HPS 400w vs LED 320w during flower time

Fenderbender said:
I mean it is a serious price jump for a 5x5' but then you ensure real full surface area coverage and your system will be super efficient you can even get away with running at less power than the equivalent light for a 4x4', or you could also choose to operate it from a lot further away by using the extra juice and increasing the distance.
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this is precisely what i do. the only difference is when i built rigs, they were custom sized to the space to stuff as much as could be done, and the grower used active dimming.

anyone can do the same thing with a good quality commercial rig now, as long as it has dimming. you'll never run the rig full, or draw the max, leading to lower bills. i've found that's where the difference in cost savings are.
if you get a good brand the newer tech can do more with less wattage than what i'm presently running as well.

for a simple physical size i look for a rig that leaves about 2 - 4 inches perimeter between the light and the tent or grow space wall.

the plants have nowhere to hide lol. :p
 
Ok now Ive had some down time as my wife very sick with a terminal cancer so brain otherwise occupied of course and I been running on the run so to speak n trial and error lights n stuff while on the go it's been keeping me occupied and distracted when needed but also hard to think clearly...
This light head ache I'd fix in this way .. in my 4x4 tent
1 I use Phlizon 320w for early veg
2 late veg early flower 2 X xs 2000
3 early flower 2 X xs2000
Mid to late flower A - all 3 LEDs or B - and preferably a 600w hps for 8 hours alongside 2 x xs200 for 4 hours, not together but one then the others, so hps 8 led 4... Best of both, Fully hybrid system.. I've used led along side hps before and was by far the best grow ever so I think that and CMH UV at the end should give the best overall possible results. Obviously the summer grow will be restricted and least veg time ect just pump something out but the cooler times should be a really good result using this method of 3 different light source, the best of everything all together to create the best product😎
4 CMH UV Finisher last 2 weeks so week 9 and 10 of flower.
Now summer grow because it's required to continue the cycle I'll use my 400 mh/hps because this is by far the coolest running set up running in a cool tube with a powerful centrifugal fan.
This is my final thoughts on this light bullshit and I think it's the way to go, fully adjustable and hybrid system can't go wrong either way here.👍👍😎
 
Ok yo cannot fit 3 led in there 😂

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So that's 560w of led yeh that the most I can get in there, but once my new cool tube comes I'll put the 2 xs 2000 on either side of my 600 hps... Ohh yeh now we talking I've done with a 400w and 2 X sp150s and that was my best grow ever so this will be even better... 😂🥸😜😎
 
Hybrid lights system Hps and led for flower.. best of both worlds
Yes I swear by this way it's by far the best grow method in my experience and opinion... Now on reflection and from every angle I can see this, it allways going to provide the best results using hybrid systems, the better the stuff the better results, using a hps as a base and with the penatration and pure strength of these things nothing else can easily match. Using a cool tube and decent fan they run reasonably cool, led supplements give you the extra stuff they need but just a few hours. I use led at the start of the cycle then switch to hps, thease lights are guaranteed to reach everything far and wide and deep, the light power they make is like no led so allways enough to grow even in the corners and down, in my opinion you cannot beat HPS's bang for buck and more... I remember my best grow was 400w hps and 2x sp150s These where the fastest buds ever and the weight from that grow was unreal, now with the more powerful system and proper hydroponics it should grow a bumper crop, plus the CMH UV Finisher will make them punch out some serious essential oils... Mmmm
For me in this environment with this set up it will provide the greatest bulk weight and quality, combining light systems will provide the best outcome overall and end results.
 
Don't burn the plants with all that power.

I think if you learn to grow a bit with the LEDs you won't be missing HPS.
Yes a cooltube is cool as you can get in a bit closer with the bulb but with LED you can get even closer and dial in a uniform energy flux all over the area.
For HPS the best reflector I found was that large wing thing, as that with a high power bulb from a distance did flood the room nicely but still you're pissing away a lot of watts. And you have to run exhausts and fans non stop.

Initial cost... HPS can't be beat.. running cost LED wins large and it takes years before you need to replace them versus bulbs where you sometimes get that grow where the bulb spectrum isn't quite right anymore after just a couple grows.

Although I do believe that combining can indeed lead to interesting results.. as Indeed flavour wise Sunlight, HPS, LED they do produce different results and indeed adding UV is interesting.

good luck!
 
Cheers yes I run them before at 8 hours hps and 4 hours led on the old system so they never ran together, in my tent it has independent cooling system to the hps fan and ducting, the hps is allways pumping a 75w centrifugal fan it's totally independent to the grow room and that runs on a thermostat with 2 large and very powerful centrifugal fans, they cool down the tent in a few minutes or less if cold. The system on a 400w hps run at 3c above ambient intake temperature, the 2 led will run hotter with no extractable heat eg ducted other than heating up the grow space, that's how I cool if running led, hps or CMH it just trips the thermostat and the fans kick in. With the hps on the seperate system it's the coolest running set up by far I'm not sure how much hotter the 600 will run but I'm pretty sure be less than the CMH which run at 7c above intake temperature so all good I think. I've worked out the power different between say 500w of led that's really required to grow descent bud, and a 600w hps is about 200w per hour max with a mag ballast and 75w cooling fan.. now in my opinion running this only 8 hours a day and then 2 led 4 hours should provide better product than just a 500w led alone.. 🤔
 
Scottxb73 said:
Should go deeper and give more bulk I think this way
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Yeah but the deeper thing is kinda not really applicable if you grow wall to wall.. as as soon as that top canopy is full that blocks most light from going deeper as go ahead measure how many pars or lux is available under a leaf.. and you don't have any space at the sides for light to reflect of the wall and bounce into the canopy sideways so there's little chance for it to go really deeper.
And there's people growing full branches under LED so it can be done it requires enough power per square foot and vegging and stacking the plant well.
Hydrophonics will indeed also blow up the plant more from the base up and provide fuller nugs down the plant.
 
Fenderbender said:
Yeah but the deeper thing is kinda not really applicable if you grow wall to wall.. as as soon as that top canopy is full that blocks most light from going deeper as go ahead measure how many pars or lux is available under a leaf.. and you don't have any space at the sides for light to reflect of the wall and bounce into the canopy sideways so there's little chance for it to go really deeper.
And there's people growing full branches under LED so it can be done it requires enough power per square foot and vegging and stacking the plant well.
Hydrophonics will indeed also blow up the plant more from the base up and provide fuller nugs down the plant.
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Yeh I guess SCROG is perfect for led then
 
Update... I have found Phlizon 320w only suitable for early veg and doesn't have the same effect as the viparspectra xs2000 which is only 220w, so in my opinion the xs200 is a better grow light, I'd use one for early veg then 2 for mid veg to early flower then change to a 600w hps as I find this the best option for me, and give better results and bulk. At the end I add the CMH UV at hourly intervals during the last 3 weeks...
It is my opinion that this hybrid system will give the best product 😎 and do it fairly economically as you're only running about 700w for 7-8
weeks
 
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