The one thing people forget about HPS lights

[wobbles13]

Hey everyone.

Ive been growing forma while but im new to the forums. Ive done weeks and weeks of research about the cfl, hid, hps and led ligjting options. This is for all the ppl that switch to hps lights for flowering cycles.

DONT DO IT !!!!!!!!!!

If you are using an hps light that states it has a 10000 lumen output. Your plant is only using about half of those lumens. The reason being is that about half of the lumens produced by an hps light is in the 3000k-3700k spectrum, which is in the yellow range. Yellow is pretty much useless to plants. You would be better off using cfls or leds to get a full spectrum plus more lumen output per actual watt being used. Not to mention that more of the lumens being produced by tje cfls are of actual use to the plants.

And for all the cfl haters out there. You only hate cfls bc you dont know tje right ones to use or how to set them up properly. Do your research. Take your time and get a proper set up going. I have two rooms going. Veg and flower.flower room has 22000 lumens ranging from 2700k, 5000k, 6500k. Veg room. Has 15000 lumens at 5000k and 6500k. All my plants are doing better tjan my buddy who refuses to switch from his hid,hps setups. Needless to say hes pissed at me. Lol.

One more thing. My beef is only with hps lights. Hid lights give a very good kelvin rating for veg growth.

Ill post some pics of my set up and lights in a few days. That way there ppl will have the proof.

I love a good debate so post if you have a rebuttal.

 

[zero244]

Well overall I agree with you. I have some HPS bulbs then I tried a 7200k MH arrangement and got surprisingly good results.
HPS works fine, but people get caught up on Lumens and usually HPS gives more lumens per watt so they automatically think it is superior. For the most part I have moved into LED though I still have a soft spot for HID.

 

[wobbles13]

Hid is great for veg cycle for sure. If my grow box could handle the heat generated from them id be using hid for my veg room. I dony have the room for the required ventilation equipment.



Hows the led's going. Im intrigued about them but question whether its worth the money at this point.

 

[TheRoach]

Hi, would you please post pictures so you can enlighten your fellow growers here?
You sound very convinced. How many HPS rounds have you made? And CFL rounds? how about side by side comparations to back your claims?

Don´t take me as a ¨CFL hater¨, I like CFLs: they are very good for growing and can give nice results.
You will eventually need more penetration than a CFL can offer, and then you will need either a LED or a HPS, the HPS having more penetration and quantity of light, LED having better quality of light; it has been proved that quantity is better that quality in this case. Quality is important, but with photosintesys quantity matters more.
Please add sources besides anecdotical proof. If you want a source to proof that quantity is more important for photosintesys than quality, here it is.

Welcome to my fellow grower!
Here we deal in facts and science!

 

[TheRoach]

And here you have the link for the results of the study mentioned in the article:

Economic Analysis of Greenhouse Lighting: Light Emitting Diodes vs. High Intensity Discharge Fixtures

 

[zero244]

I am a small grower so quantity is not a concern. To me LED is just another way to grow and get good results. If you want quantity and quality then obviously HPS is the most economical way to go. With HID heat has to be dealt with and for summer growing AC is probably going to be needed. If your willing to invest some significant money you can get equal results with the right LED lamp even in a commercial environment. Given more time and development I do believe the LED tech will overtake HID and CFL lights for grow rooms and eventually street lights etc.
I for one would like to get away from the Red and Blue diodes and start using full spectrum white diodes. Which appears to be the trend in commercial LED lamps.

 

[TheRoach]

Yes, LEDs are the future of lighting indeed!

 

[HydroDyna]

LED has already overtaken CFL by a long shot.
You also need less watt per square meter if you're using HPS than if you're using CFL.

 

[NuttyProfessor]

i did this with mine , i like the mixed spectrum now


normal led

an my pimped led

 

[dbkick]

Hey everyone.

Ive been growing forma while but im new to the forums. Ive done weeks and weeks of research about the cfl, hid, hps and led ligjting options. This is for all the ppl that switch to hps lights for flowering cycles.

DONT DO IT !!!!!!!!!!

If you are using an hps light that states it has a 10000 lumen output. Your plant is only using about half of those lumens. The reason being is that about half of the lumens produced by an hps light is in the 3000k-3700k spectrum, which is in the yellow range. Yellow is pretty much useless to plants. You would be better off using cfls or leds to get a full spectrum plus more lumen output per actual watt being used. Not to mention that more of the lumens being produced by tje cfls are of actual use to the plants.

And for all the cfl haters out there. You only hate cfls bc you dont know tje right ones to use or how to set them up properly. Do your research. Take your time and get a proper set up going. I have two rooms going. Veg and flower.flower room has 22000 lumens ranging from 2700k, 5000k, 6500k. Veg room. Has 15000 lumens at 5000k and 6500k. All my plants are doing better tjan my buddy who refuses to switch from his hid,hps setups. Needless to say hes pissed at me. Lol.

