FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hey all,

I posted in the welcome section. Just wanted to let everyone know that I have used LED's for a number of years and compared about everyone you can think of to Metal Halide and T5/T8. Hopefully I can be of assistance in that area to the forum.

Thanks

I would love to hear your thoughts on either pre-made or custom assembled LED panels meant to replace T5HO fixtures. I've read a number of experiments people have done with LEDs and carnivorous plants but it never seems like anybody reaches a conclusion as to whether it works as well as flourescent lighting or not.

I personally would be interested in an LED panel with more focused light in order to create more vertical space in a grow area without requiring more power usage and wasted light.

Hello JPowell490,

I'm interested in a panel that will let me grow one or two rows of 6-10 inch cephalotus pots.

Thanks!

Hey nim and Alvin, I will respond to both of your questions tonight when I am on my laptop. Hard to type that much on a phone haha.

Thought I would add a few thoughts in before typing a long post.

Custom LED's are a crap shoot. Most of the cheap chinese panels are just a bunch of Red / Purple LED's thrown together. There is a great saying that fits everything in life, "you get what you pay for". So no, I wouldn't recommend any of those LED's.

Another fact most do not understand about LED lighting. LED's penetrate far deeper and more intense than HID (Metal Halide) or T5/T8/T12 bulbs. So most people get LED's and crank them to 100% and burn up their plants. It is a different kind of burn too.

I use Kessil H380 Spectral Halo II's on all my CP's. You can use the cheaper version, the H150 Purple and get great results as well. The 150s cover a 2ft Radius. The H380 covers a 3ft Radius and is more powerful with true UV.

If you buy LED's that say they have UV, most do not. They are using the 405-450 coloration of LED's that produce the deep purple color, but do not produce true UV. The Kessil's produce true UV just like natural sunlight.

I will post much more and help all I can, so ask away!

Oh and one other thing. With the Kessil, you get all the benefits of natural sunlight with 0 heat. Now think about that for a minute. Takes indoor growing to a whole new level!

No, I don't work for, nor am I sponsored by Kessil. I was one of the first people to use them in a aquatic and horticulture environment so I know a tremendous about about Kessil's and LED lighting. Both the pros and the cons.

3ft radius at what height above the plants?

Up to 36 inches above the plant. Any higher than that, it starts to drop off a bit in PAR

Wow, this is quite interesting. I figured that cheap LEDs would be junk, but I didn't know LEDs had the power to match HID lights.

JPowell490 wrote:Custom LED's are a crap shoot. Most of the cheap chinese panels are just a bunch of Red / Purple LED's thrown together. There is a great saying that fits everything in life, "you get what you pay for". So no, I wouldn't recommend any of those LED's.

When I say custom panels, I mean self-assembled from a kit or an assortment of parts. There are a few websites that will sell kits with a power supply, heatsinks, LEDs, and connecting cables so you can make your own LED strip or panel. The one in particular I remember mostly sells Cree LEDs.

I will definitely take a look at Kessel LEDs, thanks for the information!

On a side note, do you have any suggestions for white LEDs? A lot of us aren't eager to grow under purple light since a large part of why we grow carnivorous plants is to be able to appreciate their appearance and that's hard to do under strongly tinted light.

JPowell490 wrote:The H380 covers a 3ft Radius and is more powerful with true UV.

Just confirming that the H380 will give me 28.28 square feet of grow space (3 ft radius)?

Or is it 7.07 square feet of grow space (3 ft diameter)?

Thanks!

Alvin, Diameter. Radius is actually measured from the centerpoint to the inner edge of coverage. 3 feet Diameter is a little off. It would actually cover around 6-7 feet. Of course the strongest part of that coverage is in the center and starts dropping off after that. So you would want your seedlings on the outside edge of the coverage.

I understand the purple look, I have a few of those pictures myself . Yes, let me find the part number for you when I get home tonight. It is a Cree LED and gives a more natural Metal Halide look.

JPowell490 wrote:I understand the purple look, I have a few of those pictures myself . Yes, let me find the part number for you when I get home tonight. It is a Cree LED and gives a more natural Metal Halide look.

I see that Kessil also makes aquarium lights. These would produce whiter light. Do you have experience using their aquarium lights for CP?

Yes I have used all of the aquarium fixtures. The aquarium fixtures have a tunable spectrum. So if you wanted an 8-10k white spectrum, you could. However, the blue spectrum is vital for corals, so if you dialed it the other way, you would get a spectrum not very conducive of CP growth.

The Kessil H380's have one brightness setting, full power. They have either a "grow" (purple) or "flower" (magenta, looks very white on top of the plant).

The aquarium lights, you can dim or brighten them because corals burn and bleach very easy under too much led power.

Nimbulan,

Actually, Kessil also makes a 6500k light as well that would give you the look you desire. As far as the CREE LED's, that would be the rating you would want to stay with on those as well. If you are building your own, I would definitely a few blue to them as well.