My experience with LED lighting in my marijuana indoor crop

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LED lighting technology in my indoor marijuana crop
LED lighting technology in my indoor marijuana crop
Alan Martínez Benito
CEO of Pev Grow, expert grower with more than 20 years of experience.
In constant struggle for the regulation of cannabis, mainly in the medicinal field.
22-12-2017 10:30:24 - Updated: 22 December, 2017

 

 

 

Dear Cannalovers!

 

Today I am going to tell you something about my experience with LED lighting technology in my indoor marijuana crop

 

First, to say that I started growing under LED a few years ago, and then, I have been experimenting with different LED models in my growing cabinet, also seeing the technical advances that, little by Little, the commercial brands have been incorporating in their catalogues.

 

 

 

Why did I choose LED lamps?

 

 

Above all, to minimize the costs of the electric bill, being a more ecological way to enlight your crop, mainly because it scarcely dissipates energy in the form of heat, avoiding most water loss by transpiration, and saving on electrical consumption used for the climate conditioning in the indoor crop, which also leads to a great saving in water and fertilizers.

 

By the way, indoor LED growing lamps have evolved a lot in recent years; the first panels were very heavy, had very noisy ventilation systems and employed a lot of watts of consumption.

 

Today, you can buy several types of LED panels at a more than affordable price, although I will tell you about for me are the most useful, and have given me the best results, such as Phytoled GX400 panel with full spectrum for the whole cycle, either for the growth and flowering stage.

 

Specifically with this equipment I had more than enough to obtain a good yield (around 450 grams of dry buds) in a growing cabinet of 1.20 x 1.20 meters, since its power of 265W is equivalent to a 600W HPS. All this stuff starting from a fast flowering marijuana strain such as Northern Light Auto genetic by PEV Bank Seeds.

 

Another less sophisticated form of LED lighting equipment is found in the COB LED panels, which are ideal for single crops, in very small spaces, with not requirements in climate control equipment, irrigation or anti-odour systems.

 

Obviously the yield of gr of dry bud per m2 which can be obtained is not the same as you can achieve with the Phytoled systems, but we can advance you that the yield you may reach with the COB LED panels will be more than satisfactory.

 

Each panel enlights a plant, in this way, you may have absolute control of its lighting, which you can vary, modifying the position of the panel or even the plant. Don’t be afraid to bring the LED closer to the plant, the closer the better, but make sure that the light covers all the plant mass.

 

 

 

Panel LED AGROLITE COB

 

The COB Agrolite Led Agrolite Panels for indoor marijuana plant cultivation

The COB Agrolite Led Agrolite Panels for indoor marijuana plant cultivation

Features:
Led CREE CXB3590 COB 2X100
-Power: 200w adjustable power.
-50/60 Hz
-Spectrum: 3500k
-Recommended growing space: 120x60cm.
Led CREE CXB3590 COB 120
-Power: 72w.
-50/60 Hz
-Spectrum: 3500k
-Recommended growing space: 60x60cm.

More information here
Panel LED AGROLITE COB

 

 

 

Agrolite COB LED panels

 

This 72 W panels are made for crops in growing cabinets 60 x 60 cm: Although we maximize the yield by placing a plant for each grid of LED lights per panel, and with only about 72 w per plant, you will get precious buds full of trichomes. You may increase the number of plants under this 72W panel grid, but you’ll be diluting the lumens as the plants grow in height and plant mass.

 

AK 47 Autoflowering by PEV Bank Seeds, with lots of resin and very hard buds.
AK 47 Autoflowering by PEV Bank Seeds, with lots of resin and very hard buds.

 

Experience makes you reach a higher background, and I can tell you that by growing with LED lamps, I have noticed that the perfect growing pot is Texpot (made of fabric material), since LED lamps do not raise the temperature almost nothing is much better to use pots that may diffuse more easily the humidity obtained in each irrigation.

 

In addition, using texpot growing pots, makes the roots may be oxygenated more efficiently due to the porous tissue that this kind of growing pot provides, allowing a straight and proportionate growth of the roots, promoting also a complete, strong and vigorous plant development.

 

 In texpot growing pots, the roots are perfectly oxygenated.
In texpot growing pots, the roots are perfectly oxygenated.

 

If you grow using LED lighting in winter, as these lamps don’t give off heat, maybe you should raise the temperature of your growing cabinet a bit, to do that, I used a couple of heating cables, and I solved the problema, but if you need to increase the temperature even further, you can always put a heater or an air-conditioning stuff if you prefer working in a more professional way..

 

 

What about the yield?

 

I’ve always used a few watts LED lighting lamps but of good quality, and many times I’ve overpassed the gram per watt yield, especially with a sativa marijuana strain like Purple Haze, which I would never have imagined it could be grown indoors, with LED lamps.

 

Purple Haze cultivated with LED COB panels
Purple Haze cultivated with LED COB panels

 

If we tell you something about fertilizer consumption..….. Many growers are afraid that because LED lamps emit little heat, watering is not required as often, so there are fewer options to feed the plants.

 

I believe that it should only be fertilized only when is necessary, that is, when the plant does not have enough nutrients in the substrate; if we grow our plants under LED lights do not worry about the frequency of feeding your little girls, my own experience is that you do not need to use too much fertilizer, in fact, the taste of your weed will be more delicious, even though we have not used too many nutrients.

 

Another issue is, how many more weeks of flowering do we need if we grow under LED lamps? The answer is 1 or 2 more weeks, but honestly it’s worth waiting. Looking at the final results (hard, heavy and compact buds full of the highest quality resin), taking into account the saving of light, fertilizers, and the low probability that a pest may destroy the crop, I don’t think it admits much discussion

 

You won’t have any problems with the burns on the leaves due to be too close to the LED panel – I’ve had plants with apical tips in direct contact with the COB LED panel and nothing happened – I think growing under LED is a great idea.

 

An example of growing under single LED light bulbs, in an homemade indoor hidden in a corner of my home:

 

 

Growing marijuana under single LED bulbs.
Growing marijuana under single LED bulbs.

 

 

And talking about resin, here we have a Somango (Soma Seeds) cultivated under LED lamps:

 

 

Somango cultivated under LED lamps
Somango cultivated under LED lamps

 

 

 

In PEV Grow we are always at the forefront in the best equipment for your indoor marijuana growing, so we do not want you to be left with the doubt in your choice of lighting stuff, and of course, our technical team will serve you in the best possible way, whether in your choice of LED lamps as the driving power for the development of your plants or in any other type of lighting technology you intend to set up.

 

Do not hesitate to share your LED marijuana growing experiences with us.

See you in the next post?

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  1. Avatar for Grower69

    What is the yielt, with the Q60 Growbox and this 72w COB LED?

    • Avatar for Alan Martinez

      Hello,
      I would put 3 pots of 11 liters in that space being able to harvest about 100 grams with that LED lamp.
      Greetings.