My DIY LED grow light

[hempfield]

The clones and seedlings I have under 80% reds led panels are feeling great so it may be something to this!

What is the average inter-nodal space of those seedlings ? Maybe they prefer red to elongate the roots ?

Anyway, the stretch is done mostly when the plant is in total darkness, as she grow to reach the light (which supposed to be up above ). If the light source is on the side the plant will stretch horizontally ?

 

[exploziv]

They are about the same as those under a mix of cool white and warm white T8, but they grow much faster. Growing faster they grow the roots faster too.

I veg under 24/24 light so I could not comment on that. Never tried side lighting either.

 

[vukman]

damn! how is it I missed this thread!!!!

Kudos for your hard work vukman!!! impressive luminaire!

I'm subbed for sure!

Doesn't clones tend to stretch much more than plants from seed?? I'm with hempfield, always thought clones benefit from blue dominant light (less stretch)

I'd reserve your HML for the next run, or start a new one if you have the space, plants will grow adapted to them and you'll have a more controlled scenario for the test just in case odd things happen.

Hiya repuk....heheh..np for missing the thread man... you're here now and thank you for coming..

We're having interesting conversations here and hopefully it will continue along these lines as well. I am a firm believer in the Missouri slogan "Show me"......instead of theory and conjecture.

If we stay true to this way of thinking. we'll all have something special to brag about...and yes...everyone is welcome because information is free....

Thank you for your advise as well..the more I think about it, the more I am along the same lines there as well...Hold off until I start a new grow and then run that with the new panel.....

 

[tenthirty]

Do you think is better to keep clones under predominant red light ? I always thought that cool white (blue predominant) light is better for them. Or it depends on the initial size of the cuts ?

In my cloning area, there is a WW and a CW box.
So it is easy for me to compare.

I would not clone under pure red light!
Remember I'm the guy that like broad band white as the base and to shift the spectrum red or blue based on the stage of development.

IMHO, and through observation, a red shift in the first 14 days after the clone is cut, promotes better root growth.
As far as I can tell, the green parts do not start to grow any until we have root set.
In my case this would be about 8 to 12 days.
Once the roots set, I transplant and shift the light blue and veg just long enough for 3 nodes to stack very tightly. ( I hope!!)

Once I've got 3 nodes, the it's time to go to 12/12.
So far at this point, it's starting to look like the NW-WW is good,
but, I think that we could go even bluer here.

At this point in the HML experiment, I could go all CW or NW for the first 4 weeks of 12/12.
At $200.00 a pop, CW panel could be a sum-what costly mistake.

Just think'in....
Other opinions????

 

[vukman]

In my cloning area, there is a WW and a CW box.
So it is easy for me to compare.

I would not clone under pure red light!
Remember I'm the guy that like broad band white as the base and to shift the spectrum red or blue based on the stage of development.

IMHO, and through observation, a red shift in the first 14 days after the clone is cut, promotes better root growth.
As far as I can tell, the green parts do not start to grow any until we have root set.
In my case this would be about 8 to 12 days.
Once the roots set, I transplant and shift the light blue and veg just long enough for 3 nodes to stack very tightly. ( I hope!!)

Once I've got 3 nodes, the it's time to go to 12/12.
So far at this point, it's starting to look like the NW-WW is good,
but, I think that we could go even bluer here.

At this point in the HML experiment, I could go all CW or NW for the first 4 weeks of 12/12.
At $200.00 a pop, CW panel could be a sum-what costly mistake.

Just think'in....
Other opinions????

you could take a page out of my book and try to put in some switches...I know you said you move the plants around but even 1 or 2 switches would help you control more or less red or blue or both or neither.........just a suggestion since you asked

You know what I mean right?? Keep your white on full time and then just add red and/or blue as needed.....The only thing with that is I do not know how much time you have on your hands since it would be a manual thing considering it's a common power source. If you want to put built-in timers and etc..etc..then things get complicated and even more expensive....

Let us know whatever you decide brother...

 

[tenthirty]

Ya, in reality, I need 2 more runs on the existing setup, before making a choice on the 3rd light.

To really throw a spanner in the machine,
I wanted to tune the light, Initially, in my ignorance, I thought that one fixture, one wave form and bam.....grow light.

That should give you some idea of what little I knew.

Now it seems that there are 4 distinct phases of growth and each can be influenced by the wave form presented to the plant in the visible spectrum, plus some more.

In my mind, it seems that instead of tuning the light, (think musician)
we want to play the plant.

switches?????? Hmmm....

By the way, the grow is completely computer controlled (home made/Rub Goldberg), to add a new receiver/switch module is about $20.00 and a code change.

 

[PetFlora]

Good stuff goin on here guys

Been rooting my clones under low watt CW + WW screw bulbs.

The pics are 6 days old. Not perceptible plant growth, but more root grow, which is the prelude


View attachment 193839

View attachment 193840

 

[vukman]

Yeah, I know, I'm an impatient moron...

Yeah, I know, I'm an impatient moron...

Hi Gang:

Well, I know, I'm a moron but I just couldn't resist trying out the new toy...hehehe

I've repaired the DIY HML and just put it back in because I got my laser thermometer........finally so I just had to test it in a working environment.

The panel has been up and running for around and hour to an hour and a half. As with the first time around, I am not using the onboard fans but rather a house fan which is mounted (well, hanging) on the side of the tent. It is on the first setting.

I made several attempts at taking the temperature of the panel and the highest temperature I recorded was 46.3. I snapped a picture of the 44 and 41 C readings.

