4’ lm301b light strip build

[FarmerLinus]

Hi I’m trying to build lighting for my microgreen rack. I want to use the lm301b Samsung diodes configured on the 4’ light strip set up. Data sheet for the LT-QB22A linked here.

https://media.digikey.com/pdf/Data%20Sh ... -19-17.pdf

According to LEDgardeners 1ft light strip build post and reference in datasheet... these strips are config 16S x 5P per 4’ strip. I had trouble reading the data sheet on the diode cause I’m unsure which bin and CRI these actually are. But assuming they have similar max as the lm561C... of 200MaH... these strips have a max of 1000MaH. Is that correct? The data sheet says they were tested at 450MaH. I want to use 4 strips per shelf with 4 shelves. If I wire 4 of these strips in parallel and have 4 groups wired in series, can I run these (16 strips) with 1x meanwell HLG-320H-2100B? That would leave me at 525MaH per group of 4x 4foot lights, did I understand this and compute correctly? And will I get decent light output for propagation and microgreens?

[alienfarts687]

Honestly, these are probably overkill for microgreens. I think blue and red LEDs have greater efficiency and will be more than sufficient for what you need.

[FarmerLinus]

Alien farts, what red blues do you suggest? And what do you mean by better efficiency? Is that power draw you’re talking about or photon density? Any help would be appreciated! I was mostly interested in the Samsung diodes due to their quality and length of life. Thanks!

[alienfarts687]

For reds and blues, you could almost go with eBay 5050 or 5630 strips.

It really depends on the light spectrum you need for microgreens. Blue and red LEDs emit more photons per joule, but they don't necessarily provide the best spectrum for all plants. For microgreens, I'm fairly certain the light requirement is very low, although I couldn't give you any numbers. I imagine you'd want a fairly 'cool' spectrum, though.

Another important thing to remember is that you are going to want a waterproof fixture if you are doing any foliar sprays or misting with water. The advantage of flexible LED strips is that they are available in waterproof versions. Otherwise you might want to consider something like the ChilLED fixtures that come with waterproof lenses: https://chilledgrowlights.com/our-produ ... b-lens-h-s

[alienfarts687]

I found this article on supplemental LEDs for microgreens production: 303844671_Light_quality_Growth_and_nutritional_value_of_microgreens_under_indoor_and_greenhouse_conditions

This one actually compares white to red and blue mixes: https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/22/12/21 ... 5HQ1D_BRXL

It's hard to know what's best. I think I've heard that lettuce under white LED tastes better. But who knows? You could do half and half and see what tastes better and/or yields more. Experiment.

[FarmerLinus]

That’s pretty interesting. I checked out those articles and also the lights. I like that they’re water resistant! Do you know what the diode quality is like on these? Am I going to run into dead diodes or need to replace the strips very often? I am trying to make my build as low maintenance as possible. Thanks for the help!

[unkle_psycho]

I spent my time thinking about microgreens and salads, and i think any semi efficient leds would do. There were a bunch of semi efficient 24v flexible strips on alibaba for quite cheap. I think the only problem with these samsung and bridgelux strips is that diodes are too close for microgreens...

Best would be spreading the diodes to about one every 5-10cm so you get even coverage, even if you go pretty close. Then drive them at about 5-10w per square foot. Probably closer to 5 for microgreens. Will be testing next winter.

[FarmerLinus]

Hi unkle_psycho, what do you mean that the LEDs on the bridge Lux strips are too close for the micros? As in too close on the PCB that they’re on or that the power of these things will be too powerful and the microgreens on the shelf will be too close to the light? I currently use a couple of QB288s from horticulture lighting for a propagation shelf. They’re about 18 inches from the canopy. I finish micros under those currently. I wanted a more even lighting solution. I figured using 3 or 4 four foot strips might do the trick. On the same coin I could do 12-16 one foot strips and run them perpendicular to what I was originally thinking for the 4 foot strips. That might be more even lighting. What do you think?

[FarmerLinus]

Update:

Testing out those 5630 led strips. 6000k version. Here’s the build. Used one roll and cut them to about 4 ft and just daisy chained them using some wire and solder. They’re definitely not as bright as the QB288s and the lighting seems super blue. Has anyone used these for Micros before? I’m using the QB288s for propagation on my other micro shelf so since they’re not as bright... I’m keeping the micros pretty close to the strips/light fixture. I’ll keep you guys updated on how it works out.

Farmer Linus

[Timothypaul26]

I am looking to do something similar. I was considering using 2' strips at 5000k covering a 24"x16" tray. I was trying to decide on 2 or 3 strips and running them around 75% 450ma. I have been using the "blurple" lights, but the white lights seem to produce better greens, less rubbery.