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Does anybody get a lot of pods with LEDs?

D

dragon49

I'm doing reasonable job of growing from seed to pods with florescents and CFLs, but I don't get a ton of pods.  Does anybody here get a ton of Pods using LEDs?  I'm talking about growing fully indoors using LEDs in a soil grow.
 
If so, please describe your equipment and setup, and post pics if you can.
 
Dragon, what we could really use is a definitive guide to growing with LEDS that was not written by someone selling LED grow lights.  They have me so frigging confused that I gave up trying to figure it out.  But i can share what i have figured out about florescent, HPS and Metal Halide and maybe you can translate spectrum into LEDs.  The best results for me were blending the two lights.  The plants that were in the area where both types of lights covered were the best producers (not that I was really trying to produce pods).  Most LED grow lights were made with growing weed in mind.  In that genre of plants, the thinking is (I might have this reversed) red spectrum for flowering / fruiting and blue spectrum for vegetative growth.  From blending Metal Halide (I think red spectrum) and HPS (I think blue spectrum) I got the best results.  Maybe the same is true of LEDS.
 
Here is the thing, most of the peppers you are probably growing are pendulum hung / shaded by the leaves and most artificial light has a horrible time penetrating a canopy.  So most of the techniques developed by weed growers wont work as well.  Generally, they are going for a single large bud at the top of the plant.  Some even promote trimming away the fan leaves.  Not a good idea for peppers.

So I imagine the biggest benefit to LEDS is side lighting because they can be placed between the plants and are not likely to burn them.  Seems like a whole lot of money to grow something that you do not have to hide indoors.  I do it for starts but the idea of paying that much money to grow the pods is off putting in the extreme.  Am poor folk.  Would rather pay for groceries.

 
 
ajdrew said:
Dragon, what we could really use is a definitive guide to growing with LEDS that was not written by someone selling LED grow lights.  They have me so frigging confused that I gave up trying to figure it out.  But i can share what i have figured out about florescent, HPS and Metal Halide and maybe you can translate spectrum into LEDs.  The best results for me were blending the two lights.  The plants that were in the area where both types of lights covered were the best producers (not that I was really trying to produce pods).  Most LED grow lights were made with growing weed in mind.  In that genre of plants, the thinking is (I might have this reversed) red spectrum for flowering / fruiting and blue spectrum for vegetative growth.  From blending Metal Halide (I think red spectrum) and HPS (I think blue spectrum) I got the best results.  Maybe the same is true of LEDS.
 
Here is the thing, most of the peppers you are probably growing are pendulum hung / shaded by the leaves and most artificial light has a horrible time penetrating a canopy.  So most of the techniques developed by weed growers wont work as well.  Generally, they are going for a single large bud at the top of the plant.  Some even promote trimming away the fan leaves.  Not a good idea for peppers.

So I imagine the biggest benefit to LEDS is side lighting because they can be placed between the plants and are not likely to burn them.  Seems like a whole lot of money to grow something that you do not have to hide indoors.  I do it for starts but the idea of paying that much money to grow the pods is off putting in the extreme.  Am poor folk.  Would rather pay for groceries.

 
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Thanks,
 
I'm not getting HPS and Metal Halide right now, as I live in a city apartment and am worried about fire hazards.  Regarding:  "most artificial light has a horrible time penetrating a canopy." I realized that with my floruscents, which is why I added floruscents and CFLs to the side of the plants, but it didn't increase pod output—only my electric bill!
 
I'll have to check out some LED pricing.  I think it may make sense to replace my setup with LEDs, instead of supplementing it.
 
Try adding vertical lighting.
While I was builfing my LEDS,the Fluoros I replaced I mounted sideways for vertical lighting.
Worked great.
I like LEDS up top for shorter plants,side lighting made short bushy starts that set a few pods for pure seeds before the went outside.
NEVER toss stuff out. LOL
My sheves will eventually be Once again,all LEDS.
I took my setup apart last year due to health stuff.I almost sold all my stuff....
 
My HPS and MH examples I mentioned to point to light spectrum.  You can purchase fluorescent tubes for different spectrum, same as LEDs.  If I got the best pod production by mixing MH and HPS spectrum, it stands to reason you could get similiar results with other light sources..
 
I'm getting pretty good poddage with LEDs. My plants are hydro and much larger than their outdoor counterparts that was started at the same time. Producing more pods as well. Only thing is my CGN-21500's are green with green pods indoors but that's more a natural sunlight vs any indoor light most likely. 
 
D3monic said:
I'm getting pretty good poddage with LEDs. My plants are hydro and much larger than their outdoor counterparts that was started at the same time. Producing more pods as well. Only thing is my CGN-21500's are green with green pods indoors but that's more a natural sunlight vs any indoor light most likely. 
Click to expand...
Good to know.  Please post the exact type of light you have and if you can, a link to it online.
 
Ty.
 
I have blackstar 240's UV, bought them a few years ago when i was doing canna. There has to be better tech out now but they more than did a good job and grew some monster canna plants with them. 
 
I ordered them from gotham hydro on ebay. looks like price is down on them too. I paid $250 each back then. They are down to $184
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lighthouse-Hydro-BlackStar-LED-Grow-Light-Plant-Lamp-Hydroponic-3W-Panel-Plant-/281155716563?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item41762fc5d3
 
D3monic said:
I have blackstar 240's UV, bought them a few years ago when i was doing canna. There has to be better tech out now but they more than did a good job and grew some monster canna plants with them. 
 
