Mars-Hydro LED Grow Light Discussion

SmokeSara said:
U can preorder our grow tent now and I will tell all of you when we can ship out, our shipment delay this time, hope we can get all the things ready to ship before 15th. thanks for your support all my friends. :circle-of-love:
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Yay, tents! Just sent you an email. My birthday is the 15th, would be a great b-day to be mailed by the 15th!
 
Colesdad said:
Yay, tents! Just sent you an email. My birthday is the 15th, would be a great b-day to be mailed by the 15th!
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Man I was 3 days to early...
 
Hi Sara (and others)

I have decided to go with your Mars Hydro LED's after a quick change of mind from my MH/HPS setup. I have a few questions and would like some advice if any other growers with these lights are able to give some input. For starters, the area I will be illuminating is ~ 7' x 4.5', and I'll be using the light for both veg and flowering. MONEY is not a factor in this decision really, its more about performance than anything.

I have considered both a Mars Hydro Reflector Series and Mars Hydro II setup. For the reflector series, the most light I will be able to squeeze into the space is 3 of the "3W x 192" lights, which would provide a rough output of ~1800W. I have seen a youtube video of a medical grower who claims that your 700W mars hydro II light was not powerful enough to properly light a 4' x 4' area, so I am not completely sure if 3 of the reflectors would be sufficient. The other choice I considered was instead 2 x MARS II 1200W lights. This would provide 2400W of lighting in total. The only problem I have with this is that some of the background research I have conducted is pointing at improved performance with 3W LEDs over 5W LEDs, particularly because a) 5W LEDs are less thermally efficient, ie they have increased heat output over 3W LEDs (would prefer to keep heat low) and b) they have increased light penetration which may lead to bleaching/light burn if not careful.

CAN ANYONE please give me your well researched/informed opinion as to which set up you think would be best to use in my given grow space. For some reason I am leaning to the 3 x reflector set up, even though the light output is less, 3W LEDs seem to appeal to me more, for one reason or another.

Also another question for you SARA, are these lights in stock at the Australia warehouse? If so, how long will shipping be to a main city roughly?

Thanks for your advice in advance

Dr PKD
 
Your trying to fill that area as well? I personally would go with 3 144x3 reflectors.

If you form a U shape with the three lights you could fill the full 7 x 4.5 area.

The 5w doesn't really create alot of heat (I seem to be one of two people that still run a blower in and out of my tents as well though) with winter I've pulled my blower in out and turned my blower out to 10% I just bought a heater to help keep temps above 75 degrees. I like my temps around 80-83 degrees and the mars 1600 hit that perfect for me during summer w a blower in and out. Winter time, the 5w temps are around 75 degrees in a 5x5 tent while temps outside are 15.

The house is so hot the metal door was frozen shut from the melting/freezing.

Crazy, never thought I'd have to add a heater in a grow room.

I&I
 
Gfcollective said:
Your trying to fill that area as well? I personally would go with 3 144x3 reflectors.

If you form a U shape with the three lights you could fill the full 7 x 4.5 area.

The 5w doesn't really create alot of heat (I seem to be one of two people that still run a blower in and out of my tents as well though) with winter I've pulled my blower in out and turned my blower out to 10% I just bought a heater to help keep temps above 75 degrees. I like my temps around 80-83 degrees and the mars 1600 hit that perfect for me during summer w a blower in and out. Winter time, the 5w temps are around 75 degrees in a 5x5 tent while temps outside are 15.

The house is so hot the metal door was frozen shut from the melting/freezing.

Crazy, never thought I'd have to add a heater in a grow room.

I&I
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I just want to say that the 5w does create heat, depending on size and your room. I have a Mars II 900 and it raises the temps in my room by 5-6 degrees over my other 3w light.
 
Yes, the 5w draws more heat. But if you havery proper fans set up (specially if u ran hps) then you got the gear to pull and blow air into your room and will actually have to buy fan speed adjusters to keep temps above 75

I have a 4 inch blower blowing in during summer
and a 4 inch blower pulling air out

Same setup I had w hps just not connected to a hood ;)

I&I

I'll take a pic of my temp in flower room in exactly 12 hrs. It's a 5x5x7 lighthouse hydro tent w one 4 inch blower pulling aor out right now at 10% speed and w my added heater I just bought temp is still below 80 right around 78.
 
