E-mail - LED and cuttings I

Hello Doc,
  What is the best LED for cuttings?

Hello,
I have only tested the Tri-band light, specifically the 120 W.
I have not had cuttings under it yet, but I have grown plants from seed to flower so I assume cuttings would work under the Tri Band too. {Dear reader: Please E-mail me or post a comment if you have a good cuttings system that uses LED, with a picture I may be able to get you something from HTGSupply.com}. As I have said in past blog posts, not all LED’s are the same, some do not work very well for growing plants, I know the Tri Band does. Basically, the higher the wattage the more light output so if you have a lot of clones (in a larg area) or big mother plants go for the highest wattage LED you can afford.  I think the 120 W is a good place to start if you have a small set up.
I usually recommend using fluorescent lights with cuttings, and maybe even mother plants. A T-5 light might be a good choice, it may use more electricity, depending on how many bulbs you use, BUT it will have a lot of energy in the form of blue light which promotes vegetative growth. You may have to put the T-5 lights vertical beside a large mother plant, and have them horizontal for cuttings. I don't know if you have a separate area for mother plant and clones. If not you will want to use reflective material to bounce light around since it might be hard to have lights at the right distance from both big mother plants and small cuttings.
 I know a guy that used pieces of wood he made into a square frame to make platforms to keep all the plants at the same height. The smallest plants had three platforms, and as the plants grew, he’d take out a platform until it was just a plant in a 5 gallon container. He sometimes had to tie plants down if they grew too big, but eventually just found hybrid seeds that always grew to the right height.  He then used a light mover and had many plants growing all at the same height over a ten foot area with two 400 HPS.
If you do have big and small plants in one area an LED might be good since it has high light intensity, meaning plants can be further from the light and still get enough energy from the light to grow well. You would want to keep the cuttings a few feet away from any light as big or bigger than the 120 W Tri Band.
If you do go with T-5 make sure you get the bulbs that are blue for vegetative growth  not the red one's which are more for flowering. A T-5 will have a bit more heat than one LED, but it is tried and tested.
I hope this helps, I'd like to hear what LED you use, if you do and how it worked out.
Good Growing,
Dr. E.R. Myers