Is a 70w worth it

[bigfanofpj]

Just for argument's sake....What if someone had an area about 3 feet wide, 1.5 feet deep and about 4 feet high. Previously that person may have been using 138 watts of CFL producing approx 9600 lumens for just one plant currently.

Well, Lowes put a 70 watt HPS security light on sale for $33 (including the bulb)...box says there are 6300 lumens.

So, putting the small HPS, and two CFL's now equals about 9500 lumens - about the same light output for a couple dozen less watts....

Here's the question...will the plant care? Or, did 6 just replace a half dozen? Are all lumens created equal?

 

[noobie97]

Just for argument's sake....What if someone had an area about 3 feet wide, 1.5 feet deep and about 4 feet high. Previously that person may have been using 138 watts of CFL producing approx 9600 lumens for just one plant currently.

Well, Lowes put a 70 watt HPS security light on sale for $33 (including the bulb)...box says there are 6300 lumens.

So, putting the small HPS, and two CFL's now equals about 9500 lumens - about the same light output for a couple dozen less watts....

Here's the question...will the plant care? Or, did 6 just replace a half dozen? Are all lumens created equal?

I would switch out the CFL's for the HPS. The HPS has the red spectrum you need for flowering, as well as penetration. Lumen's are what humans see, par is what plants want.

 

[bigfanofpj]

thanks noobie....I've noticed some serious fattening since putting the HPS on her. Although, it's getting close to the end and maybe that was going to happen anyway. The CFL's are softwhite, so they should be close to the same spectrum, but again, I see a difference after just a few days.

I'm trying to talk my wife into me getting a second one The beautiful thing is that the light hardly generates any heat. I've got the plant about 4-5 inches away, and it's not burning!!

BTW - par?

 

[sfhaze]

hps is far supperior to CFLs; especially during the budding cycle. The red light is just what the plants can use, the other wavelengths generate more heat in the leaf so the plants can't tolerate as much.

That said, during veg you do want some of the blue spectrum since the plants "see" that color. Generally, the more light the better so why not use both? You can use the CFLs to fill in around the sides.

 

[bigfanofpj]

thanks, I am starting to see the superiority even on small scale