I ordered them from gotham hydro on ebay. looks like price is down on them too. I paid $250 each back then. They are down to $184
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lighthouse-Hydro-BlackStar-LED-Grow-Light-Plant-Lamp-Hydroponic-3W-Panel-Plant-/281155716563?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item41762fc5d3
Click to expand...
 
Actually down to $104.00 now!
 
Thanks
 
I'm no expert on this by any means. I just started on a LED grow. My first 2 lights were galaxyhydros from amazon, priced around 120 a pop. They're doing exceptional at bringing my seedlings along. I have a glog (pic heavy) that has some shots of my progress with LEDs, if you're interested.
 
I bought a third light, a Mars hydro on ebay, as it was less than 70. They're a steal right now, I'm gathering they're clearing stock. It's a different array of R/B/W, and I haven't gotten to tinker with it yet, but I'm excited to see how it performs. 
 
I am new to the forum, in fact this is my first official post, but was curious if anyone else has tried anything further than the above with LED's? I personally was very successful in using them for getting seedlings started and even got actual flowers to bud and grow with them before they were even outside. Curious to see if anyone else can shine some light on this subject.
 
Keep in mind that the best 5W led fixtures with full spectrum deliver half their advertised wattage. So if you need 900w of light, you will need three 600 watt Mars Hydro Reflectors for example. I've been using led for 3 yrs and have seen the bullshit come and go.. I've dropped plenty of cash on different lights and as far as the China fixtures go, Mars Hydro do deliver. When it comes to best bang for buck, these are great lights. Of course there's better lights on the market such as COB style lights and even a Plasma.

If you are tight on a budget and know your wattage, give the Mars a go. I've seen some pretty hyped pro led fixtures priced at $1600 a piece that couldn't compete with Mars and I've also seen some $1200 units blow the Mars out of the water.
 
id agree go mars or diy ur own
 
if there is interest i might write up a tutorial on this, im fairly well known on "öther" forums for led info
 
N8thaniel said:
id agree go mars or diy ur own
 
if there is interest i might write up a tutorial on this, im fairly well known on "öther" forums for led info
Click to expand...
I would love to see a write up.  I am just getting started and could use the advice.
 
bravofoxtrot916 said:
I would love to see a write up.  I am just getting started and could use the advice.
Click to expand...
well unitl then if u tell me what ur garden size budget goals is etc i can help you out with parts and assembly
 
N8thaniel said:
well unitl then if u tell me what ur garden size budget goals is etc i can help you out with parts and assembly
Click to expand...
Alas, I just saw your response.  Oh well, let me catch you up to the speed I'm at.  I have purchased a Mars Hydro 480w LED light and started growing in an AeroGarden in the last few days of August.  At this point I have removed the light canape from the AeroGarden and am getting all light at this time from the Mars.  I have gotten sever pods to set and start to grow peppers since swithcing to the LEDs not to say that the CFL's that started these plants didn't play a part (flowers had started to grown but not open when I pulled the CFL canape).  So there we are the only thing that has gone awry is that I had purchased the seeds from Amazon (before I knew any better) and they are not at all what is expected but hoping for something fun in the end. Thanks for the read and the previous response even though I didn't respond for almost a month.
 
  My bhut is doing well under the Mars Hydro. I have plenty of pods forming and its looking healthy. Manual pollination is a must to ensure pod set when growing indoors. A good boost of phosphorous helps too. My light has a veg and bloom mode, which is nice for taking the plant from seedling all the way to the flowering stage.
 
I was considering trying LED lighting, so I went to a couple local hydro shops to see what they had.
 
Both places, the guys said LEDs were a waste of money, and they quit selling them because most customers brought the fixtures back due to poor results.
 
I do not know what to believe.
 
alkhall said:
I was considering trying LED lighting, so I went to a couple local hydro shops to see what they had.
 
Both places, the guys said LEDs were a waste of money, and they quit selling them because most customers brought the fixtures back due to poor results.
 
I do not know what to believe.
Click to expand...
That greatly depends on the brand of LED's your hydro shop was selling. Not all LED's are created equal. Secondly did you ask the hydro shop what people where growing with them. Because it was probably mostly pot growers who where returning their lights!! LED's usually don't yield as much pot as HPS in most cases. Also most LED's growers do not succeed due to user error. The lights need to be at a certain distance from the canopy to work the way they are supposed to. I have seen a ton of people hang a light 5 or more feet from the canopy and unless you have a monster powered light that simply is not going to do the job. Needs to be more like 18-24 inches from the canopy.

CelticFarmer said:
Keep in mind that the best 5W led fixtures with full spectrum deliver half their advertised wattage. So if you need 900w of light, you will need three 600 watt Mars Hydro Reflectors for example. I've been using led for 3 yrs and have seen the bullshit come and go.. I've dropped plenty of cash on different lights and as far as the China fixtures go, Mars Hydro do deliver. When it comes to best bang for buck, these are great lights. Of course there's better lights on the market such as COB style lights and even a Plasma.

If you are tight on a budget and know your wattage, give the Mars a go. I've seen some pretty hyped pro led fixtures priced at $1600 a piece that couldn't compete with Mars and I've also seen some $1200 units blow the Mars out of the water.
Click to expand...
You do realize that plants could give a crap about wattage. Wattage says nothing about a grow light except how much it will cost you electric bill wise. Plants do recognize PAR ratings. So if your buying lights based on wattage your already starting off on the wrong foot. Just because you are sporting a 300 watt led vs my 200 watt led. It does not mean your light will outgrow mine. My PAR rating might be better than yours based off the quality and design of the light. So what the light is taking from the wall does not equal quality and growth power!! If you want to know the true power of a light, throw away your wattage draw meter and buy a PAR meter.
 
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