Hi,
I am planning the project to make grow lights with the SL-B8R5C9H2AWW / 1AWW modules. I wonder about our modules by growing area.
I have 2 indoor growing areas 4’x4 ‘and one 2’x3’.
I would like to know how many modules should I count per square foot? I would like to find the equivalent of a HPS / MH light of 400 / 600watts in a 4x4 space.
thank you in advance
kkirouac
Hi @KKirouac,
How many LED strips is a loaded question. Are you growing seedlings? Mature plants? Are you using growing lights to get an plant started for eventual transplanting outside or are you aiming to produce a crop from germination to harvest indoors?
The benefit in your equation is that your growing space is limited. The module itself is 24" long and if it were me I would start by prototyping by using one module for every 6 square feet of area. You may be able to increase your efforts by using reflective surfaces to help bounce the lights back to the plants. (In my indoor home garden I used aluminum foil or put the assembly near a mirror) If you find the plants are spindly, try lowering the lights to the seedlings or increasing the number of LED modules.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Lindsay
Ratings for discharge lamps of the sort mentioned appear to fall in the 50K to 100K lumen range; approximate equivalence could be achieved by using a sufficient number of LED emitters to yield a similar aggregate value. Differences in emission patterns and spectral content (lumens are a human-centric unit of measurement, and plants aren’t human…) will influence the matter, but on this basis one would probably be looking at use of 5-10 of the SL-B8Rxxxxx strips to achieve an equivalent effect.
