Anyone here ever play with strip type or DIY LED lighting for vegetative growth type stuff? Got some basic ideas in my head, figured I'd see what has developed here in the community first.
I use ordinary 100w equivalent screw ins with the diffuser removed. The soft white seems good, using the daylight only bulbs tend to make the plants too short and compact. I have never used strip stuff or other led types. So far I have grown under these lights for 5 or so years, and have not had a single bulb failure. My 4x4 is lit by four separate ~2x2 panels so that I can adjust height independently for different plants. My yields are typically decent, regularly 200 grams or more per plant. Don't get too fussed over efficiency specs, the real differences between lights are pretty small, so spending big bucks chasing small differences is not a great idea IMO. In my case, the inefficiency is almost all a matter of heat, and I need it anyway, so no harm, just cheaper more reliable lights.
IMO, DIY screw ins work well, are cheap and available anywhere, and very nicely, don't suffer from ballast failures or losing the entire assembly over other electrical problems. OTOH, the heat stays in the tent (I need heat anyway since I only do winter grows), and DIY wiring experience is needed. Screw up, and you could burn your house down. OTOH, the needed wiring is simple, so anyone with basic understanding and experience should have no problems.
Good luck with your project.
