Leds
- Thread starter Furbob70
- Start date
Hosebomber
New Member
That's a rather vague question. Is this a new brand? home build? what type/brand LED's are they? What is the wattage of these LED's? Is there more than 1 spectrum of the red and blue LED's?
There is a lot of good info in this forum about LED's, brands (the sponsors here), ones to avoid...
A few post down is a great guide by Stevehman. There is even a few discussion on what nanometer LED's to use, the use of UV LED's/light and many others. Look at some of the grow journals ( in-progress and complete ). A little work on your part will go a long way in producing your own product.
There is a lot of good info in this forum about LED's, brands (the sponsors here), ones to avoid...
A few post down is a great guide by Stevehman. There is even a few discussion on what nanometer LED's to use, the use of UV LED's/light and many others. Look at some of the grow journals ( in-progress and complete ). A little work on your part will go a long way in producing your own product.
- Thread starter
- #3
Was gonna recommend Steve' thread on LEDs but Hose beat me to it... +rep for that!
As far as I know... LEDs are still pretty new territory for most so I think it's good that we get all the informed opinions we can get around here... cheers!
As far as I know... LEDs are still pretty new territory for most so I think it's good that we get all the informed opinions we can get around here... cheers!
GrowGSL
New Member
Let's talk about this for a second, What is your interest in a white spectrum? 
Hosebomber
New Member
Sorry if I came across wrong, I wasn't exactly sure what the question was and was trying to narrow it down a bit. I've spent a lot of time researching LED's over the past few years, both as tech and grow lighting.
The thickness of the panel can tell you a few things right off the bat. If it is super thin, that means they have little to no heat management. That does not mean it will not work. It just means that they are either under-driving the LEDs (you're not getting the full amount of light out of them, but they will last longer) or they do not have proper thermal management (your LEDs are going to get really hot and burn out faster than normal).
As for the white LEDs, there is some validity to using white LEDs. You can use white to produce extra blue (in the 440 range depending on manufacturer) as well as hitting some of the lesser mid-range wavelengths from 500-700 depending on the white used (cool, neutral, or warm).
- Thread starter
- #7
I know that in my past hobby (nano reef aquaria), I was one of the pioneers in using white phosphor LED's for lighting, mostly stuff in the 5500°K - 12,000°K stuff for coral photosynthesis. I too have wondered about throwing 5500°K and 2700°K whites in the mix, although over time, I would suspect the phosphor would lose it's efficacy and skew the spectrum?
In any even, if I ever talk 420 into giving me a custom member title, I'd opt for "LED Evangelist" :nice thread:
- JZHosebomber
New Member
Depending on what white LED you go with, the peak and distribution of the light can be an issue. The reason that with LEDs are the most efficient is because the blue with a phosphor coating allows the spreading of the wavelength. We commonly think of wavelengths just as color and not as a "wave". Just like turning a record slower or faster changes the sound, using a phosphor coating to condense or expand a light wave changes the color. They are rated via human eye response and not actual power output. This is why red led's that produce more power dissipation (wattage) have a lower lumen rating.
Using only white LED's tend to give a poor response in plant growth. White with some reds mixed in have better results, but is still missing in overall growth. I have found that using low blues, reds, far-reds, and some whites have given better results than attempting to use a small amount of single color diodes to cover all the missing spectra between the ~480 blue and ~620 red. I have done many test with yellows, greens, amber, and orange... I can tell you that when all of them are used you get better results. There is a symbiosis in plants that we do not fully understand or have mapped as of yet. Green LED's have the worst performance of all other solo support colors. The rest of the research info stays as my Intellectual Property and I reserve the right to use it at a later time. As for those that swear by the green supplement referring to the one "NASA" study... that study only used red green and blue, does not give exact wavelengths (they didn't test for that either), and only showed increased growth in non-flowering or fruiting plants (ie lettuce and beets).
Hope that info helps a bit!
Using only white LED's tend to give a poor response in plant growth. White with some reds mixed in have better results, but is still missing in overall growth. I have found that using low blues, reds, far-reds, and some whites have given better results than attempting to use a small amount of single color diodes to cover all the missing spectra between the ~480 blue and ~620 red. I have done many test with yellows, greens, amber, and orange... I can tell you that when all of them are used you get better results. There is a symbiosis in plants that we do not fully understand or have mapped as of yet. Green LED's have the worst performance of all other solo support colors. The rest of the research info stays as my Intellectual Property and I reserve the right to use it at a later time. As for those that swear by the green supplement referring to the one "NASA" study... that study only used red green and blue, does not give exact wavelengths (they didn't test for that either), and only showed increased growth in non-flowering or fruiting plants (ie lettuce and beets).
Hope that info helps a bit!
