Question about Cheap LED Height Above Canopy

Greetings,

I am using an inexpensive Chinese manufactured LED panel. Below are some possibly relevant specs:

  1. Draws 180w
  2. 3 x 5w chip per LED - 100 pieces
  3. Manufacturer claims 634 umol/m2/s @ 18"
  4. Manufacturer claims 516 umol/m2/s @ 24"
  5. For more info it can be found here on amazon:

Amazon.com

Plant Info:

  1. Plant is 16 days old in the pictures provided
  2. Plant is approximately 4" to 4.5" tall in the pictures provided
  3. Current hanging distance is 18" above canopy
  4. Auto OG Kush

This morning the plant is 18 days old, and in the two days since the pics were taken, the plant’s leaves are reaching outward to the sides; and while new growth is coming fast and furious, it seems a bit squat. There is definitely no upward stretching going on at all. In fact, my question is really this: should there be at least a little more upward stretch or is everything proceeding along a pretty normal trajectory?

I posted these photos this weekend in another section of this forum and everyone agreed the plant looked nice, but in that post I didn’t mention anything about my lamp height. I’m starting to wonder if I should raise the light up to the manufacturer’s recommended 24" height.

Thanks in advance for any info or suggestions you can provide. By the way, this forum is the best for new growers like me. I’ve received a ton of help so far.

1 Like

Its at 18"“good” ,wait till flower and drop it to 12"

1 Like

no, the plant should grow as the genetics dictate,
trust me, u r inside under cheap LED lighting, u do NOT want ANY stretching.!

anywhere between the 500 and 630 is good for vegetative growth,

look into better lighting for flower,
your cheap LED will provide mediocre flowering light at best,
a HLG 135w QB V2 kit from GrowersLights .com will cover the same area as your blurple, ~4 sq ft, but the QB will outperform with visible and measurable differences.!!

if u r stuck with your current LED, do like Boardsbird said at the first sign of flowering drop it down, 10-12" above the top/tops, to avoid some of the stretch in flower.!

Thanks for the tips. I definitely plan on upgrading my lighting for my second grow. For this one I’ll likely have to drop the light.

1 Like