Here are the pictures and oh...the temperature readings are taking right beside the LEDs on the mounted side.

 

[ahhhavalanche!]

hey vukman-

just found and read your thread a little late (been off IC for a while doing real life, and building my new setup - coming soon

One thing that I encountered with my LEDs which might be causing some of your gremlins is gravity. You built your lampfacing up, but when you flip it to hang above your plants, gravity will be pulling on each and every wire and solder connection.(See "lessons learned" at the end of post #1)

One more thing, when doing your infrared testing, you are probably not getting accurate temperature readings. aluminum has a low emssivity (can be as low as 0.2 for unoxidized), and reflects lots of IR light. So looking at it with an IR thermometer is like looking at a mirror, and seeing the temperature of whatever is reflected from the other side of the room. This is much more problematic and apparent when using an IR camera, but IR thermometers suffer from the same problem. One way to fix this is to put a piece of black electrical tape on the heatsink, and taking the temperature of that. Supposedly Scotch 33 electrical tape has an emssivity of .95 giving you a good reading.

My IR street cred:

 

[vukman]

hey vukman-

just found and read your thread a little late (been off IC for a while doing real life, and building my new setup - coming soon

One thing that I encountered with my LEDs which might be causing some of your gremlins is gravity. You built your lampfacing up, but when you flip it to hang above your plants, gravity will be pulling on each and every wire and solder connection.(See "lessons learned" at the end of post #1)

One more thing, when doing your infrared testing, you are probably not getting accurate temperature readings. aluminum has a low emssivity (can be as low as 0.2 for unoxidized), and reflects lots of IR light. So looking at it with an IR thermometer is like looking at a mirror, and seeing the temperature of whatever is reflected from the other side of the room. This is much more problematic and apparent when using an IR camera, but IR thermometers suffer from the same problem. One way to fix this is to put a piece of black electrical tape on the heatsink, and taking the temperature of that. Supposedly Scotch 33 electrical tape has an emssivity of .95 giving you a good reading.

My IR street cred:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=32578&pictureid=783032View Image

Hiya..first off..welcome back...........Looking forward to seeing more DIY projects and learning as always.

You've got a nice looking collection of toys...err..I mean tools..........

Thank you for the advice about the IR thermometer. The girls are 'sleeping' now but will definitely check that out tomorrow with the electrical tape.

Also, the gremlin issue could be what you mention and the fact that the chips are rather cheap. I do grab each wire with tweezers and give it a little shake to check the weld/solder although you are right in that respect. Anything is possible when electrons start to flow.

Thanks again.......

 

[hempfield]

Hi Gang:

Well, I know, I'm a moron but I just couldn't resist trying out the new toy...hehehe

I've repaired the DIY HML and just put it back in because I got my laser thermometer........finally so I just had to test it in a working environment.

The panel has been up and running for around and hour to an hour and a half. As with the first time around, I am not using the onboard fans but rather a house fan which is mounted (well, hanging) on the side of the tent. It is on the first setting.

I made several attempts at taking the temperature of the panel and the highest temperature I recorded was 46.3. I snapped a picture of the 44 and 41 C readings.

Here are the pictures and oh...the temperature readings are taking right beside the LEDs on the mounted side.

View Image

View Image

View Image

View Image

Perfect !

 

[vukman]

Full flower cycle with DIY HML

Full flower cycle with DIY HML

Hi All:

Just took some pictures of a few of the flowers/buds so you can see what the effects have been with the DIY light being in there for a 'day'. A 'day' in this case is the 12 hour cycle which consists the one part of the 12/12 flower cycle.....

Here are the pictures..:

as always...comments, critique and all else is more than welcome..

Thank you

 

[Arthritis_sucks]

Your plants look a lil too healthy........nice job.

 

[repuk]

gorgeous!

 

[vukman]

awwww...thanks gang...."shucks...........now ya went an gone done made me blush....LOL...

 

[PetFlora]

Plants and photography is/are first rate

 

[vukman]

Plants and photography is/are first rate

Thank you my friend...the only bit of 'altering' which has been done is a little 'auto-colour' adjusting with a "Photoshop' type program...

Camera is a point and shoot Kodak M532..

Very appreciated my friend....thank you again

 

[S-V-K]

Nice plants Mike
May I ask you what are you going to do with purple leaf stems ?
I can get rid of them under DSpectrum bulb but there is no way in hell to get rid of them under LED :-(

 

[hempfield]

Nice plants Mike
May I ask you what are you going to do with purple leaf stems ?
I can get rid of them under DSpectrum bulb but there is no way in hell to get rid of them under LED :-(

@S-V-K: Why would you want to get rid of the beautiful purple color in the stems ? Some strains have a genetic predisposition for showing that color and as long this is not caused by the low temperatures there is nothing wrong about it (or it may be and I didn't notice until now ?)

@Vukman: Your girls turn day by day into precious fecund ladies and is so nice to watch them blooming.

 

[vukman]

@S-V-K: Why would you want to get rid of the beautiful purple color in the stems ? Some strains have a genetic predisposition for showing that color and as long this is not caused by the low temperatures there is nothing wrong about it (or it may be and I didn't notice until now ?)

@Vukman: Your girls turn day by day into precious fecund ladies and is so nice to watch them blooming.

I agree with Hempfield here S-V-K........why would I want to do anything with that beautiful colouring which nature has so wonderfully provided. I know the pictures don't show it but the pistils are starting to take on some colour as well and I really hope they take on some purple and red/s as well...That would make for some beautiful pictures!!!!!!!

Thanks all for the comments...