Changing to LED

[Manic Mike]

I have the nice standard 2x600w MH/HPS, digital ballasts, with 6" fans, controllers and all the nice stuff. Just settled a $3,800.00 electric bill with Edison for the year. I run 220V solar also and am considered a generation station- bill once a year , not once a month. Believe me solar helps!!! I am switching to 3 LED's, with 1 for side light. There is the option to go back to 2 and have one dedicated for a veg room! If I am not supposed to mention Manufacutrer names, some one let me know quick, so I don't get into trouble! These are supposed to be the Best scientifically designed lights and not the cheap stuff commonly available. I will post pictures (Clones Week 2 under T5's) and grow Journal. I follow standard Gen Hyd. Expert Drain to waste, With Armour Si Great White and 2 part Floralicious; Just got new lights up tonight. I have been tracking quality and productivity for 3 years now an should be able to make a nice comparison. Manic Mike

 

[Manic Mike]

One light has a minor issue- lets see how the LEDs handles this. Otherwise, these leds are keeping my small grow room at 80f in low 40f degree weather.....Plants are spending their first night under the lights.

 

[uptheholler2]

Hey Mike! Apparently there is a lot of this going on during the start of the new year. After growing under MH/HPS lighting 3- 1000 watt units I am making the jump to LED. I too bit the bullet and went with a higher dollar unit. To increase coverage I am going to be using a 6 foot light rail to move the unit back and forth over the canopy. I usually only use 420 Mag sponsors for my purchases. I can say that this is my first exception unless I make it myself. But in this case I believe I bought the best unit that I could within my budget. They will come down in price just like laptops and I really don't think that I will miss the kidney that I had to sell to buy one! Best of luck in all you grow!

 

[Manic Mike]

After the plants have been under these lights 12 hours, they look VERY HAPPY! At least 2 people remarked that 2 plants seemed to have grown about 3". This is very unscientific and opinioned based. I replaced 2 600w HPS/MH with 3 300w LED'S. Only 2 are on and the room is at 78f-outside is about mid 40's. I will post pictures of the change out and plant progress from week one ASAP. Wife is in need of attention more than the computer- Happy Wife, Happy Life! The best part is my growing area increased about 40-50% when I removed the Older lights and the cooling ducts. Now I can let the plants get 5'+ high.

 

[Kalimaki420]

You will be very happy I like that light ( I saw your first post )
There is a video on the tube 1000W hps vs spider, a big test grow with 10 hps and several 1200´s .

And just a note switching to led, some need more cal-mag with led special if using ro water.

 

[Manic Mike]

You are dead on the Cal-Mag. Just arrived and was added. I am working at a manic pace to get this grow on line. Just took care of the defective light problem and am still hand watering. I am hoping to get the drip system on line tonight , then post some photos. I will keep this generic, since my purpose is aimed at the best product and not a mfg. I can assure you these are solidly built lights though; I have banged my head on them a few times and they feel really solid! I only have 2 of the 3 lights on, but they are still 3-4' from the plants and there is a lot of light. I have a single LED bar for side/ fill lighting or maybe cloning, that is not mounted yet.

 

[Manic Mike]

Here are some photos from week 1 under T5 florescent. Hog 4 and Critical Cush, With a Ranadini (Sativa) On the right.

Week 2 under T5 florescent

 

[Manic Mike]

Here they are under the LED lights

These are Critical Cush and Hog. Here are some pictures of the individual plants. Note that some o the leaves are unhappy. I dropped the nutrient concentration from 1050 to 800 tonight.

This is the second set of 5. There is Randidni (Sativa in the back. Sorry, but some of the pictures seem to have changed orientation in the upload process.

Nutrients, Ph, Water Temp, air temp and humidity

The last picture is to give you perspective on the color- Kind of Purple. The wall has a fresh coat of flat white paint, with a grey Sch. 80 pipe crossing the electrical. Pipe has a white flexible section as it passes over the electrical.
Light is:
Blue (400-499nm) 11%
Green (500-599nm) 7%
Red (600-699nm) 81%
Far Red (700-780nm) 0.3%
As mentioned before, they are solid and appear very well built. There was a problem with one light- It seems the Mfg was surprised, but I sent the a video of the problem and they are fixing it. Seems fair. I am running Drain to waste and am going to compare this to previous grows done under the same conditions and the same strains (with a few new ones too!). Feel free to comment on the leaf problems. General health of the plants is good

 

[Kalimaki420]

Most of the later Look like cal-mag
Problems, Pests & Disease Control