Household LEDs for growing?

I’m still vertical, alive and kicking. Thanks for asking. Yes, two 15 watt LED bulbs, but the more the merrier, within reason. I popped the plastic dome/diffuser off for a few more lumens, each. The 5000k is the color temperature. The higher the number, the more the light spectrum is toward the blue end, and lower is more red. If you were using those bulbs for flowering, as well, you’d want to almost double the intensity, and switch to 2700k-3500k or so, to give them the more red-leaning spectrum they need for flowering. And since they run pretty cool compared to some other types of lights, you can move them pretty close to the plants, only just a few inches in some cases, which can be an advantage in tight spaces, to help keep the nodes tight and in turn the plants shorter. The downside to that is you need either a lot of them to cover a decent-sized space, or higher wattage to make up the intensity if they are raised to increase the footprint of light. If you’re lighting more than a few square feet (the space in that picture was less than 4 square feet), you’d do much better with building a fixture, or buying a pre-made kit if that’s more your speed. Avoid Amazon fixtures unless you really, really do your research. They can be very deceptive in their descriptions (“1000 watt equivalent” on a 125 watt fixture that supposedly replaces a 1000 HPS bulb, etc.), and some even pay for good reviews, or to have bad ones removed. It’s a dog eat dogsh*t world out there. Let me see if I can get you a good shot of what I used…

Alright, found them right at the beginning of my journal, here:
https://ilgmforum.com/t/closet-frigidank-perpetual-grow/
I’d link the photos directly, but the links aren’t coming up like usual right now. Hopefully that still gets the cat skinned. At any rate, the best advice I can give you is to read read read and ask lots of questions before you buy stuff, so you can make informed purchases, and not waste a bunch of money on expensive lessons a lot of us have already learned the hard way. Those bulbs will veg some badass plants, but I have only limited experience flowering under them, got about 3-4 weeks in and had to move…it’s all in there :+1:

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Hey bro.

Sorry sorry. Glad you well. Thanks for the feedback.

So its actually winter where i am right now. So im starting the plant of inside.
Right now. Im just trying to grow small plants. Just to go through the entire grow cycle. As something to do during covid-19 lockdowns.

So i am trying 2 x small pots. About 4 liters/ 1 galon pots.
I would be keeping them in these pots from seed to harvest.

So right now i just got them in a corner space with a light fixture about 500mm/19 inch away. The fixture has 3 bulb holders.

I planted about 36 hours ago.

So i also came accross these led cfl type bulbs. 30w- 2500 lumens - 4000k

I was think of putting in 2 of those.
Or should i just get 3 x 15-18w led bulbs and pop the tops?

I would be using these bulbs from seed to harvest aswell.

Gonna go check out your link now.

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Absolutely you can grow good plants with these bulbs, there are people on International Cannagraphic forum who are growing with these, there is even a comparison thread.

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Either should do the trick. They’ll get you going, anyway. You’ll know as they get older if they’re wanting for more light by how they stretch out, and the bud structure. In 1 gallon pots from seed to harvest, I’d flip them very early, so they don’t get root bound later on. You can always pot them up if that happens, unless they’re autos. It’s easiest to start autos in their final home to avoid transplant shock. The smaller containers will limit their size if you’re constrained there, though.

If u bored and got nothing to do. And interested.

I got 3 x 20w led e27 bulbs.
6000k each
1650 lm each
Cheap stuff
Got them spaced in a triangle

I Downloaded some lux meter.

4187 lux 200mm/7.9in away from soil/plant.

5236 lux 100mm/3.9in away from soil/plant.

5890 lux 30mm/1.2in away from soil/plant.

Hey guys i was just givin a pretty cool set up its has 14 5500k 8.8 real watt draw led equivalent to 60w is what it says on bulb an thats 14 per shelf has inlet an exhaust fans i know i need to seal the front but are these lights good enough?

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okay so top one shelf has 2700k lights one shelf has 5500k light

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Send some pics

The pics are in the thread right after my first post @Senrico

Cool setup. 5500k for veg cycle maybe and 2700k for flowering cycle.

Im new to this… so do you think i could get away with just making half 2700 an half 5500 per shelf that way there is no swapping?

That should do fine. Should give you roughly 4100k-ish. I’ve ran plants under 4000k LEDs, through about week four of flowering, and they do great.

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Another question for you guys my box is 4’x18"x3’ with a total of 600 watts of led light is that to much

:man_shrugging: Hard to say. Is that 600 watts actual draw from the wall, or what the “equivalent” rating on the box is? Regardless, the plants will tell you right away, and you can adjust accordingly before too much damage is done, either way. They’ll stretch if they want more, curl and shy away from the light if it’s too much. I’d recommend firing them up, then putting your thermometer bulb right about where the canopy level of the plants will be, and see how hot you think the plants will get. They like it in the 70s, but a little bit into the 80s is fine with LEDs, since they generate less heat that’s focused on the plants than other types of lights. That should give you a better, if still rough idea.