|
Post by RuBisCO on Feb 1, 2016 12:33:50 GMT -5
Hi guys, I have read extensively the old posts and different pro/cons of LED and fluorescent etc but I was still somewhat curious. I was specifically wondering if anyone out there was using exclusively white LED lighting, and if so how successful that had been in the long term. Concern I have is that I plan on growing mostly VFT for now and I am not too keen on experimenting right off the bat. I may set up small tank with LED strip lights and a couple typical 5 watt ceiling lights as a trial but after reading what I have here I am going to commit to a 4 tube system of fluorescent lights as my main light supply. Anyhow, I'm curious to hear from anyone in particular that has used plain white LED (not the special grow lights) and if this has or has not been successful. Is this way out in left field? Maybe crazy but I'm only a seed! Cheers
|
|
|
Post by shelbykid on Feb 1, 2016 13:44:03 GMT -5
I doubt those led strips will work.
I am using a 360w led with flower and leaf settings over a 1.5x1.5 foot area for VFT germination I am then using 2 4 ft 54w sunblasters coupled with another 2 18w t5s for my Drosera seedlings and S.Purpea.
The sun produces roughly 10 000 lumens per square foot. You can get away with less than that as the lighting will be more consistent than outdoors.
However, unless someone else here has experience with the white strips, I can assure you that amount of light is insufficient.
|
|
|
Post by Apoplast on Feb 1, 2016 16:22:34 GMT -5
Hi RuBisCO - It's a perennial questions you raise, and with technology rapidly changing, set answers are few. Here is my quick summary of the current conditions as I see them for white LED lights. White LED lights work just fine, with the caveat that as with all light sources you just need to provide enough light. Longer answer: I've grown all sorts of plants under CFL, T5 shop lights, T5HO fixtures, red/blue LED grow lights, and white LED shop lights. They can all work. The biggest factor in getting enough light to your plants is meeting a minimum level of light produced, and then getting the lights as close as you can to your plants (accommodating for flower stalks if necessary) without burning the plants. It's all math. I don't want to re-post all the details, but if you want to look into it check out information on the " inverse-square law". I've been moving over to a 4000 lumen (lumens are not the best unit to understand light use in plants, but that's another, and longer diatribe) white LED shop light. I don't like paying to replace the fluorescent bulbs and then paying for the hazardous disposal. Most white LED lights achieve the white color with phosphorous doping, which is essentially the same way fluorescent lights work, so there isn't any real worry about missing spectra - if fluorescent lights work, so do these LED bulbs. The other advantage is that the heat sink on most LEd lights is at the top of the fixture, so the heat is on the opposite side of the fixture from the plants, allowing me to get the lights closer. Not true with fluorescent lights. All that said, you might want to up the output. A 5w LED might not be enough. Anyhow, that's my 2 - to maybe 25¢.
|
|
|
Post by RuBisCO on Feb 2, 2016 19:31:41 GMT -5
Thanks Apoplast and Shelbykid -
|
|