Do you happen to have any resources on 730nm diodes? I really haven't red anything on a faster dark cycle so I'd love to learn something. I had just about convinced myself that the EB Gen 3 spectrum as good enough, particularly the 4k, since it happens to be one of their most efficient boards.
Better wait for one of the spectrum vanguard members here to advise Cutter probably has that stuff but it's too occult for me. Digikey sells diodes which come on reels or tape or something and I wouldn't have a clue. I have some 730nm "Cree XP-E" on starboards from Ali, probably the worst thing you could buy. Actually, I wouldn't be against recommending those for 730s because even if you had to run 150 watts of that shit who really cares if it's just 5 minutes. Many people report a positive experience for example 5-8 days shorter flowering time. Its just a nice magic trick. Some people are into saving money on power and this provides another way to do that,, or just a bit faster turnover
Gotcha. Well hopefully one of those guys decides to stop buy.
A shorter flowering period would be great. Some other things I had been seeing suggest that a "phytochrome response" would "put your plants to sleep" faster, enabling a longer lights on period and a shorter lights off period, while still initiating flower, so as to get greater total yields...
Which sounds nice, I guess, but doesn't really seem necessary in high-light/high-co2 environments, since you could provide a DLI of close to 40 or 50 with only 11 hours of lights on and almost seems like it'd be a waste of power (to run 14on/10off for example).
I'll try to find out more about this flower shortening thing. Thanks for the info.
At this point, it's looking like a 4x4 build for a 5x5 area with two 1190mm Gen 3 strips per heatsink. I'm thinking I'll be, running at 1.4 A each, which results in 112w per bar. I think I'll probably do 7 bars per fixture (14 boards total) for 784w (31.36w/sf) to push above the 30w/sf mark, which seems a little low but I keep reminding myself that actual draw will likely account for an additional 5w/sf so I have to add that in when comparing to other products.
If you can spread the strips out and add a few more your results will be better. Bridgelux strips are really cheap but they are on FR4, better to keep them cool for longevity, the extra spread will also help your plants grow better
Thanks for all the help. I'm about ready to pull the trigger on the build. I'll add at least an 8th bar based on your last reply TEKNIK, and run somewhere between 1,000 and 1,200 mA for between 628 and 768 watts. I'll grab an apogee par meter and play with things a bit before I settle on the final plan there. I can probably afford a 9th bar too but I'm not sure the efficiency gains would be worth the additional costs. I'll run the numbers but thanks again for helping me get pointed in the right direction. You've provided exactly what I hoped for.
90cri gen 3 Eb strips are available through Digi-Key, you just have to special order them which comes with a minimum strip count requirement.
That being said it looks like you will easily fill the minimum with the size of build you are looking at.
If you do special order some 3000k 90cri 2’ Strips please contact me, as I’d love to buy 20 or so off of you.
I’d also suggest running 2x 2’ Strips with a 4-6” gap in the center for the most even spread for your 5x5’s. Running the equivalent of 5’ strip(1’ + 4’ or 1’+ 2x2’) will create a slight hot spot in the center of your room assuming you have reflective walls.
90cri gen 3 Eb strips are available through Digi-Key, you just have to special order them which comes with a minimum strip count requirement.
That being said it looks like you will easily fill the minimum with the size of build you are looking at.
If you do special order some 3000k 90cri 2’ Strips please contact me, as I’d love to buy 20 or so off of you.
I’d also suggest running 2x 2’ Strips with a 4-6” gap in the center for the most even spread for your 5x5’s. Running the equivalent of 5’ strip(1’ + 4’ or 1’+ 2x2’) will create a slight hot spot in the center of your room assuming you have reflective walls.
Hey Labgrown, you got a link for those 90 cri strips on Digi-key? I looked and couldn't find them. I did see some on Arrow which I requested a quote for but I'm still waiting to hear back on those.
I ended up settling on doing 4-foot bars though based on the responses that I've gotten here. Six inches short on each side doesn't really seem that crazy once I thought a bit about it. Did you have a differing opinion though? I'd love to get a different perspective.
Cutter probably has that stuff but it's too occult for me. Digikey sells diodes which come on reels or tape or something and I wouldn't have a clue. I have some 730nm "Cree XP-E" on starboards from Ali, probably the worst thing you could buy. Actually, I wouldn't be against recommending those for 730s because even if you had to run 150 watts of that shit who really cares if it's just 5 minutes. Many people report a positive experience for example 5-8 days shorter flowering time. Its just a nice magic trick. Some people are into saving money on power and this provides another way to do that,, or just a bit faster turnover
