LED Results ??

[DavidCampen]

Since you want no discussion of the pros and cons then, to answer your question, yes, orchids will grow as well under LED lighting as they will under fluorescent lighting.

[DavidCampen]

Originally Posted by MAli

... To not have the green or to have it downplayed is rubbing me the wrong way. I know I can add specific bulbs to get a more full spectrum but ... will switching other bulbs decrease the efficiency of the fixture as a whole ?

Regards

Yes, adding green LEDs will decrease the efficiency with regards to photosynthesis. When you add green LEDs then you are using power for them to produce light that will not be used by the plants but will mostly be reflected from the plants.

If you want a light source that includes green for better viewing of the plants then fluorescent lights are a good choice.

[DavidCampen]

I am using an LED light bar that I designed and fabricated myself. I am using it for supplemental lighting in my plant solarium. It consists of 16 blue and red LED modules drawing 140 watts of power and producing light beams with a 22 degree divergence. I use LED instead of fluorescent because fluorescent light can not be tightly focused like light from an LED source. By using the tightly focused LED light I am able to hang the fixture 6 feet above the table with the light focused on the table.

[MAli]

Thanks for the info David. I've been using fluorescent lighting for years now and I am happy with them.

As far as not wanting a discussion on the pro and cons I believe there are enough threads about that and I've read enough. I was hoping this thread can be a place where actual pictures of experiences can be shared and compared.Whether they are better than Fluorescent or not is another question and it's what I don't want to get into because it is still a controversial subject and I don't want the thread to go that way.

While I kind of agree with Ray and Paul that we have seen that plants "can" grow well under LED lights ; for me the benefits already exist in the form of reduced heat output and power consumption. The fact that the plants are flourishing is good enough for me. Seeing other people succeeding is very encouraging and while we don't have proof of "benefits" we don't really have proof of the disadvantages of using them like the people who posted pictures.




A controlled test side by side with other lights would be the ideal way to answer a lot of questions so if anybody has something like that I'm sure we would all appreciate some pictures.

Thank again everyone

[DavidCampen]

Originally Posted by MAli

... for me the benefits already exist in the form of reduced heat output and power consumption. Thank again everyone

At the moment LEDs are about as energy efficient as fluorescent. The only advantage of LEDs with respect to this is that you can more closely match the light colors to those that are used by plants and not waste energy producing green light. The same is true with regards to heat production.

Soon blue emitting LEDs will be available that are much more efficient than fluorescent but that still won't help much if you require color balanced light to facilitate viewing.

[terryros]

I have used LED lights for almost a year and a half and admit I have no side by side comparisons. I switched to reduce heat production and energy consumption as well as gain height over the plants with the lights since the focused light of the LEDs allows a greater height over the plants. Things are growing well and blooming. However, the light wasn't the only variable that I have changed over that time period. I have also changed growing media (to sphagnum), fertilizer (to K-Lite), and additives (to Kelpak). Who knows why things now seem overall healthier in my conditions.

However, I don't need to know if the LEDs are superior to the previous fluorescents and CFLs that I used. I couldn't continue to use those bulbs in my setup because of the factors I mentioned first.

Littlefrog on this forum (and Slippertalk, I think) has a website where he has published some comparisons of LED growth versus green house growth and overall things look at least equivalent.

I don't think LEDs should be selected to get superior growth compared to other types of artificial light (although I am not saying that this might not happen in some situations). I think you invest the upfront money in the lights long term to save on heat production, energy consumption, and to make it easier to care for plants because of the greater height of the lights over the plants.

[MAli]

Thanks again David. I am a bit let down cause I feel the general consensus is that LED that are god for growing and viewing are either too expensive or not really advantageous

"terryros" we are in very similar situations and your feedback is awesome. Gonna try to find that website right away. I too just want to reduce heat and hopefully get better penetration and don't really mind if LEDs are superior or not. I just want to see more success stories to encourage me to spend the $$$.

The heat is not something I want to lose altogether because that would make nightly temperature drops harder to achieve than it already is. Anyone have some insight on this matter ??

Thank everybody for all the comments and information

[Paul Mc]

You could use a heat mat if you are worried about not having enough heat.

I would not just not buy them despite not having research on which light source is the best. It's more a matter of what works for you. Consider the upfront costs along with the long term costs or reduction there of. I was just concerned you were thinking one light source was more superior than another. When it comes to LED, the verdict is still out as not enough research has been done yet.

[MAli]

Thanks for the suggestion Paul Unfortunately a heat pad will not work for my application. I have a water section in the tank that would overheat before my tank got to the desired temperature. I am also weary of the conditions created by warm water and I've learned the hard stinky way to avoid it.

I agree with you that not enough research has been done to factually show pros and cons of LED vs Fluorescent. I am basically trying to do my own research based on pictures and info being provided by fellow members

Keep it coming

[littlefrog]

I did several experiments and found that the LEDs were pretty much equivalent to the other methods I used for growing. Main comparison was to growing in my greenhouse. Some plants grew better under LEDs (including masdevallias), some were pretty much the same, some didn't do well. That is pretty par for the course. Are LEDs better than other lights? Maybe... Hard to say. Probably similar. I've found that the price isn't too bad, and the power consumption makes up for the difference pretty quickly.

Practical outcome was that I've gone to almost all LED growing in a new area. I was going to build a new area anyway (I moved), and the experiments convinced me that I could grow under LEDs as well as I could in the greenhouse. At least for what I grow the most of. You can check out my new growing area on the website. Is it as good as a greenhouse? Not for some things. I can't grow big specimen plants anymore (well, I probably could, but I don't have space). I did bloom a big Cattleya mossiae a few weeks ago. I'm blooming paphs and phrags better than I have in a long time, and tolumnias and other 'high light' plants as well. My combined heating and electric bill for the winter was approximately 20% of what I paid in the greenhouse. At that rate, the expense of the lights and construction is pretty much paid for, next year is pure profit!

Still selling LEDs to orchid people for a discount, PM me for a price list. If you are growing more lucrative crops, you get to pay full price.