Hey guys,

Been reading up on experimental LED grows for a while now, got me thinking about these damn Xmas LED lights we have these days. I'm talking about the outdoor ultra bright blue ones not the pissy ones for the tree.

So being brave/stoopid i planted a seed i had from my outdoor mix bag(now refrerred to as SS) and two apache F1 seeds in some cheap potting compost i had lying around. The seeds had been soaked for two days in a prop just to get them started. The SS had cracked and the root was on its way but the two apaches hadn't moved but i planted them anyway.


My plan is to try an concentrate the light from the Xmas LEDs onto the seedlings when they appear. I may need to "engineer" a reflector of some sorts to try and direct the light.




I'll get photos up pronto, whats your views on this? I'm not gonna even attempt to flower them on LEDs, I've got other lights for that.



Klown

Hi Klown, I did something similar with stings of leds for me veg box. The growth was pretty comparible to other lights for the first 2 weeks, but then slowed, so now theit under a MH. check out the thread, has some not so great pics but gives an idea

OK so heres day six (today) , i took the pics with a nokia phone and it doen't show how bright and blue the light is.

Day six - plant pics
You can see the two apaches have now popped out too.

...good luck fella!!! Seriously, you're mad - but if it's better than nothing then I wish you really good luck. I may be really wrong, in which case you can take the piss out of me until the end of days, but you'll get so little off of those lights that it's pointless. Maybe ram a few CFLs in there and use those as under-canopy/side lighting instead to try to cope with the low penetration of the CFLs. If you're going to look after a plant or two for 2 months or more, you really want to get some quality and quantity out of it...

GN

Ahhh so expect a kick at week two then? I'll take a peek at your thread soon.

To be honest this isn't a perfect experiment because they have two hours of mid-day sun on my window sill everyday before i put them back in the box. I think theyre lookin pretty good considering. One thing i did notice is a white residue on the compost where i watered (20ml) on day two. I've also noticed some wee tiny tiny flies around when its out on the windows sill. Is this harmless or something i should worry about?



Klown

Hahaa i know i'm mad, my grow buddy thinks so too. I'm not gonna do this for long mate( unless it starts doing an incredible hulk impression) maybe week or two. I've got a couple of lighting and growing options, the amount of grow kit i've just been loaned is incredible. I'm trying to read up as much as possible then I'll probably use this plant a clone mother once I've sexed her and returned her to veg.

Its actually getting very exciting now. Hahaa


Klown

You go dude. Follow your heart. The best lessons often come from our own follies, if we keep an open mind about it.

i will mate, i always do!

Well done on your 8000th post btw , you should get a special profile medal or summat! Haha

TBH I have no doubt you'll do just as well as the people who bought "professional" LED rigs.

Yo ho ho.

i dunno mate some of these pro set ups are using immense LEDs with blinding output.

Heres a wee update on my grow,now on 20hrs Xmas LEDs and 4hrs 20w cfl 2700k mainly because it aint been sunny recently.

You can now clearly see the apache chillis sprouted through now they'll be getting moved soon.