LED vs. HPS

[JonnyHempSeed]

Oo, those look nice and bushy.
1st set vegged for about 4 months, 2nd about 2. First set didn't really get aggressive until I added the 120W, though, but that has alot to do with how far away the light stays. About a week after I switched over to 12/12, though, I started seeing easily 1 inch growth per day, and TONNNS of stretching. When I culled the big males from this set, in two days the space freed up from them was gone.
Moneys invested in lights so far is about $800.

Is that BG a bubblegum? If so, that is really crazy, because I've never seen one anywhere near that squat...AND it was underperforming the indica next to it??? Yeah, sounds like that one needed more wattage or a different color mix?

[Be IRIE]

I keep the lights as close as possible and aim for tight stacked plants... I don't see much of a difference except yours are stretchy and light.. They are already falling behind.. a 4 month veg??? and they got how tall? If you moved them to an HPS you would end up with this..

[sfhaze]

Wow IRIEm that's truly amazing. That must of been with flowered with a 600 watt hps, correct?

I have a "superled", which is very similar to the procon100 and the results are at least similar to what I've seen from a 400W hid. You seemed to agree that they were close, at least during veg but I don't get buds that size.

[Be IRIE]

almost 3 weeks under the led, a few weeks under a 400 and the rest under a 600.... She surprised me with the height and weight she put on when I got her under the HPS. It was almost immediate... I could see the changes the day after I switched her...

And yes, they stayed close, I would estimate a week or so behind, but the plants were beautiful. Lush, great color, big leaves, tight lines and they just seemed to be the healthiest veg plants I have grown... Flowering is a whole different story though...

I really do believe that we will be using LED's in the very near future, we just are not there yet...

[JonnyHempSeed]

Dear Irie-

Why don't you try the inverse...vegging in your HPS and then flower under the LED, but double your wattage, and add white to your color spectrum, and see what happens?

We have obviously established that a 90W-100W LED cannot truly compare to their advertised HID equivs, so up the ante a little if you want to see competitive results. I know exploration can be a little more $$, but we aren't going to get where we want to be by sitting back and waiting for other people. My next planned test is watt vs. watt....if people really want to compare, might as well even the playing field a little. 600W HPS vs. 600W LED- Let the games begin!

[Be IRIE]

Sorry bud, I am not spending another 600-1000 bones on LED lights just to come out with the same result. Sure it may be a little better, but not another grand better.. I will wait until they or you get it figured out, then get another one. I have no problem paying for technology, as long as I get what I am paying for. I have bought and tested my LED and given my opinion. Take it or leave it.. My Procyon will be used for veg and veg only. No more LED test for me, I know what I need to know about them for now..

So, with that being said, Peace to you Johnny, and good luck in your LED quest. I really do hope you or someone will figure them out..

You have to be kidding me, you want me to veg under an HPS and then flower under the LED??? Sorry, that makes absolutely no sense to me... You have at it though..

[JonnyHempSeed]

Just sell that huge-ass nug from a few posts up! Hahaha...just playing. Peace to you as well, Irie, and thank you for your contributions~

[sfhaze]

That's cool IRIE,

I pay 35 cents per kwh, so that 600 W HPS that actually draws about 700W would cost me about $90/month to operate vs $10/month for the LED. If power here were cheap I'd agree with you.....

The plants do adapt to the LED, at first the leaves look pink but after awhile they look black. In normal light, it's just a different shade of green. No telling what's happening to the plant really, also there are lots of other pigments besides chlorophyll and maybe something is just missing. Maybe they are getting starved of some particular wavelength, so when you give them the hps they just explode.

I'm getting good results, similar to what I see in a greenhouse, but it's only 5 sq feet.

[sfhaze]

Here are 5 plants being flowered under the superled.



The oldest is a blue cheese on the far left, the others are a few weeks behind. Here is a close-up of the blue cheese.



They were vegged under ccfl, so perhaps if something is missing they stored up some from then. I don't know, but I am happy with the results I'm getting and the low power cost.

[Be IRIE]

Just got an e-mail from Homegrown lights.. They have their new LED line out, up to 600 watts now... They say it competes with a 1000... But that will be a conversation for another day.. I really hope to see a journal with some of the higher wattage LEDs... The 250 looks nice... I was afraid to look at prices, will take a better look at them here soon..

[123ABC]

Originally Posted by Be IRIE

Just got an e-mail from Homegrown lights.. They have their new LED line out, up to 600 watts now... They say it competes with a 1000... But that will be a conversation for another day.. I really hope to see a journal with some of the higher wattage LEDs... The 250 looks nice... I was afraid to look at prices, will take a better look at them here soon..

ProSource has a 700W available. Cant wait to hear how they perform. Surely somebody has a high power LED unit?

[Stix]

Originally Posted by Be IRIE

Just got an e-mail from Homegrown lights.. They have their new LED line out, up to 600 watts now... They say it competes with a 1000... But that will be a conversation for another day.. I really hope to see a journal with some of the higher wattage LEDs... The 250 looks nice... I was afraid to look at prices, will take a better look at them here soon..

Interesting. I've researched a little bit and seen price tags between $1300 - $2300 per light. Pretty high. I hope someone on these forums takes the financial plunge and does a report. I know it won't be me.

[ironrider]

Hello everyone I get my MJ card next week,,I have been working on the grow room for 4 months IM finely done ,,hheee IM going to try LEDS I have 21- 50 watts panels and 2 ufo also i have 16 cfl clamp lights. I have not garden sence 1980 But I did well back then out side,,this time will be all inside, Im going to use coco in half and Hempys in the other half Bat Guano,,sea weed.-Blackstrap Molassas-Cal/Mag/ I cant wait I thank you all for the info I have found here, I have read 6 Books on growing but you guyes have more cool things to learn on here I wiil learn how to post pics in the near future and keep you updated thanks for your time IRONRIDER

[Be IRIE]

Just looked at the prices for the 600's.... Little bit out of my price range.. One of the 600's is on sale for 2,175.00 usually 2,475.00... the other is on sale for 1,775.00.... It looks like the 300 watt are starting to come down in price..

[JonnyHempSeed]

Ok, so, those prices are WAAY too high. These are all just retailers who buy from the same 1 or 2 factories in China-
Most recent prices from Chevy Light Co-
(THESE ARE PRICEs FOR THE MORE EXPENSIVE, MORE EFFECTIVE, WIDE BAND OR 660nm DOMINATED!!)

600W- 1850.00
300W- 1000.00

Also, one of my patients has been using 250W units, two of them, cost him like $550-600/ea, and he is seeing 2-5x the growth rate as me for the same clones started at the same time. I will try to find out what company they are from, they are heavy-duty and very effective, but run a bit hotter and louder than my 120W.

Hope this helps-