excellent thanks. just finished my first round under the PLC light and it’s always hard to say what characteristics can be attributed to what, but i grew a bunch of rocks. i seem to grow small buds no matter what, but these were rocks. i’m going to put clones that i flowered from another tent that gave me some fluff under the PLCs and see if i can tell any difference.
3 Likes
Do you scrog or use training methods? It has always seemed that when you start creating more tops or bud sites, that they get smaller. Genetics and environment going to play a role in this too. Some plants will stack flower sites really close so that once they start swelling they appear to form one. Others will be a little further and easily distinguished as different sites.
If you’re getting good density and weight and like the finished product is an excellent spot to be. You can always make some small tweaks here and there to see if they appeal to you or not.
4 Likes
i’ve been all over the map in terms of training and then getting busy and doing nothing, but i tend to keep my plants smaller so that i can get more strains in less time. i also started reusing my soil and i may have done a few too many runs and my yield has been going down the last few months. the soil has really broken down and become dense. starting fresh this next round and i’ll see if that helps. i’ve also sunk some money into genetics, and i ran those under this new light, so i don’t know if it’s the light or genetics that gave me the marbles- but i’m also finding some of these strains produce less. i like experimenting though so we’ll see how some of my fluffier clones do under this light. the plants also seem to really shoot straight up under the PLC. they were the tallest plants i’ve ever grown. no idea if it was a fluke with the genetics, but i’m definitely curious.
this is a purple punch i ran under an HLG but it was really fluffy. going to run it’s clone under the PLC. this is def the biggest dong i’ve ever grown, not my typical cola.
12 Likes
Looks nice!
1 Like
thanks. quality is amazing. just need to up the volume a bit to make the expense and time worth it. i added a pic after you commented of what i’m going to run next. i’ll have to update my experiment somewhere along the line.
1 Like
I’m not familiar with the strain, but hopefully turns out well!
1 Like
You might want to look at HLG’s QB120 boards. It will cost you less for 8 of them than 8 of the PLC’s
and you don’t need heat sink material. I just finished a 34X34" build with 7 boards (I wish I could have used all 8 boards but already had a driver I could use) With dimmer It runs from 78W to 457W
My light meter does show about 100 umol m’s more in the center verses the corners
These were the 3000K boards. I have UVA lights coming for the open spaces
Also the PLC strips are 301B led’s the HLG uses 301H
14 Likes
thanks. I have no idea how to compare those boards to the strips other than price (would need @dbrn32 to lay down that knowledge), but I have multiple spaces all with different HLG configurations and i’m loving what i see right now out of the PLCs- though some of it is coverage and what you did is great to get things more edge to edge. i’m going to run clones under the PLCs from the moms that I just finished under the HGLs and see if I can discern any differences that i can attribute to the light.
though… the boards in your set up are $100 each aren’t they? those alone are more than my whole set up and I’m splurging a little on my frame.
2 Likes
$25 each, 100 for 4. I was confused too. Then read deep.
3 Likes
And use DUDE promo code for 10% off.
1 Like
It is 4 panels for $99. 4 panels in series can use either a HLG-320H-C2800 or a HLG-240H-C2100
8 panels takes the HLG-480H-C2100. they have other drivers listed for configurations of parallel and parallel/series builds.
The only problem with the QB120’s , is that they are only sold as a 4 pack. My build was with a HLG-480H-C2800 (I got a super deal on it @ about $50) That they show as only able to do 7 boards, so I have 1 extra board
You were looking for a 480W build. That’ s $200 in light panels then some framework to support them. The driver you were going to get. No heat sinks needed.
My frame was made from a satellite dish I built in "81 It had some 1x1 aluminum angle I cut and welded.
If you look close at my frame you can see where it blackened at the welds. I was out of argon and used trimix gas with my mig. Grinder and paint makes me the welder I ain’t… 
3 Likes
this is 100% not my area of expertise, but just looking at the descriptions the only difference seems to be the far reds that are incorporated into the PLCs. from what i’ve read the samsung models are the same thing.
so yep these strips are about $70 more. i have zero tools so i’m going with a frame that i can put together easily and should look pretty sexy… no one will care about that but me. my last one i threw together from angled aluminum and was a little less. unfortunately i’m fresh out of satellite dishes to piece out lol.
3 Likes
There’s nothing wrong with qb 120, but no 660nm as you pointed out. If you want 660nm would need to do something other than qb 120.
2 Likes
and i have no idea what spectrums are responsible for what. i just know the quality i got out of my last run was incredible. the other thing i like with these is i can get the light just about the exact size of my tent without any hot spots, though my tent is 30" deep and the strips are only 23" long so there is some falloff on the long edges- still have to think it’s an improvement over the single row of QBs if they’re oriented running across the the long edge.
here’s the cost breakdown for anyone wondering, prices include shipping:
10 strips : $300
frame and heatsinks and hardware (all extruded aluminum): $192
driver: $150
water proof connector and power cord: $20
= $662
tape and wire add a little but i have some left over from a previous build.
the last light i did for the same space was $100 cheaper with only 8 strips and a smaller driver and a rough looking slotted aluminum frame. i’m not sure if this light will be $100 better but i’m going to give it a shot. going to sell some of my HLGs so this doesn’t hurt that much.
2 Likes
Having 660nm supplement whites is superior by all currently available info. How much is kinda up in the air.
2 Likes
I feel like the light distribution has a lot to do with it too. less chance of taller plants causing shadows and blocking light, less falloff, less angled light missing the far sides of the buds.
don’t get me wrong, still love my HLGs but i’ve found the individual 135s to be very versatile and if i did another build i’d use these if i wanted to build a frame so i could orient them differently than how they come in the kits.
2 Likes
im going to add hlg 30 uva bars 2 my 660s. these lights are awesome, let me tell yall
3 Likes
then instead off my lights been kickass they will be really kickass lol, my buds are going to be massive i carnt wait. i have spent some time in garden under the lights and my hair is even growing back and my arms are getting bigger. ill drop my pants next. are lass will so pleased and less stressed about the cost… what do you think.
1 Like
oh and befor i forget im going to buy 2 hlg 30 uva bars to go with the maxis
1 Like
