I have some questions about LED Light Panels.

[shushu45]

I'm saving up to this summer for new light for my orchids this winter (maybe sooner since its too cold outside at night this summer)
And I was considering of getting LED light palels. I have a few questions about the LEDs.

1) What should I get??
2) How many should I get??
3) how far from the plants should I place them if I do get them??
4) and I was considering getting reflective curtains to hang around them to divert the light more onto the plants. Is that wise??

Thank you.

[naoki]

1) If you can handle super-simple wiring, Cree CXA3070 is very easy, and one of the most efficient white at this moment. One of this (driven at 50 W or so) covers about 2x2' area (for moderate-low light orchids). About $50-60 for 1x 50W. I think I posted a thread about this.

If it is not an option, build-my-LED was tested to have a good efficiency. Also Ray sells Philips GreenPower. It has good spec (a bit pricey-end). Other one with good reputations is [http://a51led.com/store/]area51[/url] (good customer support). Some LED panels don't seem to last, so it is good to buy the brand with reliable customer support.

Cheap ones work, but you may not get a lot of saving over fluorescent lights. But even the cheap ones have an advantage with regard to heat.

2) depends on what kinds of plants, area you cover etc. But 10-20 (actual) watt per sqft, is a good start.

3) depends on the models, optics etc.

4) yes. Getting a grow tent could be easier. But you may need to pay attention to the heat issue if you completely enclose.

[shushu45]

Originally Posted by naoki

1) If you can handle super-simple wiring, Cree CXA3070 is very easy, and one of the most efficient white at this moment. One of this (driven at 50 W or so) covers about 2x2' area (for moderate-low light orchids). About $50-60 for 1x 50W. I think I posted a thread about this.

If it is not an option, build-my-LED was tested to have a good efficiency. Also Ray sells Philips GreenPower. It has good spec (a bit pricey-end). Other one with good reputations is [http://a51led.com/store/]area51[/url] (good customer support). Some LED panels don't seem to last, so it is good to buy the brand with reliable customer support.

Cheap ones work, but you may not get a lot of saving over fluorescent lights. But even the cheap ones have an advantage with regard to heat.

2) depends on what kinds of plants, area you cover etc. But 10-20 (actual) watt per soft, is a good start.

3) depends on the models, optics etc.

4) yes. Getting a grow tent could be easier. But you may need to pay attention to the heat issue if you completely enclose.

Thank you for answering my questions.
The area in trying to cover us about a 6' by 5' area. I don't understand the watt per soft can u explain that to me please??

[naoki]

Oops, it did automatic spell "correction". I meant watt per square foot (sqft not soft). There are lots of other factors, so it is too much simplification. For example, a good LED can produce nearly twice as much as useful light (for plants) than the cheap ones for a given watt.

With CXA3070 at 50W, you can probably be ok with about 8 of them (about $4-500). You are probably ok with a bit less than that if you are mainly growing lower-light phals and paphs (or if you don't mind of slower growth). If the light is just supplementing natural light, you don't need that many.

You can use higher wattage for each (e.g. 100W instead of 50W), and reduce the number of LEDs (lower initial cost). But you are sacrificing the efficiency. This is a part of the reason why cheap LED panels may not have a high efficiency (they are driving LEDs hard to reduce the cost, and sacrificing the efficiency).

[shushu45]

I was thinking about getting HQRP 28W 450 LED Blue + Red Plant Grow Light Panels off of Amazon. But now that u say that lower than 50w won't be strong enough. Hmmmmmm......

What r some other lights that aren't LEDs that will be good to use??

I only have two or three orchids that like high levels of light but during the winter time I keep the house on the cool side (68°) so their growth slows down from that.

Would a growtent kit work?? If I bought the whole kit. Would it include shelves or would I have to buy them separately??

[naoki]

I wouldn't buy that model. It uses really old technology (3mm DIP LEDs) and it's not efficient. I'm guessing that florescent light is more efficient.

I wouldn't say that lower than 50W won't be strong enough. For example, I'm using 9-9.5W Cree LED household bulb (from HomeDepot) or Ray's 13W White+Red LED for a small area (about 1 sqft. or so, e.g., vertically converted 10 gallon tank).

