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.
so we choose the color plants need.
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Hey, Sara, my Mars Hydro LED Grow Light 100*3w arrived today! Thank you so much, Sara, and c526!
Journal for above is in the red link below.
Hey all, I was just catching up on this wonderful thread and figured I would share since all of you and this thread is the reason I went LED route instead of small HPS. I really couldn't be happier with how big and dense the buds are already and today is only Day 41 of 12/12 cycle. Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.
Picture from 11/22/14, the power went out for about an hour so I took her out for pics and let her stare out of the back window while power restored.
I added the scrog net for stability and organizational effectiveness, this is NOT a SCROG grow by any means, the next round WILL be.
Very dense for how young these flowers are(41 Days today). I usually don't count the first 7 - 10 (transition phase) days so I let them go 65-70 days for strains that are right around 8-9 weeks. Preflowers usually show Definitively on Day 6 of 12/12 flower phase in my experience. Harvest will be anywhere from Christmas to New Years, can't wait. Happy Growin' ALL!!
actually, we only use very very very less infrared led in the light, and plants need a lot red and blue, so we use a lot, but plants also need some other color, just not as many as red and blue, so we use white color to provide the right color for plants growing. one advantage of led is you can choose the right color you want
ambient temperature is around 80~85F usally, 100x3w draw power is 150~170watt. 96x3w is 170~200watt.
we changed our spectrum many many times, we are always trying our best to get the best one. thank you and it sounds like you guys have it under control
Sara, do your Mars II lights use the same spectrum as the "old model" and "reflector" lights, or are they all different ones? I've heard people say the reflector lights and old model, look like they have more red in them than the Mars II. Sorry if this has been asked before
OK thank you
