5/1/10

The Best LED for Plant Growth I

The next 5 posts follow my first use of an LED as a stand alone light for plant growth

I have gotten many E-mail's asking what I think about LED's and plant growth. I am very happy to be able to put up the next few posts. I have recently been growing in a grow tent using a Tri band From HTGSupply.com. I am happy because this light was the first experience I had with HTGSupply.com. They approached me to help them design their latest LED with questions about plant pigments and optimal light absorption. We corresponded with many questions and answers about what is the optimal light (wavelengths) that will promote plant growth. They then went and designed and produced the light and now sell it as the Tri band.

I am happy to report that this LED does have what it takes to grow plants from seed to flower. In the next few posts I will show you the pictures to prove it. I can not say the same for all LED. HTGSupply.com has done a lot of research and this is a unique LED that they developed specifically with photosynthesis in mind. Many of you know that unfortunately the easiest to produce LED that emit blue and red colors (to human eyes) are not in the optimal wavelength (color) that most plants need to do photosynthesis. 
Not all LED's are the same!
    Cost is a factor in all purchase and as you may know LED are an energy efficient light source.  This means you will pay less on your electricity bill each month, forever.   Energy efficiency also means there is less heat as a by product.  With less heat, growing in small spaces is easier and you need less electricity and equipment to remove heat.  And, LED's last for years. You should replace an MH bulb yearly and a HPS bulb every 2-3 years or you will have a large loss in light output. An LED will not loose light intensity for thousands more hours than an HPS so it lasts you years longer. Keep that in mind if you are going to grow for a long time.





•The Tri-Band 120 watt LED GROW LIGHT does not require a ballast and simply plugs into any standard household outlet.

The Tri-Band 120 watt LED GROW LIGHT is manufactured using long life LED lights. These lights have a rated life of over 100,000 hours (there are 8,760 hours in a year). That is over a century, which means you grand kids will be using this light to grow with too. You willl buy 33-50 HPS bulbs and 100 MH bulbs in the same time.

•The Tri-Band LEDs are nearly 100% efficient at plant growth! This is 10 times the efficiency of a Sodium or Halide light! This means you will pay less on every electricity bill for ever!

•Less Heat Generated (very little heat, and what little heat it does generate is dissipated by the built-in fans) Drastically reducing your cooling costs (equipment and electricity usaage), saving even more money in the long run.
•Environmentally friendly, no hazardous components like in the bulbs of HPS and MH. Good growers dispose of their bulbs in a proper recycling center.

•Low weight, only 13 pounds.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I used a calculator to check on the expected life of the LED light bulb - 100,000 hours divided by the 8,760 hours in a year and come up with 11.4 years. Linda

. said...

You are correct, and if you use the LED only for flowering, say 12 hours on 12 off you are looking at over 22 years of use...