Yeah i think the diffusers may be a good idea, would love to quantify.. i definitely stunted/ prolonged my veg with the lights too close early on, seems to be perfect between 30-40 inches away without them now.
Lighting Off the Shelf Screw in LED Bulbs as a Viable Alternative
- Thread starter Mr.Sparkle
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@Chunder @alfa88
First don't confuse plant elongation with leaf growth, as any plant that has a light source that is far away will grow towards it to try and gain more light. I'll also presume there were a few other issues as well, maybe underwatering, high of heat levels to cause the stunted growth.
Yes you can get the lights too close, but we're talking within 3-5 inches of the "100w equivalent" bulbs, the 60's i can get a plant within about 2-3in before light bleaching starts to occur. So really how close do you want to be, especially considering a bulb diffuser is 3-4" in length anyways. You should be able to get them closer though, but have you considered it may be due to the fact that less light and heat is present as a lot is getting thrown sideways as diffuser acts for both heat and light, so it's just radiating light in greater arc "370degrees" vs "120-160" when the diffuser is off. Which one will be more efficient at directing that energy at your plants if they are putting out the same amount though.
As for reading that led's should be 30-40" away, im gonna highly presume that you were reading stuff oriented towards big panels that have lenses, not screw in led bulbs. If your light levels are high enough sure that may be the case, but i doubt you will ever run that high. Most growers who use screw in bulbs are growing 30-40" and under,with that being on the far end as most only have the lights at max of 12-15" away.
First don't confuse plant elongation with leaf growth, as any plant that has a light source that is far away will grow towards it to try and gain more light. I'll also presume there were a few other issues as well, maybe underwatering, high of heat levels to cause the stunted growth.
Yes you can get the lights too close, but we're talking within 3-5 inches of the "100w equivalent" bulbs, the 60's i can get a plant within about 2-3in before light bleaching starts to occur. So really how close do you want to be, especially considering a bulb diffuser is 3-4" in length anyways. You should be able to get them closer though, but have you considered it may be due to the fact that less light and heat is present as a lot is getting thrown sideways as diffuser acts for both heat and light, so it's just radiating light in greater arc "370degrees" vs "120-160" when the diffuser is off. Which one will be more efficient at directing that energy at your plants if they are putting out the same amount though.
As for reading that led's should be 30-40" away, im gonna highly presume that you were reading stuff oriented towards big panels that have lenses, not screw in led bulbs. If your light levels are high enough sure that may be the case, but i doubt you will ever run that high. Most growers who use screw in bulbs are growing 30-40" and under,with that being on the far end as most only have the lights at max of 12-15" away.
Definitely were a few "variables" early on, low temps and over watering, thrips.. All those things were sorted but when I moved the lights further away (from 18" to 35" away) they all sprung up and out.. honestly i think its more about canopy penetration, im running 14 of the 60w equivalents and 4 of the 100w equivalents now, which is realistically only.. 140w, its bright as hell but doesnt pen the canopy without heavy LST and defol, i think being further away just allowed for better angles and penetration, didnt want to go too hard on the defoliation cause theyre autos..
Not really screw in, but saw these this morning and think they might make a decent, low(ish) price alternative lighting solution. They're available in 50w version online for about 25 bucks each. Seems like it would be fairly easy to strap them to the top cross bars in a tent. Looks like they just come with bare wires, so would need to install a plug. They claim equivalent light to 250W halogen.
@Ozone69 those are made using those cheap ebay 25-50-100w chips and a lot of them are not grounded properly. Big Clive on youtube i believe has a video about them, also they are inherently bad as far as the chips goes. Sure you can use them but id be surprised if you got more than a couple cycles out of them.
Also saying that they list the output at what 2700lm from 50watts, just for comparison two non dimmable 14w screw in philips bulbs provide 3000lm from 28w of energy, so almost half the power consumption for also half the price ($10-12) and they can be picked up locally, not to mention they will probably last way longer.
Also saying that they list the output at what 2700lm from 50watts, just for comparison two non dimmable 14w screw in philips bulbs provide 3000lm from 28w of energy, so almost half the power consumption for also half the price ($10-12) and they can be picked up locally, not to mention they will probably last way longer.
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So I did this a couple of months ago:
and so far I have been very pleased with it 170 watts actual power usage 8 13w 5K and 6 11w 2.7K have thus far made my plants happy.
and so far I have been very pleased with it 170 watts actual power usage 8 13w 5K and 6 11w 2.7K have thus far made my plants happy.
These light have poor heatsinks and are shoddily wired. There is a video on youtube where they have been opened up to find bare wires inside. People really need to stay way from Chinese junk lights! Its YOUR safety at risk! Your health and safety is worth more than the few buck you think your saving.
Not really screw in, but saw these this morning and think they might make a decent, low(ish) price alternative lighting solution. They're available in 50w version online for about 25 bucks each. Seems like it would be fairly easy to strap them to the top cross bars in a tent. Looks like they just come with bare wires, so would need to install a plug. They claim equivalent light to 250W halogen.
very likely right, these cheap Chinese lights and many of their cobs are all garbage! I learned the hard way NOT to buy any of this crap! You can buy Samsung hard strips for a fairly low price and have FAR superior efficiency and 3 times the light output. Long past time all this Chinese junk should be banned for safety reasons. But as long as the have shills like ebay and amazon to dump their crap on, nothing will be done. I'd rather not grown at all than use these dangerous, shoddy products.
