you are trying to achieve.

I do feel i failed, and it was my first personal grow. However, i was helped by someone who has been growing for years...who was the first to tell me not to buy LEDs. I thought i knew better because i had read all the hype. Unfortunately it didn't work out for me.

 

[Dave Groomer]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

I do feel i failed, and it was my first personal grow. However, i was helped by someone who has been growing for years...who was the first to tell me not to buy LEDs. I thought i knew better because i had read all the hype. Unfortunately it didn't work out for me.

The reason that my grows have each done better then the last, is that I am passionate about my new "hobby" (that is a poor term for the help I am getting from my meds). It is not just about the yield, but the quality of the medicine. This has changed my life and the life of my friend that I grow for also. If I wasn't so passionate, .5 g/w would be fine. But I want to do better. I read. I ask questions. I learn. And I progress. I will only be done learning when I am dead. Hopefully that will be a while.

 

[Doozy]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

The reason that my grows have each done better then the last, is that I am passionate about my new "hobby" (that is a poor term for the help I am getting from my meds). It is not just about the yield, but the quality of the medicine. This has changed my life and the life of my friend that I grow for also. If I wasn't so passionate, .5 g/w would be fine. But I want to do better. I read. I ask questions. I learn. And I progress. I will only be done learning when I am dead. Hopefully that will be a while.

Good for you my man, i especially picked up on the fact that you grow for an MS sufferer, so i mean no disrespect to you at all, you're clearly a decent guy. Sorry if i come across as a bit of an arse sometimes.

 

[Dave Groomer]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

Good for you my man, i especially picked up on the fact that you grow for an MS sufferer, so i mean no disrespect to you at all, you're clearly a decent guy. Sorry if i come across as i bit of an arse sometimes.

Thank you. I appreciate that.

 

[iseckz]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

Since we're all talking grams per watt etc. I have 8square feet. 370Watts wall draw. (SOON 420 WATTS once I replace the hps for another reflector.)

I'm sitting at 46 watts per sq.ft soon to be 52 watts per sq.ft if extra funds become available.

Can I achieved my Goal 200 grams dried of cured medicine?

 

[Evo-Rat-93]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

Since we're all talking grams per watt etc. I have 8square feet. 370Watts wall draw. (SOON 420 WATTS once I replace the hps for another reflector.)

I'm sitting at 46 watts per sq.ft soon to be 52 watts per sq.ft if extra funds become available.

Can I achieved my Goal 200 grams dried of cured medicine?

Yes,that should be achievable,good luck.

 

[UncleCannabis]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

Since we're all talking grams per watt etc. I have 8square feet. 370Watts wall draw. (SOON 420 WATTS once I replace the hps for another reflector.)

I'm sitting at 46 watts per sq.ft soon to be 52 watts per sq.ft if extra funds become available.

Can I achieved my Goal 200 grams dried of cured medicine?

Two of the key components to achieving higher yields are longer veg time and larger pots and root balls.
I notice that many gardeners want to rush things by sprouting a seed, veg it for 30 days or less, then go straight to 12/12.
If you are growing with hydroponic methods then impressive yields may be had doing things this way.
If you are growing organically in soil you will not have larger yields by flowering a plant so soon.

The tricky thing is timing. Go into flower with a plant that is too small or immature and yields may be less than expected. On the other hand, if you wait and let a plant get too large during veg before flipping to 12/12 you could end up with a beast of a plant during flower if it stretches too much causing lots of problems. PM and other issues caused by lack of air circulation or your plants growing into the lights does not contribute to good yields either.

I suggest putting an emphasis on quality instead of quantity. Make good plant health your main goal and yields can be manipulated later if needed.

 

[Dave Groomer]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

Two of the key components to achieving higher yields are longer veg time and larger pots and root balls.
I notice that many gardeners want to rush things by sprouting a seed, veg it for 30 days or less, then go straight to 12/12.
If you are growing with hydroponic methods then impressive yields may be had doing things this way.
If you are growing organically in soil you will not have larger yields by flowering a plant so soon.

The tricky thing is timing. Go into flower with a plant that is too small or immature and yields may be less than expected. On the other hand, if you wait and let a plant get too large during veg before flipping to 12/12 you could end up with a beast of a plant during flower if it stretches too much causing lots of problems. PM and other issues caused by lack of air circulation or your plants growing into the lights does not contribute to good yields either.

I suggest putting an emphasis on quality instead of quantity. Make good plant health your main goal and yields can be manipulated later if needed.

I agree. My best plant (6oz) vegged for a LONG time (4 months or so.) Sometimes I just have to put something into the flower tent to make more room. My Incredible Bulk was 94 days seed to chop and gave me a little over 2 oz. The clones will veg and be trained for a longer time. Hopefully I will double or even triple what I got from the first one. I may even get a few 5 gallon pots. Right now I usually stop at 3 gallon.

 

[UncleCannabis]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

Right now I usually stop at 3 gallon.

I'm glad that you mentioned the use of different pot sizes.
It should be noted that 3 gallon pots and smaller are much easier to manage and move around when needed than larger pots.
For women or anyone who may have back problems or medical conditions that would make moving heavy object difficult, pots any larger than 3 gallon may not be practical and in some cases could be a bad idea.

A 5 gallon pot or larger that is full of wet soil along with a canopy of foliage on top is not easy to move around and could cause injury. Things like this should be taken into consideration when planning an indoor garden.

 

[Dave Groomer]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

I'm glad that you mentioned the use of different pot sizes.
It should be noted that 3 gallon pots and smaller are much easier to manage and move around when needed than larger pots.
For women or anyone who may have back problems or medical conditions that would make moving heavy object difficult, pots any larger than 3 gallon may not be practical and in some cases could be a bad idea.

A 5 gallon pot or larger that is full of wet soil along with a canopy of foliage on top is not easy to move around and could cause injury. Things like this should be taken into consideration when planning an indoor garden.

The other thing that I have found, don't go straight from your starter pot to your final pot. Go up gradually and let your rootball fill out the pot before moving up. I start in 10oz cups with my seeds or clones. Then move to 2 gallon pots, then to 3 gallon. Each move hase at least 2 or 3 weeks to fill out the rootball. Also, make sure they have veg time after the last transplant so the rootball will fill out the last pot.

 

[iseckz]

Re: How to Select the Right Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light for Your Specific Gardening Nee

so.. no body is into 12/12 from seed/ or clone.. Not just one, but 8-15 of them. Let's say.. one gives me 1oz off a 1-2 and a half ft plant.. why not have 8 of them, and make up the remaining 6 oz a 2 month veg plant would give me? Tons of videos and info on it, it works. I'll post my harvest in 2 months.

Soon enough i'll have a mother and a system going.. 4-6 clones in every 2 weeks. until i'm harvest 2oz+ every two weeks.