LED or HPS

[Kadinsky]

I can't get clear, planing to setup 1m2 growbox, 9 plants max.
Which light will be best suited for my grow:

1)300W UFO LED from start to finish or with 250W LED will be enough?.

2) CFL or Neon 110W for growth and then 250W HPS for blooming, but 250W HPS won't be enough for 1m2, so shrink box to ~0,8m2 and ~5 - 6 plants max.

400W HPS would be too hash for my electric bill, so it drops out of the list.

If you have any suggestions, please, reply.

 

[MysticMars88]

id use 300w led

 

[Dacob]

300W LED versus 250W HPS??

Easy -- LED.

More watts, for one, and a much better spectrum -- the LEDs will give you a lot more lumens that the plants will actually be able to use.

Heat -- HPS will be much hotter, and if you don't vent that, it'll heat up your space. The LED unit will run cool, not totally cold but much cooler than the HPS.

Lifetime -- LEDs last. 5 years or more, easily, with almost no loss of intensity. With the HPS, you'll be replacing your lamp every 6 months, if you do not, it will not put out the lumens it did when it was brand new.

LEDs work. Read the journals here and do the legwork to figure out how to best use them, and you will be in good shape.

 

[Dacob]

LED= less weed

that's all you really need to know.

hehehhehehehehehehehe....

God I really wish life were so simple as to be able to summarize anything so complex as trying to compare yields from two utterly different lighting systems in a word equasion that is not even in proper english.


Oh well... I tried.

 

[Dankafied]

Just break down and buy a 1000w Switchable and you wont be disappointed!

 

[Dacob]

Well the world would be a very nice place if you could look at the very best examples and apply those to everything across the board. The reality is most LED grows suck, but people point to the few growers who have some success and say "Look! They kick ass." and it's not the lights that kick ass, it's the grower.

I certainly wouldn't point to the dozen of threads where people had their LEDs bust only weeks after pruchase and say, "LEDs only last weeks." Now excuse me, once you can point to somebody who has used their LEDS for 5 years you can say they last that long. Right now you're just repeating a sales pitch.

LEDs do indeed last for 5 years or more. They are solid-state diodes -- no filament.

If you are asking me to show you someone that has been using LEDs continuously for more than 5 years, that is a tall order indeed my friend, as LED technology for indoor growing is pretty new still and has not been available to the average home grower until just the last few years. Effective quad-band and higher technologies, using 1 watt diodes or higher, are even more recent.

LEDs are everywhere, and they work and last. This is just common sense, and I see no reason to waste time arguing about the effectiveness of the technology, or their longevity. There are LEDs in your remote controls, computers, appliances, cars, and businesses all over the world.

I have no doubt that inexpensive, improperly cooled, and ineffective LED panels did indeed fail after only a few weeks of use. Caveat emptor -- latin for let the buyer beware. Reports of failures do not condemn an entire technology -- you might as well assert that the utterly abismal safety record of the Ford Pinto means that all modern automobiles are defective and dangerous.


If you have doubts, please do the research yourself.

I was trying to stay on point and answer the poster's question, which specifically asked about a 250 watt HPS versus a 300 watt LED panel.

I'm failing to see how your comments have succeeded in furthering that goal, but perhaps others will be able to enlighten me, or perhaps even chastise me for my what might appear to some to be a rant, but in fact is, as always, simply an attempt on my part to assist and enlighten others as to the information I've discovered so far.

 

[Kadinsky]

A lot of argue and a lot of to think about.

I know that LED's are cooler, so you can put them closer without burning plans, but with HPS light I'm thinking to take cooltube and then I can put it as close as it's possible to that point when plants don't get harmed.

About price list,
300W LED light cost ~ 480$, but 250W HPS with Cooltube and Sonlight Electronic Ballast cost ~ 232$ + for growth (from seed to that stage I can put plant under HPS to bloom), clones, mothers, I choose different light - NeOn-KIT Megalux 11.000 lumens ~ 120$ and then I'm under LED light price, even if I take NeOn-KIT Megalux 22.000 lumens then the total price would be ~ 436$.

And if I don't take LED, I'm worried, will 250W HPS be OK for 1m2 grow space with 9 blooming plants.

 

[Kadinsky]

How much height?