Gfcollective said:
Your trying to fill that area as well? I personally would go with 3 144x3 reflectors.

If you form a U shape with the three lights you could fill the full 7 x 4.5 area.

The 5w doesn't really create alot of heat (I seem to be one of two people that still run a blower in and out of my tents as well though) with winter I've pulled my blower in out and turned my blower out to 10% I just bought a heater to help keep temps above 75 degrees. I like my temps around 80-83 degrees and the mars 1600 hit that perfect for me during summer w a blower in and out. Winter time, the 5w temps are around 75 degrees in a 5x5 tent while temps outside are 15.

The house is so hot the metal door was frozen shut from the melting/freezing.

Crazy, never thought I'd have to add a heater in a grow room.

I&I
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Thanks for the info mate. I've thought about it tonight and done some more research. Supposedly, 3W LEDs at this point in time, out of all Wattage diodes have the best/optimal heat dissipation. This means LEDs that are higher, eg the 5W, although there may not be a significant production of "noticeable heat", the internals of the LED itself have to cope with higher basal temperatures which creates increased resistance on the diode 'circuit' and decreased efficiency. So much so that one company (I won't mention who), suggests that their research shows 3W diodes to achieve 100 lumens/diode and at best 5W can achieve 60 lumens/diode.

I'll attach some photos below. I scribbled up a TO SCALE design of the room preliminary plan. Dimensions are shown for the area and for each individual LED/Aircon unit. In addition, the light coverage area is shown (purple for the small LEDs and green for the big ones), by the way shown in the plan are the 3W reflector series lamps.

Cheers again for the help.

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those lumen ratings are probably for white leds (blue leds coated with phosphor) and I don't get how a 3 watt diode is brighter than a 5 watt diode. I don't know why manufacturers use infrared leds in grow lights. infrared leds were the first leds to become available and the least efficient. they're dim and waste a lot of energy as heat. I think the best leds would be the ones that are closest to white (to get the most lumens possible), but still have shades of the colors plants need. this would mean not using far blue and far red leds and instead using middle of the ground blue and red leds (like 470 nm and 630 nm). of course these are my speculations, but see what factory thinks? :)

sara, a couple questions. what's a good ambient temperature for these lights? currently the temperature above my led fixture is 85 degrees fahrenheit after 12 hours of operation. at 120 volts how many watts does the 100x3w old model draw? how about the 96x3w reflector model? thanks.
 
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im about to see what the 5w penetration can do. i didnt take a below pic so ill take one tonight.

there is about a solid 16" of canopy built up there and its still stretching. one of the ladys in that tent has not been pruned at all. so ill see what the 1600 5w can do penetrating a solid foot 1/2 canopy and reaching the lower branches of my mendo purp.

I&i
 
Gfcollective said:
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im about to see what the 5w penetration can do. i didnt take a below pic so ill take one tonight.

there is about a solid 16" of canopy built up there and its still stretching. one of the ladys in that tent has not been pruned at all. so ill see what the 1600 5w can do penetrating a solid foot 1/2 canopy and reaching the lower branches of my mendo purp.

I&i
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I am heading over to your journal.....anxious to see that 1600 in action:)
 
that journal is technically completed, i will be posting my newest pictures as i go through the next grow on that same journal however. the new journal i will be starting is using 3 small led's and thatll come sometime this month.

the 5x5 tent with the 1600 mars led newest grow (testing penetration) will be in my 'My CBD/Hubbing (mainlining) Grow'

I&i


My first grow with a led,
Results :
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total of just over 13 oz off 3 plants vegged for 2 months, flowered for 60 days.
 
Hey, Sara, my Mars Hydro LED Grow Light 100*3w arrived today! Thank you so much, Sara, and c526! ;)

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Journal for above is in the red link below. :)

:Namaste:
 
Hello all. I'm a new member but have been lurking for months and have decided to start my own grow........with that said I have decided to go with LEDs. I'm thinking of two 900w's. I guess my questions are.

1. Is it better to buy 2 smaller units and get a better coverage or just go with one big one? My space is only 3x3x9'. I realize this is a lot for my space however if everything works out I have a much bigger available space. Maybe only use one for now......

2. I have read a lot...mostly here about led grows requiring more nutes. Is this just debate or is it something that is taken as the norm for a led grow?

3. With these lights being as intense as everyone says......should a guy start the girls under a cool cfl to get established?

