HPS vs CFL - Yes I Want To Debate This Endless Topic! :)

indica vet

indica vet

Well-Known Member
so after a few years off the growing scene,i managed to "convince" my partner to let "us" set up a small scale stealth cabinet.
she smokes just as much as i do but has stresses of family popping in and busting us (which would just make our mellow lives crappy)
so she first allowed the creation of a "fun" little pc case setup but it dawned on her that there would be extremly little return for your$$$
so she upgraded me to a stealth cabinet of smallish size.
now heres the painful compromise..... no hid,hps lamps :( :( :(
with my hopes quickly getting squashed of having that bumper crop that makes your mouth water at the sight of it,i proceded to cram as much info on cfl lighting as possible.
now after months of reading and watching others do it, some with awesome results others not so,i have completed my (groan)cfl stealth cab and have three littlies cruising along nicely.
my plan is to put my 16 plus years of experience and a butt load of time into topping,fimming and supercropping these bad girls under 2x 130w growlush cfl lamps (1 2700k,1 6400k) to try and acheive the same result as i would with hps.
am i pissing in the wind?
well thats what i want to debate!
so come along hps,mh led and cfl growers alike , i want to hear your opinion:cheer::thumb:
if i dont pull it off ,whilst this grow is in motion i will try my hardest to get the boss to allow a hps setup in future heh heh
i will set up a grow journal over next few days so peeps can tag along for the journey :)
 
In technical terms, CFLs are about 8% (give or take depending on bulb brands and such) less efficient than HPS. 260 watts of CFL will put out more heat and less light than HPS would. The math for it is rather easy. If a bulb is 26% efficient and has an input power of 130 watts.. it is putting out 33.8 watts of light and 96.2 watts of heat. If that were an HPS at 32% it would be 41.6 watts of light. That's nearly 20% more light from the same input and only a 6% efficiency increase. Then you have LEDs which are generally ~40% efficient with the newer diodes closing in on 55% efficiency. I know some people haven't joined us in this decade but LEDs do grow very nice buds and the prices are getting much more reasonable.

What are the dimensions of your grow area?
 
got a question guys,
im looking at adding a grow journal to this site but am fearful that it could be used against me by my countries dim view on cultivation.
how safe is adding and maintaining a grow journal?
is my account tracable by the powers that be in my country?
 
nice info indica vet,:goodjob: my 2 cents,there is no comparison to HPS?HID bulbs, not cfl, not LED, not t5, etc.

What I can say too, is that the HID bulbs suck much more power.

I have had great results with both HPS & CFL, the later just does not grow plants as fast.:peace:
 
trichomes said:
nice info indica vet,:goodjob: my 2 cents,there is no comparison to HPS?HID bulbs, not cfl, not LED, not t5, etc.

What I can say too, is that the HID bulbs suck much more power.

I have had great results with both HPS & CFL, the later just does not grow plants as fast.:peace:
Click to expand...

yeah i love HPS lamps ,its where my experience lies.
the HO cfl lamps i have are outputting 18000 lumen between them and yes veg was painfully slow in comparison to HPS
but flower has been speedy and no shortage of good thick buds, SCROG and supercropping have been applied and i think result will be good .
the Mrs allowed me to purchase grow tent and 600w HPS/MH combo lamp,gonna get my DWC on and plant some DANK INDIES in there :blunt:
 
Vet. I have also convinced my better half to finally let me grow, with the promise of high cbd. I'm currently cleaning out the closet and hope to embark on my journey in the next month.

My closet is 3ft deep, 5ft wide and about 7ft tall. My plan is for two plants. Some sort of hydro (wife said no dirt, hates bugs lol). I plan on Scrog.
My questions to you......
Tell me exactly what to buy at Lowes/Home Depot. I am mainly talking about lights. I can figure out all the hydro set up (probably a rdwc) and the air flow and the other things, it's just the lights that are confusing. Please tell me what to write on my shopping list :)....... Thanks in advance!
 
Colesdad said:
Vet. I have also convinced my better half to finally let me grow, with the promise of high cbd. I'm currently cleaning out the closet and hope to embark on my journey in the next month.

My closet is 3ft deep, 5ft wide and about 7ft tall. My plan is for two plants. Some sort of hydro (wife said no dirt, hates bugs lol). I plan on Scrog.
My questions to you......
Tell me exactly what to buy at Lowes/Home Depot. I am mainly talking about lights. I can figure out all the hydro set up (probably a rdwc) and the air flow and the other things, it's just the lights that are confusing. Please tell me what to write on my shopping list :)....... Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

im glad to assist you my friend.... the best lights you can prob get at your local home depot are household cfl globes in 6500k spectrum for veg period and 2700k spectrum for flower though you would be best to be prepared to hang a "FEW" globes in that size grow space
maybe half the grow space into a veg space and a flower space . the key to producing good quality nugs is in good light intensity and penetration to the lower parts of the plant.
a more confined grow space with cfl lights allows better light intensity/penetration :)
 
Hey vet, thanks for the answers about the cfl. I wanted to keep the space for an entire cycle, veg all the way through harvest. I had given A LITTLE thought to hps, but heat worries me. I already have thought it through enough to plan my exhaust through the ceiling, through the attic and out the the port hole to outside.
So I decided either clf or led was the way I was going to go. I wanted to keep my budget very lo, however, I am willing to invest in an led. But, to a newbie, I almost just throw me hands up and give up when it comes to led research, it's just so freaking overwhelming!
For an led, I could spend around $300,but I'm hesitant to pull the trigger.
That being said..... If you tell me which one to buy, I will drop some coin and just bite the bullet. I was thinking of having a plant on each side of the reservoir, however, this would give me a large space between plants, thus needing a have a large led, or two smaller ones to place over each plant. Or, have plants side by side (reservoir on left or right) with a larger led over both.
Damn, see how overwhelmed I am about lights! Lighting is the most important, but so damn frustrating!
What would you do to take advantage of the space I hav?
 
word on the street is out, I am seeing some "pros" admitting that LED has finally caught up with HID bulbs, I'm not 100% sold , yet.
 
sent you a message colesdad, that is a good share you posted :goodjob:
 

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