Box dimensions: 1m L x 1m W x 2m H

3,3'L x 3,3'W x 6,6'H

 

[ledtester]

I can't get clear, planing to setup 1m2 growbox, 9 plants max.
Which light will be best suited for my grow:

1) 300W UFO LED from start to finish or with 250W LED will be enough?.

2) CFL or Neon 110W for growth and then 250W HPS for blooming, but 250W HPS won't be enough for 1m2, so shrink box to ~0,8m2 and ~5 - 6 plants max.

400W HPS would be too hash for my electric bill, so it drops out of the list.

If you have any suggestions, please, reply.

You are going to be super dissapointed with the coverage from those LED panels..they are 18" long at best...good luck fitting 3 plants under them.

 

[ledtester]

A lot of argue and a lot of to think about.

I know that LED's are cooler, so you can put them closer without burning plans, but with HPS light I'm thinking to take cooltube and then I can put it as close as it's possible to that point when plants don't get harmed.

About price list,
300W LED light cost ~ 480$, but 250W HPS with Cooltube and Sonlight Electronic Ballast cost ~ 232$ + for growth (from seed to that stage I can put plant under HPS to bloom), clones, mothers, I choose different light - NeOn-KIT Megalux 11.000 lumens ~ 120$ and then I'm under LED light price, even if I take NeOn-KIT Megalux 22.000 lumens then the total price would be ~ 436$.

And if I don't take LED, I'm worried, will 250W HPS be OK for 1m2 grow space with 9 blooming plants.

LEDs are cooler running but if you have a heat problem they are not going to make your room any cooler...for once I agree with the oriental guy today...LOL...

 

[Kadinsky]

Checking light now for a long time now, and I will throw LED's away, will stick to HPS - it's more cheaper and has more efficiency (prove that I'm wrong)

250W HPS (with cooltube reflector) has "Growing area - 0,9sq meters " so the light will cover all the space, but can it handle 9 plants (1m2 - indica plants 3 + 3 + 3, each pot 12l and diameter of 31cm)?

[edit]

How many plants (Indica) I need to put under 250W HPS to get the best yield?

 

[Bud stankalot]

Of all the flowering LED grows I've seen, they never impressed me. Pretty much any grower that has experience with HPS and then switches to LED is dissatisfied. Maybe I'll look into LED's again in a couple years, but for now I'll stick with my HID lamps.

 

[dogstick]

Well the world would be a very nice place if you could look at the very best examples and apply those to everything across the board. The reality is most LED grows suck, but people point to the few growers who have some success and say "Look! They kick ass." and it's not the lights that kick ass, it's the grower.

I certainly wouldn't point to the dozen of threads where people had their LEDs bust only weeks after pruchase and say, "LEDs only last weeks." Now excuse me, once you can point to somebody who has used their LEDS for 5 years you can say they last that long. Right now you're just repeating a sales pitch.

Yea that is a strange answer but seems correct. It is hard to look at that cause they do work and can save money but results vary. My girl bought some and I was like waste of time, we use them gor germing now but she paid 35 bucks each and they went out in now time, certain rows would burn out, pretty weak but sure they were some cheap ass ones. Never looked into quality ones but sure they work better.

 

[Kadinsky]

So this is my vision now of growbox

Growth box for mothers, clones, from seed

~ 2 x 2', 5 - ~10 plants, >12l pots, 125W FLUO, CFL (6400oK, white)


Growth box for blooming

3 x 3', 5 plants (short - medium), 12l pots, 250W HPS (35000 lumens) with cooltube

 

[Dankafied]

9 plants under a 250w seems un-realistic. (light mover?) i have 9 under a 1000w and i wish i had more light!

 

[Kadinsky]

9 plants under a 250w seems un-realistic. (light mover?) i have 9 under a 1000w and i wish i had more light!

Yeah, I did few math work and I ended to ~5 plants max, and with 12L pots they will fit perfect in 3' x 3' space, which will be fully covered by 250W HPS light.

If you have any other ideas about my grow set's, please post.

What grow method you can recommend for 5 pot in 3 x 3'?
1) SOG
2) SCROG
3) Soil

 

[Dankafied]

SOG or SCROG either will work just fine!

 

[Kadinsky]

Yeah, I'm checking SCROG grows, but which method will give most efficiency - SCROG or Soil (just plant in pots and let them grow)?

 

[Dankafied]

I dont want to lead you in the wrong direction. Im sure someone with expierence in that growing method can help further assist you...sorry man.