Residential LED's for mother & clones?

[pakman91]

Hi all, Pakman here.

I've seen a few people on different forums using residential style LED lighting for various growth stages. Each one using different types, wattages, spectrums etc.

This tells me that they will perform(perhaps not at the standard of proper grow lights, but perform none the less).

Unfortunately, nothing I've found closely matches what I have, nor what I want to do with it.

So here's my question:

I purchased two 25w led 2ft battens rated at 5k, the visible light output is incredible. They do have a removable defuser.

Will these work for any/all of the following?

Keep 2 small (1 - 1 1/2ft tall) mother plants.

Root/grow 10~ small (max 5in tall) clones.

Or both.

Height doesn't include pot height.

I also have 8x 24w 6500k cfls which I'm currently using for mother/guinea pig and test clones. Perhaps led to keep things going, cfls extra to force new clone growth and give rooted clones a boost?

For flowering, I'll have a 600w hps in a 4x4ft tent aiming for a 2wk perpetual sog.

Anyone have any knowledge/experience in this?

Any input is greatly appreciate.

 

[greensunshine]

Hey pakman!

Yes, White LEDs will work just fine for seedlings and mothers!

If it's 5K that will encourage slower growth with smaller leaves so it should work out well for you.

Let me know how how it goes...!

 

[pakman91]

Thanks for the reply greensunshine,

They've actually gone great. They're doing better under these than 8x 24w 6500k cfls.

I just need to work out the ideal distance between light and plants, some seem to be stretching a little bit more than is good for the size of this tent. They got topped though, so not a major setback in progress.

One issue I am facing with them though is no heat output. It's really cold here at the moment, temp averages 17°c although they don't particularly seem to mind.

I am considering adding another 1 or 2 more battens, I reckon only 1 more will fit easily though.

 

[greensunshine]

Hey Pakman,

Yep. LEDs the goal is actually hot temperatures, probably around 26c.

Actually your stretching problem may have less to do with light and more to do with temperature. If you can try to keep your night temps closer to your day temps that may be able to help.

Maybe a small heater? Also 50W of LED isn't much. In my experience with 5K light plants stay pretty compact because they receive enough "blue" to turn off their shade avoidance.

Cheers!!!

 

[pakman91]

The lights are on 24/7 and temp doesn't fluctuate more than a degree during day/night.

I considered a heater, found one for $15 but... 2400w? That's 48 times the power of the lights.

I also considered a heat mat, but $85 to maybe raise room temperature a bit...

 

[pakman91]

I've actually found they stretch more than with 200w of 6500k cfls, perhaps less blue to it? Regardless, they're growing and bouncing back far quicker under these lights.

I'm thinking for next time I'll add in another 25w batten and play around with light distance some more, she's set up well for producing clones off mothers, I might try rooting a set of clones before I flower some clones in here, maybe root some and flower them as my current 'to flower' clones are getting to big too fast, I had to top them before.

 

[pakman91]

So I've been playing around, got a few under the 50 watts of LED, some under ~200w of cfls.

The LED's seemed to outdo the cfls, until about a week ago. I've moved them slightly further away from the LED's, and performance/health/growth dropped probably 75%+.

I may actually need to move them CLOSER than what I originally had them. I topped and tied the ones under LED and moved them slightly further away(proportionate to the original plant height), hoping they'd stretch a little bit so I could 'rush' some clones(I've had ridiculously good luck with cloning).

Just a note, all plants were cut, etc. and fed the same time. The only difference apart from lighting is the feedings are mixed separately, it takes roughly 3 litres to feed them and I only have a 1 litre container.

As an experiment I've left them to go hungry and dry a few extra days. Day 1 the plants under LED were showing a serious sign of issues, the ones under cfl started drooping as would be expected. Day three, the LED girls are looking terrible, some have dead crispy leaves, curls and a depressing looking droop. The CFL girls look the same as yesterday.

I'm going to feed them all tonight, and maybe ditch some plants and hopefully squeeze a few more under the cfls. That and I'll see about finding a large enough container to mix ALL the nutes in one batch. I think my pH pen is waaayy out of whack, one litre of waters come out at 8.5, the next at 7.3....?

Ramble ramble ramble, thanks for reading.

 

[Dr Fish]

Did you learn anything from your little experiment?? Let's hope so, that's as bad as not taking care of your dog...

 

[pakman91]

Well, both sets of plants dried out at the same rate, however the CFL girls are much happier with the higher wattage and higher temperatures.

It seems they can survive dry/hungry better in warmer conditions with better light.

I'd be interested to see how it compares with 200w of the LED's, but you'd fit 3-4 max in there, not 8...