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LED lighting

Anybody know anything about the Mudder E27 120 LED white 360degree corncob light bulb? I ordered one not long ago (it hasn't arrived yet) and I'm hoping it'll make it so I don't have to remove the hood from my terrarium to place this T-8 wall lamp over the plants.
 
I visited a local shop and saw this fixture. Neosol LS 50.
and another one by BML horticulture. Their literature sounds convincing in a way, however they say the common measures watts, lumens, etc. are poor determinants of how a fixture will perform. Most searches for vendors just rehash the makers info, and reviews are rare to non existent. I don't have the wherewithall to build from scratch so am looking at some already made. They mostly say beware the cheap Chinese made stuff and/or something similar. Wether a valid issue or not, if something is less good but adequate and one fifth the cost...do they simply make something more costly so it will cost more?:) it seems the more I look, the more I read, the more confused I get about led lights. A bit more intangible, is it better to get one for $100 and replace it each year for three years, or get one for $300 that lasts three years? But of course you don't know those things for sure going in, either.
 
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The reason most say to be careful of untested stuff is simply some of them are junk....I mean real junk. Completely useless junk. LEDs are not like T12/T8/T5/CFLs the difference between the bad ones and the ok/good ones is massive.

A personal example...we purchased two http://current-usa.com/aquarium-led-lights/satellite-led-fixtures/satellite-freshwater-led-plus/ for an aquarium and they are working wonderfully for the intended design. Great aquatic plant growth and we are completely happy with them in the intended use. So with me being as I am, I stole one of the fixtures to test out with some Ceph seedlings and the results are VERY disappointing. Over twice the cost of the simple DIY kits I've been using, with 10 times the LEDs and no where near the light output. Again, we are perfectly happy with the fixture on the aquarium for which it was designed, but it simply does not have the output of the DIY kits I've been using.

This is why so many people don't want to recommend anything, its newish technology and the results can be all over the place.
 
I actually have an old hood without the light fixture in there anymore. I bought some LEDs to create a light panel, but I don't really know the next thing about doing this yourself. I need a power-source, and I've got a soldering iron, and I DO know how to solder. Any tips? I've got a LOT of LEDs in red, green and blue.
 
Makes sense. The two I cited are I believe US made and aimed at terrestrial not aquatic plants. They are also quite pricey, and only the upper tier of stuff has timers or intensity/output controls, or a way to hook those up barring a plug in type. The Neosol has the drive/motor as part of the bar and uses no fan or fans. They say not "overdriving" the led's makes them last longer. The other company may make a similar claim, and at the higher end has many different color leds you can specify. I think they are both aimed at commercial large operations and universities, and decided to make a hobbyist rig or two. Here is a pic of the first one. http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=...ershouse.com/neosol-50w-led-plant-grow-lightI saw it at a hydroponics store locally. Don't know why I did not ask to see it plugged in. I did see the BML one in operation. At the front of the store, they had an aquaponics setup. With a very large multibar fixture above the plants and fish below. Can't say I was that impressed. Not my cup of tea, I guess.
 
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  • #11
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MXTWOIM

I was planning on going with the same route RSS took but I decided why not test out some more lights and ended up getting the one above. The reviews seem to suggest good results, and at half the price of the DIY kit and roughly 2x the coverage (2' x 2' supposedly), it would be great if it worked as intended.

Right now I'm planning on pulling some of my sarrs out of dormancy early or rescue a sarr from a nursery to test the light out, if it colors up and grows well I would assume it's working well.

I'll be making a thread when I start the testing, I think LED lights are an exciting advance in artificial lighting.
 
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  • #12
Just a warning...with the red/blue lights you CAN NOT see how healthy/unhealthy your plants are :) I have a small area with R/B to test and they are growing fine but I can not just walk past them and see what they need.

For someone looking to grow in a smaller space they are a huge advancement, and the power saving are amazing.

The more reviews we get out the better imo.
 
  • #13
Just a warning...with the red/blue lights you CAN NOT see how healthy/unhealthy your plants are :) I have a small area with R/B to test and they are growing fine but I can not just walk past them and see what they need.

For someone looking to grow in a smaller space they are a huge advancement, and the power saving are amazing.

The more reviews we get out the better imo.
Yeah, I've seen pictures I would probably inspect my plants when the light is not running, because from what I understand it's not good to look at the purple light generated by these LEDs.

Assuming all goes well I will probably be investing in another brand down the line just to compare, but that's a bit in the future.
 
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  • #14
SSS, I also purchased this item. I'm intending on testing it out, as soon as it gets here from China.
 
  • #15
SSS, I also purchased this item. I'm intending on testing it out, as soon as it gets here from China.

How many lumens does that fixture have? I can't seem to find the info.
 
  • #17
How many lumens does that fixture have? I can't seem to find the info.

Not sure but it might not be listed because if I recall correctly lumens is not actually relevant to how good a light is for a plant. I think it was something like lumens is the brightness of all 3 colors of light together so technically a light with all 3 base colors could have more lumens but less red/blue light (the colors plants need) than a LED

I might be completely wrong here somebody correct me if I am.
 
  • #18
Random info on lumens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumen_(unit).

Basically a measurement of visible light, so R/B spectrums will not read very high on this scale while at the same time may be very bright as far as your plants are concerned. Lumen readings are great when your looking for a replacement light bulb for your kitchen, not so useful when talking about plants.

Once you introduce plants your really need to start looking at the lighting spectrum charts.
 
  • #19
i was looking at something like this to add a bit of color to mine. Only have a 12x8x8 inch tank (fits 2 small Nepenthes in 3" and 4" pots and 1 pot of sarr seedlings currently in 3" pots). Not sure if something has tried this particular one but figured for $30 the cost-risk isnt much.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GNWK2XO...lid=2AON3PZGNIL9O&coliid=I2CLS19A7XROZV&psc=1

I have one of these as a supplemental light. I have it shining on one end of the grow rack to the other so it shines through the plants and most of them get a bit extra light. The young vfts and sarrs which are closest to the light seem to be enjoying it and seem to be increasing in growth speed and color. I've only had the light for 2 weeks though so it is a bit early to say. The bulb is extremely well constructed and feels like it should last a long time. It also runs very cool, doesn't seem to heat up at all. It is blindingly bright, much brighter than a 100 watt equivalent flourescent flood lamp. I'm not sure I'd use it as a sole source of light but as a supplement to flourescents it seems good. Doesn't noticeabley change the overall color of the lighting either.
 
  • #20
Not sure but it might not be listed because if I recall correctly lumens is not actually relevant to how good a light is for a plant. I think it was something like lumens is the brightness of all 3 colors of light together so technically a light with all 3 base colors could have more lumens but less red/blue light (the colors plants need) than a LED

I might be completely wrong here somebody correct me if I am.
It sounds like your'e correct.
Random info on lumens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumen_(unit).

Basically a measurement of visible light, so R/B spectrums will not read very high on this scale while at the same time may be very bright as far as your plants are concerned. Lumen readings are great when your looking for a replacement light bulb for your kitchen, not so useful when talking about plants.

Once you introduce plants your really need to start looking at the lighting spectrum charts.
Nice, thanks for the info Randall. Can you use lumens to compare power, in 2 fixtures with the same spectrum, and have it be a solid piece of data?
 
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