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New LGM-5 plant light (LED)

I was asked and volunteered to evaluate a new LED plant light. It is the Grow Master LGM-5, the company's newest model.

Well it arrived today, of course the first thing I noticed was the addition of a few yellow LED's and one green LED to each of the 5 clusters (notice in the second pic that the center is white). My spectroscope doesn't like the small concentrated energy source so I will have to modify it a little to get a clear reading of specific wavelengths. Initially it appears to have broad spectral performance in all the desired ranges with *most of the energy in the red and blue portions (*going by number of LED's)

It definitely hurts to look directly at it, listen to the caution notes and don't do it LOL...trust me it will give ya a headache

I'm not sure yet of how exactly I am going to test the performance... the light only arrived today,

but I will keep ya posted

The advertised foot print is 1' by 2' and the recommended distance above the plant is 18"-28"

lightoff.jpg


lighton.jpg


(FYI, the lights were still on in the room when the second pic was taken, my point and click camera tried to correct for the brightness LOL)

this is going to be fun, and thanks to DaveS for asking me to evaluate their newest model, I am deeply honored

Av
 
dude I want to volunteer I will try it on multiple species of plants.
I'd try a flytrap under it if they want me to but I want one thats pretty sweet and I heard led is great for plants.
 
Fantastic. I just wish you'd be able to see the good color your plants should obtain under them! Also, 18-28 inches seems so high...

I'm convinced LED lighting is the future, and it'll only get better. Maybe when I'm out of college they'll be advanced and affordable enough to justify buying a few strips of my own!
 
Whats the wattage of that thing ??

I highly doubt you will be very successful though I am happy to be proved wrong :)

The above comment comes from experience and not thrown out to get a reaction
 
Joel,

I will be the first to admit I am going to be a hard sell, but to be honest initially I'm pretty impressed.

Ive been reading the research data being developed by NASA for use in the international space station.

Basically, in addition to PAR and PUR requirements you want at least 15% blue to prevent intumesecence and encourage a proper stomatal cycle, just a little green to ensure canopy penetration and enough far red for proper structural development (internode spacing, etc) My spectroscopes indicates to me that this light addresses all those concerns... it is apparent to me that someone has done their homework

RGB arrays seems to be the current trend for overall plant growth and health

as far as wattage...Im not sure, Ill verify and post... However I do believe the electrical wattage is extremely low, but at the same time efficiency is obviously extremely high, but again the effective footprint for this light is rather small at 1'x2'

we shall see how it does in a real world applicaton.... honestly, I dont think I would have been asked to evaluate this light if it hasnt already proven itself... but over the next 6 months I will document the results and we will see for ourselves

good or bad, I will post the pics and results

Cheers'
Av




refs:

Kim, H-H, R.M. Wheeler, J.C. Sager, N.C. Yorio, and G.D. Goins. 2005. Lighting emitting diodes as an illumination source for plants: A review of research a Kennedy Space Center. Habitation 10(2):71-78.

Folta, K.M.. L.L. Koss, R. McMorrow, H.H. Kim, J.D. Kenitz, R. Wheeler, and J.C. Sager. 2005. Design and fabrication of adjustable red-green-blue LED light arrays for plant research. BMC Plant Biology 5:17-27.
 
Good luck! I am curious to see how it goes. I dunno how economical it would be for a multiple light setup like I want and with the amount of plants I grow, because the startup of the lights is so high right now. I am interested and look forward to your results.
 
I'll just stick with fluorescents for now.
 
Well all I can say is I was using 32Watts worth of LEDs and got very little growth.The only LED lights I have seen work are those consisting of 100Watts + however I dont plan to fork out $100s for a light that has only been tested by a few people.

Also, ignore any equivalent rating that you may have. This measurement is only used to make people think they are more powerful then they are. Apparently 32watts equaled 150W - 200W worth of halide lighting. If this where the case, my plants would have grown without problem lol.


Good luck and I will await results :)
 
Av8tor1, do you have any idea how the LED's you're testing would stack up against these. I'm wondering specificly about the 225 LED pannel light. How many LED's are in your lamp bar and is there a differance in intensity?
Tom
 
  • #10
Av,

How long have those hot-pink UFO's been landing in your room?? Next time, get more pics of them. ;)
 
  • #11
Thbjr, I counted 38 diodes on the first cluster, so that would be 190 LED's on his bar. Assuming his diodes are as good as that panel's, the panel only offers an extra 35 diodes, or just less than one extra cluster. The panel's diodes are more spread out, so that would seem to me that it would offer move even lighting, but then again those panels are REALLY cheap so that sends up a red flag to me. The L.E.D. UFO looks awesome, but it sure does look expensive!
 
  • #12
Thbjr,

I dont have a clue how they would compare... there would just be too many unknown variables...

Clint, I believe this particular unit retails for the mid $200 range, I have found an ad for it on youtube.. just go to youtube and search for the model number, it brought it right up for me.

Im just as curious as everyone else...spring break is coming up, I will endeavor to decide then on what and how I will run my test, I've got 45+ midterms to give and grade over the next 2 weeks.. so right now my free time is almost non existant... the light is still sitting in on a table in my livingroom

Av

hehehe i thougt it looked like a scene from star trek myself LOL
 
  • #13
Good luck with it B! I understand the various aspects of PAR and the aspect of the LED targeting that range. However, its just not my kind of thing as it leaves the hobby to a more "SCIENTIFIC ARTIFICIAL GROWTH CHAMBER" setting. Part of the satisfaction of this hobby is walking into your grow room or for me turning my head to the right and looking at the plants in FULL SPECTRUM LIGHT :p and being dazed in awe in their beauty. My point is that in a visual sense...it leaves the setting very very unappealing. Basically meaning you need a second set of lights or a table lamp to look at your plants in natural light.
 
  • #14
Av8tor1, do you have any idea how the LED's you're testing would stack up against these. I'm wondering specificly about the 225 LED pannel light. How many LED's are in your lamp bar and is there a differance in intensity?
Tom


Do not buy those panels, those I what I used. Though well made, they are not upto the job at all. I had two of those covering a space of 2ft long and 18inches wide.
 
  • #15
Thbjr,

I just looked at that company's 4 bulb T5 unit, notice that the reflector is just a polished flat panel....(cheap crap in other words)

f616f0ea05ac39172b5381d5bfc9a531.jpg


that alone would make me doubt their quality standards...

careful mate... caveat emptor

Varun, I agree with ya. I think in the long run we will eventually see broad spectrum white LED's being used... but that is a ways off yet, for now I think the big thing would be using a bar like this as a suppliment to fluorescent... but with the green and yellow being used... it may be aesthetically pleasing now, I just dunno yet

Av
 
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