Thanks again for this vast pool of knowledge....who knew.
 
I've not learned yet about your questions 1 or 2 yet, but for #3 there, I'd say that's not a bad idea. I've heard a couple stories of funky seedlings, but I myself have just now lit up an LED light for the first time today, alas, after my seeds have been a week or so old.
 
i cant comment much on number 2, but that will be answered if you hang out here for a couple days.

number 1 question..

how many plants and how many strains do you plan on growing? multiple lights are great if you need to adjust one light a little higher then the others. i prefer just one light because i can easily adjust that light up and down without worry of leveling out the others. some members have rigged setups so they can easily adjust all 2-4 lights to the same height however, CoFinest is one of these members.

its a personal preference i believe, but many others will add their sense onto it which makes this site great, so youll get your answer here shortly.

I&i

Edit : on your number 2 question for what its worth. i havent added any more nutes then i did with my hps grow but i have added 20ml of cal mag to 5gal of nutes now. i read that calcium was the biggest uptake from leds so i just started off giving them more calcium, they havent hated me for it
 
NematodeNate said:
Hello all. I'm a new member but have been lurking for months and have decided to start my own grow........with that said I have decided to go with LEDs. I'm thinking of two 900w's. I guess my questions are.

1. Is it better to buy 2 smaller units and get a better coverage or just go with one big one? My space is only 3x3x9'. I realize this is a lot for my space however if everything works out I have a much bigger available space. Maybe only use one for now......

2. I have read a lot...mostly here about led grows requiring more nutes. Is this just debate or is it something that is taken as the norm for a led grow?

3. With these lights being as intense as everyone says......should a guy start the girls under a cool cfl to get established?

Thanks again for this vast pool of knowledge....who knew.
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1. My personal opinon is that if you want the mars then get one big one...the 1200 or 1600.....i have three in my flower room and it can be a pain in the ass to have them at different heights with several plants.....GFCollective has a 1600 in a 5 x5 you can follow to see what kind of results it will provide

2. i have been using leds for over a year now and started out using more nutes.....3 different strains i was running did not like it at all......i now find that they use less.....i run all my nutes at half the suggested rate.....with minimal problems except cal/mag.....they definately like more cal/mag with leds....in my opion

3. i think that depends on the light you choose to go with.....are you going to start and finish with the same light.....?...mine now start from seed under a cfl in an aerogarden for about a week or they are about 2 inches tall and then have just recently gone under a 144x3 reflector......i keep them about 18 inches away and they seem fine and happy.....just the more intense light you get i would adjust the height for them:)

hope this helps....you are at the right forumn for quality people and help:):Namaste:
 
NematodeNate said:
Hello all. I'm a new member but have been lurking for months and have decided to start my own grow........with that said I have decided to go with LEDs. I'm thinking of two 900w's. I guess my questions are.

1. Is it better to buy 2 smaller units and get a better coverage or just go with one big one? My space is only 3x3x9'. I realize this is a lot for my space however if everything works out I have a much bigger available space. Maybe only use one for now......

2. I have read a lot...mostly here about led grows requiring more nutes. Is this just debate or is it something that is taken as the norm for a led grow?

3. With these lights being as intense as everyone says......should a guy start the girls under a cool cfl to get established?

Thanks again for this vast pool of knowledge....who knew.
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Hey NematodeNate

1. Personally i prefer many small ones. As you say, you get better coverage. I use 4 x Mars 400w in one tent. I also own a Mars 900w and a Mars 1200w. The 900w and 1200w are great for a level surface such as a ScrOG. I feel the smaller ones perform well with loose plants as well as with a level surface. I found it useful to be able to tweak the height of 4 lights to best accommodate the needs of the plants as some will get taller than others without a ScrOG screen.

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My space is 1.2m x 1.2m x 2m (I have 2 of these), so my opinions are based on this space.

2. You will need to supplement with additional Cal/Mag almost certainly. Other than that just follow the instructions on the bottles for your nutrient/water ratio and use an EC meter if growing hydro to keep tabs on the EC of your nutrient solution.

3. I would do yes, I use a 6500k light to start them off. It would be a mighty waste of electric to run a Mars 900w for seedlings/rooted clones ;) Plus it's just not necessary, I use a single 6500k CFL for seedlings/rooted clones for the first or so, before adding another. I eventually put them under LED after a couple of weeks.

All the best with your grow :)
 
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