krister wrote:Well, i must say that i was a bit suprised and also a bit sad to hear that,
Would you care to explain in a short way what is the cause that the led lacks the penetrating power vs hid
Is is something about gamma rays or ir rays ?
And also , when you talk about penetration ... does that only benefit when light has to travel through thick leaves to reach the whole plant ?
or does that also let you raise the light higher above the plants
if you have a link to any site that describes the issue , please post it
I've made a number of people (and LED light companies) sad by telling them that most of what you read from manufacturers is hype designed to sell more lights. Some companies are worse than others, of course, but that does seem to be a fact. Of course *what* you grow matters too.
It's the weak diodes for the most part. Even the more powerful 5w diodes just aren't powerful enough to keep up with big HID lights. Spectra has something to do with it too; red and/or blue just isn't enough. IR and UV plays a part in growth cycles too, as well as other visible colors. Gamma probably not unless the plants get mad.
It's more about canopy height and density, I'd say, than leaf thickness.
The more powerful the light the further it CAN be (look how far the Sun is
) but with indoor lighting it's also about heat management and spectra to a degree. With LED lighting, a more powerful 5w diode *can be* further away than a 1w or 3w diode but that doesn't mean you should keep it further away.
The closest link that I have is a comparison grow between 1000w HPS and a SS400w with the powerful 5w diodes and the HID won.
beefxer's mmj grow test - SolarStorm 400w