WesDoobner
New Member
I was wondering if you can put LED bulbs in fixtures (maybe like the 18 watt cree bulbs), such a shop lamps, and grow cannabis well like you can with CFL's? I grow in a 3x6 closet, and I use about 3x2 of that for actual growing space, with a portable air conditioner hooked up in the other half (vented to the attic thru a hole in the closet roof). I used to use CFL's, starting with a few when the plant was small, then adding as it grew. Usually by harvest I would have around 40 CFL 26 watt bulbs going, all around the plant like a christmas tree. That worked great as far as plant and bud growth, but was pretty inconvenient, so I bought an HGT supply 400 watt HPS light. I still supplement with 8-10 CFL's also, but I'm not getting as good results now. The plants stretch up into the light until they are so close they burn, and the buds are not as good. I figure I need to go back to multiple lights up close to the plant, but was thinking LED's might be the way to go.....
So, can I use standard LED light bulbs in my shop lamp fixtures with good results? If so, do I need floods, narrow floods, regular bulbs? Or is this a waste and should I just get some purpose made LED growlights like a G8LED 450 watt setup? I do plan on still supplementing with at least a few CFL's to help keep the temp up, with the AC in there, even set to 86 degrees, it gets cold very easy. Of course right now, if the AC stops running the temp goes up to 120. I try to maintain my temps at 85-90 at all times, so I hate that. The HPS seems like a little too much heat and trouble for the results, especially since it takes up so much space. Any thoughts?
So, can I use standard LED light bulbs in my shop lamp fixtures with good results? If so, do I need floods, narrow floods, regular bulbs? Or is this a waste and should I just get some purpose made LED growlights like a G8LED 450 watt setup? I do plan on still supplementing with at least a few CFL's to help keep the temp up, with the AC in there, even set to 86 degrees, it gets cold very easy. Of course right now, if the AC stops running the temp goes up to 120. I try to maintain my temps at 85-90 at all times, so I hate that. The HPS seems like a little too much heat and trouble for the results, especially since it takes up so much space. Any thoughts?
