LEDs Vs LEC (Donaldj)

@Donaldj all done congratulations and thanks for all the info really enjoyed it all and I have learnt also brilliant again my friend :v:.

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leaving rest of plant to harvest this weekend when I harvest SS it will give some of the buds that were hidden a chance to shine and finish developing

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I have an early verdict having spent the day trimming 2 things were extremely obvious. First being LED only had compact buds within 4" of canopy beyond that they were larf barely worth trimming. So to get best result I would have to thin and partially defoliate through flower. Secondly resin production lacking I trimmed entire plant and without cleaning my scissors? I trimmed 2-3 kolas on my SS under LEC before scissors were to sticky and full of resin.


Those were about the best kolas got maybe 6-7 more before the rest was larf

I defoliated the SS needed water so was too wilty to trim

I know which lights are moving into my veg space until next test is ready to start :wink:

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@Duguider, worth a read to help choose your lighting

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@Donaldj I’m am really pleased to see the results off you grow and I really appreciate your time and effort throughout the grow :+1: I can’t wait to see the end off the LEC run :v: and dry weights. Just looked over your post again looks like the LEC is the winner correct @Donaldj…?

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She’s sitting there defoliated to see I will trim her today hadn’t watered her in few days before I pulled her from space so all her leaves were droopy making trimming a royal pain. Didn’t help she’s sticky :stuck_out_tongue: in a good way but instant limp leaves touch buds they are stuck and hard to trim. Yes the LEC plant is smaller in stature but has far more top shelf bud with kolas 6-8" long and super sticky and almost nothing below my standard smoking grade.

Just a rehash to make things clearer
: White Widow was given 6 weeks full veg under Lec before flowering in a 7 gallon pot under LED’s alone in flower space 6 weeks
: Super Skunk was given 3 weeks full veg under Lec before flowering in 5 gallon pot under LEC alone for 5 weeks
: Both plants were 12/12 within a few degrees from same temps and fed exactly the same mixed 5 gallons of nutrients and split between every feed. Trained the same simple bending no scrog no scissors only variable was lighting. Plants made it respectively 8 and 7 weeks almost 9 and 8 by harvest a few days shy of advertised flower lengths and spent last week or so with friends

I expect I would’ve seen better results with Led had I pruned heavy but Lec still killed it in the area’s which mattered most quality and size of buds and if I trimmed the same on both result would be the same. Better yield and quality with the LEC end weights will be fairly close but won’t know until dry.
Would I use Leds over Lec if budget were same not mid quality maybe top shelf? were they much cooler not really 6f on average and took 2 to equal 1 Lec as far as watts and coverage which even that I found wanting since to get light closer lose footprint compared to Lec which a different shade may have changed.

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This certainly wasn’t a waste both lights gave me decent buds and in my growing system enough to get through to next grow, I also learnt lots about Led’s and better ways to utilize their strengths and weaknesses. Will I use them again yes I certainly will to do another more even comparison grow same strain pot size veg time clones from same mother in a couple of months once clones are decent size :wink:
I will also take lessons learnt and apply to both lights to keep things fair and even heavier training and scissors in play

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@Covertgrower here is where the real info is buddy

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Out of likes and Thanks @Donaldj I followed extensively and feel you did a great comparison. Just like you said next time you’ll be able to better compare the two by making the two grows more identical.
I think the only way we could make it truly comparable is add enough LED’s that would consume exactly the same measured watts as LEC. Also a specific choice of LED, or even the quantum boards would give it a run for the money. This I think would bring the LED numbers in line with LEC a little more. Just my opinion on that one. Overall great comparison and I would put LEC on my plants any day if I didn’t go LED. I enjoyed following along.

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lol 300w verses 315w bulb and price point were the point of test not led having a a higher price than Lec $300 price point would get me about halfway there with Led yet buy a Lec with bulb :wink:

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LEC

LED
I don’t think I need to say much more

Have 2 ladies already under each light and applied pruning this time round

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Side by side SS left WW right

Super Skunk grown under LEC

White Widow grown under LED’s
Both yielded around the same though WW was much larger over all and ended with lots of oil grade

About triple that pile where SS was about equal to that pile in under grade end weights are a few days out yet but the bigger buds are obvious I am guessing both come in around 3 oz and change?

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I love this @Donaldj and I’m out of likes.

That Super Skunk is making my mouth water wanting to take a hit!

I’ll give him one for you…
image

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Fantastic thread, I guess that leaves Donald with only one more “test” to do and that is run the same strain under each light as, in my inexperienced mind, there could be differences in yield, etc, because it was two different strains.

Sure, I know that two seeds of the same strain in EXACTLY the same environment can produce two different results but at least some factors regarding different strains can be eliminated so a more “true” comparison can be made.

Makes no odds to me, I’m still going to run LED, but I do love a good experiment.

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I’m LED too but I think I’m gonna try LEC since @Donaldj Showed me a few within my price range. Then I could do my own experiment (because I would like to see the difference with the same seed.

Actually I just happen to have 2 Bubblegum clones which I plan on running in a few months and didn’t shelve the Led’s I am flowering 2 more plants under them rightnow. 1 is beening bent pruned and manicured to let light in the other is simply being bent applying theory and lessons learned from first plant harvested under them. So I can rule out errors and keep next test more even by equal conditions and plant treatment.
Keep in mind test wasn’t to discredit either light more demo what you get in price range and similar watts. also to improve my understanding of leds and best ways to use them. How can I offer advise or help others if I don’t have experience with them we pride ourselves as Mentors and mods that Do and don’t just teach :wink: I certainly wouldn’t want help from someone I just met that doesn’t have their own plants and garden I could read a book for that :wink:

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Well said, Brother!

I’ll smoke to that!..

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Great read. A better test of the flowering capabilities would be a 2x3-4’ scrog of 1 plant, vegged under the same light, then partitioned through the center of the canopy, with an lec on one side and an led on the other.

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