This isn't pick on Joe day bro just can't let misinformation spread too far here. A 120watt UFO does NOT equal a 600w HPS. The pics you posted represent the best results I've seen from LED's so far and honestly those plants are small, the buds are small, and the buds look like they will be a bit fluffy to me. That grow looks like it would compare roughly with a CFL grow. With a 600w HPS you can grow the biggest buds you've seen on this site. The only reason to add light beyond a 600w is to increase the size of the garden itself, not to increase the per plant yield. But why? The answer is simple, with lights it comes down to lumens. Spectrums are important to make sure the light can support the plants life and for telling you how large a portion of those lumens go to the plant but a perfect spectrum is no substitute for raw lumens. LEDs can be made with a spectrum that is almost entirely utilized by the plant as much as 95-96% will be used by the plant. HPS don't have such a perfect spectrum but they have a pretty good spectrum and more like 80% falls within the spectrum that the plant can use. But... 120w of LED MAXES out at about 12,000 lumens (and it could be substantially less depending on the choice of LED used). A 600w HPS is cranking 84,000 lumens. A reflectorized 600w bulb is putting out about 95,000 lumens (mentioned because they are closer to the directional lighting that an LED represents and still cheaper than LEDs). I admit my math is rusty this morning but I'm fairly sure 80% of 95k is substantially more than 96% of 12k. Are LED's more power efficient? Without question. From a power standpoint HPS lighting is only about 60% efficient for plant lighting. So even though 80% of the light they produce goes to the plant, only 60% of the electricity you feed the HPS turns into the light that makes up that 80% the rest is lost to heat and light that isn't useful (which also ultimately turns into heat). Fortunately, all those old horrible efficiency numbers are from magnetic ballasts. If you switch to digital ballasts you get more usable light, less heat output, extend the life of your bulbs and ballast as a consequence. Even without the digital ballast, it takes a longtime to offset the what is it 2 grand needed for LEDs that actually compare with a $200 600w HPS light at the saving against the $20-30 a month it takes to run your light here and that is under FPL which is about the highest price electricity in the lower 48. assit:
Dude, tech keeps changing. Gotta stay current. Even parted with my old Apple IIc and floppy drives. Was tough...had to do it. LED's are going to be seriously considered in the next garden build or upgrade.
LED's have come a long ways. These plants were at around 5 weeks in the pic. I got stoned and just kind of forgot to finish taking pics of the rest of the grow but they have been working for me. I came to these after moving to a much smaller house from what I had before where I had a few 1000w hps lamps running. These lamps have an actual power draw of about 430w or so even though they are 600w leds. (some of it powers the fans etc). The wattage they give is not actual. The panels I run are around $300 USD each or so I believe and the prices are just going down. The thing about the LED grow lights is they have the spectrum over the LED house bulbs or the flood lights. They mix the spectrum to promote plant growth. I definitely don't get the yields I did with HPS in flower. I do however spend roughly 1/2 to 3/4 on the electricity to run a 600w. I will also say after having ran the same cut of master kush a few times, I think they liked the LED spectrum a little better quality wise. The same cut I ran for a few years turned out better than ever and the only thing I changed was my lights. More trich production and the buds are more dense.They don't have the same penetration though, so more smaller plants is also a good idea if you go LED. This can be checked with an inexpensive PAR meter but I could tell by eye immediately. Top, train and keep them short and you will do well. This is something I should have done since the get go but I wanted to see what they were capable of. I wish I had my old comps. It shows a few of my follies with LED and then when I started getting used to it. They seem to increase the need for cal/mag a bit as well so if you step into LED's keep that in mind. for bringing this thread back from the dead. I need to open my eyes lol. I didnt realize my settings were showing me threads from oldest to newest /monthly_2015_11/DSC02022.jpg.15661c556ae1648565fa09bb88c356bf.jpg
