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pods under less than 20 watts of LED

Sluggy

Sluggy

This is just an experiment, but here is one of my bonchis (I think a Thai PRIK CHEE FAH).
grown on a bookshelf under a DIY LED thingy : 20 watts tops. No natural light whatsoever. 

And we got pods ! 

10440287_1068424516517929_2347472454500740814_n.jpg



The light recipe is : 

11 x 630 nm
1 x royal blue
1 x blue
2 x warm white 4500 K 
1 x cool white 6500 K 
1 x 2200K pink 

All 1w Diodes. 

Note : NO 660nm, NO 730 infrared, 











 
 
 
Oh, that's neat! That's exactly what I'd like to do -- convert a bookshelf into a growing area.
 
Forgive the really stupid question (I've done some research but this is my first year experimenting with LEDs) but do you think using specific spectrum lights makes a big difference in the wattage used, and if so, how much? I'm using about 40 watts of daylight white LED bulbs and things seem to be going okay but we're still in the seedling stage. Could supplement with a 5 or 7 watt prefab red and blue bulb if it makes sense to do so but this is all very confusing.
 
yeah the different spectrum leds have different forward voltages.
 
example
"3w" red led uses 2.4v @ 700mA  =  1.7 actual watts
"3w" white led uses 3.4v @ 700mA = 2.4 actual watts
 
Also,watts doesn't mean much anyway most times.
 
I have 1 watt LEDs that put out as high as 80LM and as low as 30LM.
 
According to the spec sheets...what they actually put out or use isn't necessarily what the sheet says either.
 
Especially with different companies quality control or lack of it...
 
Yeah, I gathered it was pretty non-standardized. :rofl: It's like the Wild West as far as ordering goes -- I'm not used to rolling the dice when I make a purchase!
 
I'm pretty pleased with the Cree LEDs, at least for seedlings so far. Just wondering if I could eke out a bit more performance by using tailored colored LEDs without necessarily upping the "wow it's bright in here" factor any higher with daylight white ones. I love the idea of peppers as houseplants but I can't help but think if it were that simple or easy it'd be more commonly done?
 
I think the only thing to do is order a couple of the cheapest prefabs on Amazon and test 'em out!
 
A  lot of the cheap stuff doesn't work as a total light source BUT works great placed vertically to get plants to stay short and branch out very early.
 
With another light source above.
 
Don't toss it out if it is bunk for growing above as a total light source.
 
Screw reflected light,even weak light sources are most times better than reflected light.
I've used the small LEDS for side lighting with great success.
 
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