LED fixture recommendation

[SQWIBB]

I harden off for a week or two by placing under the deck. I get an evening sun and this "lazy" way has worked out for me the last 4 years or so.


I'm not really sold on the UV yet, but I am still researching it.


I started looking into the UV lights, (UVA AND UVB) I already have the UVA and UVB bulbs for the the turtle tank, but want to see if I can incorporate them into the grow table as led's.


What do you think about these? 395nm - 410nm
https://www.homedepot.com/p/UV-LED-2...L240/309569447

[Milan HP]

What do you think about these? 395nm - 410nm
https://www.homedepot.com/p/UV-LED-2...L240/309569447

I've been denied access. I don't really understand why.I think the best UV LED should have at least UVa and a little UVb.

Milan HP

[Shapshftr]

Originally Posted by SQWIBB

I harden off for a week or two by placing under the deck. I get an evening sun and this "lazy" way has worked out for me the last 4 years or so.


I'm not really sold on the UV yet, but I am still researching it.


I started looking into the UV lights, (UVA AND UVB) I already have the UVA and UVB bulbs for the the turtle tank, but want to see if I can incorporate them into the grow table as led's.


What do you think about these? 395nm - 410nm
https://www.homedepot.com/p/UV-LED-2...L240/309569447

I've been researching UV-A and B also. I watched a video of a guy who did a comparison of a few different ones and his suggestion for the best one of that group was this one:

https://www.amazon.com/AgroMax-Foot-...EVC05E2702FH9F

And everyone says the UV's will burn up your plants, so you have to put them on a timer and only give them about 15 minutes, twice a day. Read the Amazon reviewers comments on that. Also it has to have a good metallic reflector, so I ordered this fixture for it:

https://www.amazon.com/GrowBright-Hi...2E79BHFYJD6PE1

Also note that LED's are directional, they send out a narrow focused radiation. So if you have one LED strip, your light coverage will not spread out sideways, it will shine straight down in a narrow band. In order to get good canopy coverage, you must have several of them side by side.

I've been following Dr Bruce Bugbee who is a scientist that has done research on lighting for NASA. He has many youtube videos you can watch. Here's a general discussion of his, with the guy that did the comparison of the UV Tubes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1O3OD-dI20

[SQWIBB]

Originally Posted by Shapshftr

Also note that LED's are directional, they send out a narrow focused radiation. So if you have one LED strip, your light coverage will not spread out sideways, it will shine straight down in a narrow band. In order to get good canopy coverage, you must have several of them side by side.

Yes I agree, that's one of the main reasons I added a 3rd light and turned mine 90°.
Its a lot of light but now I just reduce the intensity but get better coverage.


What's nice about these "Par" series Viparspectra's is they have a "Secondary Optical Lens"

[Shapshftr]

Originally Posted by SQWIBB

Yes I agree, that's one of the main reasons I added a 3rd light and turned mine 90°.
Its a lot of light but now I just reduce the intensity but get better coverage.


What's nice about these "Par" series Viparspectra's is they have a "Secondary Optical Lens"

I do have to say those are some real beast LED fixtures. They pretty much cover the entire spectrum don't they? But that said, I can't help but wonder if they are really much different than daylight fluorescents, colorwise. They draw a whole lot more wattage than fluors, so are they just much higher in intensity? I haven't compared the PAR ratings, because I don't know what that value is for fluorescents.

[Milan HP]

Originally Posted by Shapshftr

I do have to say those are some real beast LED fixtures. They pretty much cover the entire spectrum don't they? But that said, I can't help but wonder if they are really much different than daylight fluorescents, colorwise. They draw a whole lot more wattage than fluors, so are they just much higher in intensity? I haven't compared the PAR ratings, because I don't know what that value is for fluorescents.

They are twice as efficient as fluors. Fluors produce about 84lm/W as opposed to CXB's app 160lm/W. Yes, fluors come in 18 or 36W tubes, but the "weakest" CXB I have found is some 85W. And 137W is much more common.
Light spectrum also speaks for CXBs - it's pretty close to daylight and fairly even in energy distributed at various wavelengths.

Milan HP