LED Grow Light Forum

Hi all, just was currious if anyone here has or is currently growing with LEDs in soil??

I have been trying to research what would be the best setup to use in my soil mix. Currently using Sunshine #4 soil, but I have heard that one of the issues with growing with LED's is making sure your roots recieve enough oxygen. I was considering maybe adding some coco coir in along with the soil. I was doing some reading up on the added effects of coco coir.

The secondary issue would be just how much to add, I have seen some reports of 40% soil 20% coco coir and the remaining 40% a mix of other items.

Personally I have found it pretty hard to find much information about LED soil mix grows, so I am leaning towards just doing the soil and nothing else.

Any thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

Welcome to the forums...

I used to grow in soil, for many years, but now I've switched to hydroponics. Back then we just used whatever we had at hand or we picked up just about anything from a garden center, we didn't give it a lot of thought.

I do use coco coir in my worm bins and the type I use actually retains water quite a bit but it's very fine. If you get the coir that has a lot of fibers or even chips you'll improve the drainage. You will still want to amend it to keep it from getting too compacted. You might look at worm castings instead, worm castings help in several areas, they improve air and water "wicking" to help with water and air intake, they provide some very useful nutrient value, they repel some insects and help some of the beneficial bacterias. I wouldn't grow in soil without it now. Once my worm population gets large enough to support my needs, I may switch back to soil but hydro really is amazing.

Of course the easiest way to improve drainage/aeration in soil is just to add some perlite. 10-20% would be plenty but it's very light so water gently if you use perlite. I don't think the light type affects the soil you'd use that much, if at all. The light selection can affect other environmentals like humidity, ventilation and temps. That said, I still use HID and I'm NOT an LED expert. All of my LED knowledge is from other parties and I can't say from first hand experience one way or another. (I should add that to my sig so I don't have to type disclaimers so often )


Hope that helps...

Thanks I will have to make another trip to the local shop here and check out those castings The Sunshine #4 I am using already has some perlite added to it I believe so that is why I was looking towards other solutions. I think for the first time around I will just have to play around with it about and keep an eye on the conditions of the soil. That way I will have a better idea of what my needs are for my setup.

Sofar I have no issues with pests but some of my green thumbed friends have had issues with bugs and I have seen the type of damage those little buggers can cause, so I am always interested in proactive ways to fend off them.

Thanks for the welcome, seems like a small little community but full of friendly and helpful members. Looking forward to being a part of it.

You can always experiment. Do one container with plain soil, one with added coir, one with added worm castings, one with a combination and see which mix your plants like most and which is easier to maintain.

Do check out the worm castings, you can read about them online too. They have a natural chitin degrader and chitin is the stuff that makes up the exoskeletons of a lot of insects so, in effect, it dissolves the bugs. Of course this is a very SLOW process, so it's not like a can of Raid in speed but it does tend to repel a number of bugs. I like a 1 inch top-layer around my potted plants and I amend my vegetable gardens with a large amount and add a generous top dressing as well. Also check online for worm castings to make sure you don't over-pay at your local shop. If you have a hard time finding a good supply of castings, let us know and I'll see if I can help you find it.

I think most growers would benefit from having their own worm bins, you can feed them a lot of your kitchen scraps and plant trimmings (stems, stalks, leaves, roots, etc) which puts less in the garbage or less to be taken to the dump. They'll even eat newspaper or new/used coir. In return you get a nice product; worm compost or, if you further refine it, worm castings. Worms multiply pretty fast if you have enough to feed them and enough space, you can start with half-a pound of worms in a small-ish container and grow that as big as you want or need. I've, unfortunately, neglected my worm bins more than once and had to restock.

Yeah that is a great Idea I don't know if I will be able to afford it this next cycle do to the fact I have spent roughly $9,000.00 on my new setup, so at this point until my next crop is in I am pinching every penny like scrouge.

I like them worm bin idea too I just highly doubt with all the responsibilities of life I would actually have time to do it, but there are many good reasons you have listed to try and give it a shot. I wonder if I put it in a rubbermaid container in my basement if that would cause any issues?? It is rather cold here in winter so if I left it outside it would surely freeze. Also if I was leaving my trimmings in it I wouldn't want to leave it outside so any passer by could have access to it.

I will forsure start looking into the cost and see if any local suppliers have worm castings here. Seems like everytime I cross off one thing of my to do list, two more pop back on

Thanks for the helpful ideas.

I know people that have small worm bins in their KITCHENS, properly maintained they have little to no smell. A basement would be fine, above freezing is a must.

Worm bin care isn't that hard, I just forgot about mine for way too long, good thing it wasn't a dog. If I hadn't neglected my bins I could have sent you some worms but I have to restock now too and it's not on top of my list either...

Lol yeah I hear ya, its the lazy days we live in the now age. Probally will be less hassel to go and just buy em from the store, I have a trip to take to the shop on friday so I will add it to my list of stuff to buy if they have.

Also another reason is since I was sponsered with the cost of my lights I want to keep all of the enviornment the same for all my girls, that way there is no room to debate if it was the lights itself that produced the results, too I also want to see if the results are what I am expecting as well.

If they are not I will be the first to ship them right back, get my refund and buy some HID's

Yeah, I'm looking forward to updates too...

I will be sending the video directly to the sponser so they can upload the clips to youtube, but once I am all up and running I will do my best to send some pic's and give you guys some updates as things progress. Just recieved my light hangers today, tents should be in next week at the latest.

Heading to bed now but will see you tomorrow SME and everyone else.