Natural light is cheapest if you have good windows. If you don't have good windows, shop light (T8) may be initially cheapest. If you can afford, you should get the fixture with better reflector than the cheapest. I think this diamond-plate fixture from Home Depot is supposed to be pretty good. People recommend T5HO, but if you don't need high light density, T8 is as efficient, or more efficient than T5HO, and a better value.

If you think the long term, those expensive, efficient LEDs become cheaper.

Grow tents usually contain the frame and the tent, and you have to put shelving by yourself. If you have enough humidity, you probably don't need it. But for us with low humidity, grow tents (or some kinds of enclosure) allow us grow difficult plants. I can get 70-90% RH easily when the ambient RH is 20-30%.

[shushu45]

That's what I'm using now r old t8 lights I got from my uncle and put in plant and fish lights from Lowes this past winter and that alone raised my bill over $100 extra.

I might go with build my led u mentioned above. Which one would u recommend??

---------- Post added at 04:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:50 PM ----------

If I were to get a 50" x50" x 79" grow tent how many lights would I need??

[naoki]

For ease of assembly, I would go with Cree CXA3070.
Here is my old post about CXA3070.

cheap ebay DIY LED

Basically you need following items:

1. Cree CXA3070 LED, $40
Warm white, 3000K
Neutral white, 4000k
cool white, 5000K

5000k may be slightly more efficient (I don't have it), but I use 3000K, which has more red. You can mix them if you want.

2. constant current driver, $16
It comes with different amperage (wattage). I use 1.5A driver (50W) for now.
Search ebay "50W LED driver" or "50W LED driver waterproof". Here is an example:
50W LED Driver Power Supply 85 250V to 20 38V Waterproof Outdoor | eBay
This seller gave me good customer support before.

3. CPU heatsink + fan. You can pull out from old computers.

4. 5-12V AC-DC adapter to drive the cooling fan on the CPU heatsink.
You can use cell phone charger or something like that.

5. Thermal paste $6
Here is a good one (DavidCampen's recommendation):
Amazon.com: Arctic Silver CMQ2-25G Ceramique 2 Tri-Linear Thermal Compound: Computers & Accessories

6. LED holder, $2
50-2234C - IDEAL 50-2234C - LED HOLDER, CXA30 ARRAY SERIES | Newark element14 US

To attach the LED holder, you need to be able to drill and tap the aluminum heatsink. If this is too much trouble, you can skip #5 & #6, and you can "glue" the LED to the heatsink with thermal adhesive (I'm not sure which product is recommended).

Four CXA3070 (total 200W) will cover one floor of the tent (for Paph/Phal level, or a bit more light). But you can mix with T8 if the initial cost is too high.

That is the size of tent I recently moved up to, and I'm not completely done configuring it. But I made shelves/water catch trays from plywood/lumber, and I have 2 floors. Actually, it is too big for this purpose. I can't easily reach to the deepest part, so I have to lower the plant density (so I can see them from far away). If you have one floor, and you can walk in, then it is not a problem. 4' width x 2' depth is a better foot print if you want to have multiple levels. However, these tents usually have only 5' height. The ones with 8' height are ideal but usually much more expensive.

[shushu45]

Ok.
No I meant from the site u posted earlier. Full Spectrum Lights - BML Horticulture

---------- Post added at 07:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:29 PM ----------

Where did u get ur tent from??

---------- Post added at 07:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:30 PM ----------

Would this one be any good along with a tent??

Amazon.com : Hydrofarm FLT24 2-ft/ 4-Tube T5 Commercial System with Bulbs : Plant Growing Light Fixtures : Patio, Lawn & Garden

---------- Post added at 07:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:48 PM ----------

What about hid lights??

[Ray]

Originally Posted by shushu45

If I were to get a 50" x50" x 79" grow tent how many lights would I need??

I think it pays to think creatively in this case. Trying to light such a volume from above will require a LOT of wattage and good staging so plants get what they need.

We have a guy in our society that grows cool miniatures in grow tents. The one I saw was about that size, and he has a few vertical poles in them to which he has clamped about a half dozen of my 13W lamps at various points laterally and vertically. That way, he can provide adequate light all over the place.