lighting LED lighting all the same

i was wondering if the Led strips like you buy at auto parts stores for your cars n stuff are the same blue and red light they say  are needed for growing.. i can get 30 ft of flexible light for 12 bux  id think that would be a good cheap lighting you could even hang strips in between heavier areas
 
no they need to be a certain wavelength for red 660nm'ish and blue 470nm'ish or something like that i did some research when i bought a grow light do not buy those led strips your plants will most likely grow very long and leggy and die. i ended up getting a 150 watt HPS because leds are pretty expensive if you want a good one. the HPS does have set backs like heat and energy but its pretty cheap about 60 bucks i got mine for 75 from HTG hydroponics the cheap leds are around 130 for a UFO. you can always go for various CFLs they work fine
 
 
how many plants do you need the light for?
 
i have a shoplight with 2 grow bulbs and a desk lamp with a grow bulb in it i use for germination/seedlings  was just wondering  if i could make a box and just wrap round and round and round stuck to the grow box  it would hit all angles of the plant  and be pretty bright

i grow outside for now  i start like 100 slot seed trays under the shoplight with gro-lux bulbs for a few weeks then move em outside   if i had a stronger source of light i would like to do both but ,im poor
 
newpeppergrower1105 said:
the HPS does have set backs like heat and energy.
 
 
 
This is not accurate....HID makes the most light for the least heat and energy of any light source available so far.
 
Threehundredc said:
i have a shoplight with 2 grow bulbs and a desk lamp with a grow bulb in it i use for germination/seedlings  was just wondering  if i could make a box and just wrap round and round and round stuck to the grow box  it would hit all angles of the plant  and be pretty bright

i grow outside for now  i start like 100 slot seed trays under the shoplight with gro-lux bulbs for a few weeks then move em outside   if i had a stronger source of light i would like to do both but ,im poor

  
 
 
im not sure i understand do you need lights to grow indoor or to start seeds?

willard3 said:
 
This is not accurate....HID makes the most light for the least heat and energy of any light source available so far.
 leds use less energy annually then HPS system also the leds put out little to no heat compared to the HPS that require ventilation
 
i dont NEED anything really  it was just a thought  cus i buy it by the roll for my carshow stuff trunk,amp lighting, inside under the seats and under the car,grill,and in the engine bay  i can get them cheap was just wondering if it would GROW A PLANT all the way to ripened fruit can wedge em in any corner or crack that needs light  as much as you want with no heat , just curious not building anything now

no idea on output numbers of the strips , single colors are cheap but i can even use my  color changing controller with RGB strips to add some red in the blues  just looking at a square box with 100 leds in it for like 80 bux seems crazy for LEDs  they are a few cents a piece
 
no do not buy the leds those strips wont do anything and a regular blue or red colored led wont do anything because its not the correct wave length. some leds are expensive because there fine tuned to the specific wave length that helps in photosynthesis and because there higher watts per led.
 
 
if you really want to grow indoors i suggest cfls i have seen some very succesfull grow on youtube using cfls. you can make a box line it with aluminum and put a couple of cfls on a power strip and your set. i keep my plants under cfls for about 2 months before i put them outside and cfls work really good! i am currently growing indoor hydroponicly under a HPS light and a couple cfls and my plants are massive
 
newpeppergrower1105 said:
 
 leds use less energy annually then HPS system also the leds put out little to no heat compared to the HPS that require ventilation
 
 
You are wrong on both counts and should educate yourself about lighting.
 
HPS is way more efficient than led, ie, more lumens per watt.
 
More efficiency = more light, less heat, less watts
 
willard3 said:
 
 
You are wrong on both counts and should educate yourself about lighting.
 
HPS is way more efficient than led, ie, more lumens per watt.
 
More efficiency = more light, less heat, less watts
you should relly educate yourself. 
its not about lumens when your talking about leds. its about photons that are put out. lumens are measurement for the
 
human eyeball, not for the amount of photons being produced. HPS are not very efficient for example ballast inefficieny
 
ballasts and light covers. for leds it more about the exact spectrum wavelenghts the plants desire they all about efficency. and
 
as for the heat its pretty obvious which one gets hotter  
 
Threehundredc said:
400 w HPS  enough to grow a plant fully?
yes absolutly 
 
thats a amazing deal! and its from HTG supply thats where i got my light. make sure theres nothing wrong with it. the only thing you will have to replace maybe would be the bulb because they get dim after a year of use but its not necessary you could use the same bulb
 
Hurry up and get it so you can join the HID family. I like mine very much but mine is a bit bigger at 600 watts. 
 
I thought I would weigh in on the LED vs HID comments. If anyone finds an error in my thoughts let me know.
Heat: Lights either convert energy to light or heat. Thus a 600 watt LED panel will heat up a room faster than HID. BUT, most of the heat from the LED can be absorbed from the heat sink and blown away from the plant. Also since LED lights can cover a wider area the heat is not as localized.
Light: Most new HID can produce more light than LED per watt. BUT by picking the right LEDs you can "tune" the wavelengths to the ones the plant needs. There is research that suggests plants need more than red and blue light so LEDs may not be that great. BUT Because LEDs can be spread over a larger area and the heat can be directed away from the plant you can get the lights much closer to the plant. Given the inverse square law of light this means that plants might get more light from LEDs.

Costs: If you keep your lights cool and run them below max wattage LEDs lose very little power. HIDs have to be replaced more often. Good LEDs are expensive. If you don't build your own fixtures I am pretty sure that HID is cheaper. If you build your fixtures I just don't know. My guess is LED.

The plants at the hydro store under LEDs never look that good. My plants do quite well under LEDs. I have seen people have success with LEDs and HID clearly works. My opinion with LEDs is you have to build your own and experiment. Otherwise go HID.
 
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