Buddies (String LEDs)

Download Buddies instructions here

Your Plants’ Best Buddies!

Buddies are the flexible, water-proof answer to side-lighting, under-canopy lighting and supplementary top lighting that will enhance almost any existing grow-light setup.

Designed and made by Australia’s leading horticultural LED designer LED Teknik (based in Melbourne), these tough and handy LED string lights can be mounted almost anywhere with their 3M sticky backs, and are sealed in water-resistant moulded plastic housings.

The individual LEDs use the same Epistar chips found in brand-name LEDs such as Cree, Samsung and Osram, and have special diffuser lenses that provide an almost 180-degree spread of light.

Buddies come in a range of colours for different applications, and can even be wired together to provide full spectrum lighting. They fill the canopy and spectrum gaps that other LEDs can’t reach.

These are individual Buddies strings that require drivers. Buddies Kits and driver recommendations can be found by clicking here.

CRI 95 White (4000K)

This is the alrounder for side-lighting and under-canopy lighting. The high CRI white phosphor LED provides balanced, full spectrum light that can be used throughout the grow and bloom stages. They can even be mounted inside cloning boxes, providing a small amount of warmth inside the cloner that replaces a heat pad. The diffuser lenses mean plants can grow right into these LEDs, suffering only minor spots on leaves that come in contact for long periods. Other close-proximity growth will not be affected.

Specs
20 Buddies per string
2.5m length – 100mm between each LED (1.9m) and 300mm connector wires on each end
24V, 30mA x 20 Buddies = 14.4W
Wired in parallel
Can be matched to 24V constant voltage drivers, as well as constant current drivers
Can be cut to length or wired together with other Buddies of different colours
Recommended for side-lighting, under-canopy lighting, cloning. Works well when blended with PC Red

Phosphor Coated Red (660nm)

These Buddies are suited to side-lighting and under-canopy lighting in flowering rooms where extra Red and Far Red light are needed. The advantage of these LEDS is that the “PC Red” is a broad-spectrum Red that includes 25% Far Red light (700-800nm). While it peaks at 660nm, it also covers lower Red wavelengths from 600-700nm. The PC Red is not as powerful as the hyper-red monochromatic 660nm Buddies (below), which are designed as supplementary top lighting. The diffuser lenses mean plants can grow right into these LEDs, suffering only minor spots on leaves that come in contact for long periods. Other close-proximity growth will not be affected.

Specs
20 Buddies per string
2.5m length – 100mm between each LED (1.9m) and 300mm connector wires on each end
24V, 30mA x 20 Buddies = 14.4W
Wired in parallel
Can be matched to 24V constant voltage drivers, as well as constant current drivers
Can be cut to length or wired together with other Buddies of different colours
Recommended for side-lighting and under-canopy lighting. Works well when blended with 4000K White

Far Red (730nm)

These Far Red Buddies are perfect for adding photosynthetically active Far Red light during growth and bloom, enhancing the “Emerson Effect”, as well as for flowering initiators that stay on for 15-30 minutes before and after each dark period to promote faster flowering. Although they do not look as bright as other LEDs, they produce very powerful Photosynthetic Active Radiation (PAR) that spreads far and wide, and are therefore recommended as supplementary top-lighting and not as side-lighting.

Far Red light has many benefits for plants including:
* Improves photosynthetic efficiency
* Accelerates plant flowering
* Regulates plant nutrient
* Shapes plant morphology
Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214514121001501

Specs
12 Buddies per string
1.7m length – 125mm between each LED (140mm) with one 300mm connector wire (other end terminated)
2V, 350mA x 12 Buddies = 8.4W
Wired in series
Can be matched to 24V constant voltage drivers, as well as constant current drivers
Cannot be cut to length!
Can be wired together with other Buddies of different colours
Recommended for supplementary top lighting during growth and bloom (Emerson Effect) as well as flowering initiators

Deep Red (660nm)

These are the “Big Guns”. Powerful and efficient Deep Red 660nm Buddies that give flowering rooms a serious Red boost! Unlike other Buddies, it is advisable not to look directly at these LEDs, as they produce a very strong light, even with the special diffusers. Due to their strength, they recommended as supplementary top-lighting and not as side-lighting. They are the perfect supplement for cheaper LED grow lights that have minimal amounts of Red light to begin with.

Specs
12 Buddies per string
1.7m length – 125mm between each LED (140mm) with one 300mm connector wire (other end terminated)
2V, 350mA x 12 Buddies = 8.4W
Wired in series
Can be matched to 24V constant voltage drivers, as well as constant current drivers
Cannot be cut to length!
Can be wired together with other Buddies of different colours
Recommended for supplementary top lighting during growth and bloom

Weight	250 g
Dimensions	150 × 100 × 50 mm
Buddies	CRI95 4000K White, Phosphor Coated Red (660nm), Far Red 730nm, Deep Red 660nm