Problems? Suggestions? We'd love to hear from you!
Here are some common questions about our grow lights. >What is the spectrum for your grow lights? Plants grow with just the red and blue wavelengths that are absorbed by chlorophyll, but there are a number of additional pigments that also absorb light. These additional pigments can affect various regulatory and nutritional aspects of the plant. It can also affect taste. Our PPF grow lights use lots of red and blue LEDs, but we also include some white LEDs. PPF Grow light Spectrum Under 400nm Ultra-violet - not used 400-450nm Violet - not used 450-500nm Blue - strongly absorbed by chlorophyll 500-550nm Green - reflected by plants 550-600nm Yellow/Orange - some pigments absorb light 600-650nm Red - strongly absorbed by chlorophyll and helper molecules 650-700nm Deep Red - strongly absorbed by chlorophyll Over 700nm Infra-red - not used >I've heard LED grow lights don't really work, what's up with that? Many other LED grow lights work poorly. Early attempts with older technology just didn't have the penetration power needed to grow plants. It didn't stop people from trying to sell them, but they just couldn't live up to people's expectations. Other designs also have issues with some missing wavelengths or with the ratio of the different wavelengths. >I've heard you need at least 300W of LED to flower plants; is the PPF-800 bright enough? You do need a lot of power to flower plants but the PPF-800 can handle it. You will likely be happy with the PPF-800 but if you are trying to replace an existing 1KW HPS or need to cover more area then why not use two PPF-800s? That would still reduce your power bill and also increase your yield. >Can I use the PPF-400 to flower plants? Yes, both lights have the same spectrum and can be used for vegetative growth or flowering. Plants are usually larger and require more space for flowering - the PPF-800 can light a larger space. >My plants seem kind of stubby and they aren't growing tall, is anything wrong? They may have too much light - try raising the fixture higher or if there isn't enough space then turn the control to low. With the PPF-800 you can turn down just the blue and white. >Isn't 660nm very important? The absorption of chlorophyll A in a laboratory peaks at 660nm so many grow lights use a lot of this wavelength. The issue is that the plants also measure the ratio of red to deep red. Both natural sunlight and HPS lights generate a lot more energy at the bright red wavelengths than at the longer wavelength deep reds, but light reflected off of trees or in shade has much more of the longer wavelengths. Plants detect the excess of the longer wavelengths as "low quality light" and they start to stretch trying to find higher quality light. The white LEDs we use are super warm and give off a lot of light in the 650nm to 700nm range, but not too much. Plants see our spectrum as high quality, so even plants that are a long way away from the light still do not stretch abnormally. >What beam angle do you use, isn't a narrow beam better? We use wide beam angles (140 degrees viewing angle). This is much better than narrow beams that might be needed with lower power LEDs. Wide beams spread the light uniformly over the entire growing area - not just a spot directly below the light. With wide beams the light can be a lot closer to the plants and cover more area. A lot of light does go off to the sides, but this ends up being good as long as there is a reflective wall to bring the light back to the lower part of your plants. >Can I use the PPF-800 in a 2ft by 2ft space? We recommend the PPF-400 for that sized space. The smallest space we can recommend for the PPF-800 is 32 by 32 inches because anything smaller results in stunted growth from to much light. The amount of light your plants get is strongly affected by the size of the grow space. If your space is too large, or while your plants are small, then it's great to reduce the size of the space being lighted - perhaps by making some walls out of cardboard covered with silver mylar and moving them close to your plants but don't make it any smaller than 32 by 32 inches for the PPF-800. >Don't you need orange LEDs for flowering? No, our white LEDs give a much more complete solution. >Can I use your grow lights with seedlings? Yes, unlike other LED grow lights the PPF lights provide all the wavelengths needed to grow seedlings. >My plants are on display in my store, will they look weird under your grow lights? No, not really. A small amount of green light is included so the leaves will appear green like normal. >Do I need to use a CCFL light to help the LEDs? No, the white LEDs included with the PPF lights generate light using a phosphor, the same way as a CCFL light and provides the same benefits as adding a CCFL light to some other LED lights that do need it. >Don't you need a fan to keep the light cool? No, Most of our competitors pack the LEDs in tightly and need fans to keep the whole thing cool. We have even seen water cooled solutions. Our design spreads the LEDs out so that they cool naturally and provide a large lighted surface similar to a HID reflector or a skylight. We want the light distributed so the plants can be directly under the light and the fixture can be close to the plants. We also don't want to waste power on fans. Seriously, some models have 8 fans! - If one of the fans fail then the LEDs will likely also fail. The LEDs we use were designed for automotive applications, it's not practical to include a fan in a car's tail light and they need to work in extreme environmental conditions.
All of the components used in our lights were designed for long life, we don't use electrolytic capacitors in our power circuits since they can wear out. Our lights are a good value because of the simple design, not by using low cost components.
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