One more thing. My beef is only with hps lights. Hid lights give a very good kelvin rating for veg growth.

Ill post some pics of my set up and lights in a few days. That way there ppl will have the proof.

I love a good debate so post if you have a rebuttal.

So you're saying hps is useless??? Have you ever grown with an LEC 315? It's hid but the ballast operates on a square wave instead of a sine wave like most.
I think whoredeluxe makes a ballast that will run a 1000 watt HPS or MH on a square wave.
This makes for a much more quality light than one running sine wave.
Is this thread about hid or led or what?

 

[OldMedUser]

Depends on the quality of the HPS bulb too.

I'll put my $100 400W EYE Hortilux Super HPS up against any equivalent LED and know it will kick butt. And to get the equivalent amount of light from LEDs you'll be paying thru the nose and have to have one or more that will use just as much power to get really hard colas like I get from the HPS.

All HPS lights, like LEDs, are not created equal.

@TheRoach. I read all of that lighting analysis link you provided above and it was quite informative. Can be boiled down to the conclusion which is one of my main concerns about investing in LED tech.

Conclusions

The most efficient HPS and LED fixtures have equal efficiencies, but the initial capital cost per photon delivered from LED fixtures is five to ten times higher than HPS fixtures. The high capital cost means that the five-year cost of LED fixtures is more than double that of HPS fixtures.

The mono-chromatic light emitted by each diode means that to have the blend of useful light frequencies that is in HPS lights or the sun you would need hugely expensive, more powerful and much larger fixtures. Then there is a total lack of UV light in the less than best LED fixtures.

LED is better suited for supplemental lighting in greenhouses where the main source of light is the best of all, our sun, than it is to a sunless indoor grow.

Just because something is new and "hi-tech" doesn't automatically mean it's better.

And like Justin Trudeau, it's just not ready yet.

L8r

 

[ruddie]

Yes, LEDs are the future of lighting indeed!

LEP is the future if I was going to put money on it. No heat and more output then HID.

[video=youtube;dQVhN3i1QcM]

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example Gavita Pro 300 LEP US

 

[dequilo]

just mix MH and HPS for flowering you are all good

20 years of inside growing with them no complaints, they cover a

8 foot by 16 foot room with an 8 foot ceiling all day for cheap cost for equipment and cheap light bulbs if

you buy the right ones

still trying to figure out how to cover my grow room with LEDs and not break my bank

just my two cents

be safe and enjoy the day

Dequilo

 

[Justin Goody]

just mix MH and HPS for flowering you are all good

20 years of inside growing with them no complaints, they cover a

8 foot by 16 foot room with an 8 foot ceiling all day for cheap cost for equipment and cheap light bulbs if

you buy the right ones

still trying to figure out how to cover my grow room with LEDs and not break my bank

just my two cents

be safe and enjoy the day

Dequilo

A couple things-
This is a 6 year old thread and the person who started it hasn’t logged on in 5 years.

2. LEDs are far cheaper to buy, cheaper to run, don’t make any heat and never need bulb replacement. They also don’t explode if you touch them while they are running.

3. Check out our sponsors like @Atreum Lighting

 

[farside05]

Hey everyone.

Ive been growing forma while but im new to the forums. Ive done weeks and weeks of research about the cfl, hid, hps and led ligjting options. This is for all the ppl that switch to hps lights for flowering cycles.

DONT DO IT !!!!!!!!!!

...The reason being is that about half of the lumens produced by an hps light is in the 3000k-3700k spectrum, which is in the yellow range. Yellow is pretty much useless to plants.

A couple things-
This is a 6 year old thread and the person who started it hasn’t logged on in 5 years.

2. LEDs are far cheaper to buy, cheaper to run, don’t make any heat and never need bulb replacement. They also don’t explode if you touch them while they are running.

3. Check out our sponsors like @Atreum Lighting

LMAO at the OP. Funny 3000-3700k is useless to plants yet almost all of the new "white light" LEDs target that range and produce fantastic results. Maybe that's why he hasn't come back for 5 years and has 2 posts.

 

[Justin Goody]

LMAO at the OP. Funny 3000-3700k is useless to plants yet almost all of the new "white light" LEDs target that range and produce fantastic results. Maybe that's why he hasn't come back for 5 years and has 2 posts.

MUCH of the perception of LEDs (and HIDs) has changed in that time.
I’m loving the new white, not blurple LEDs, and my plants love them even more. Plus my whole 3 tent setup with lights fans and everything doesn’t even hit 700w TOTAL. Try that with an HPS lol

 

[dequilo]

Plus my whole 3 tent setup with lights fans and everything doesn’t even hit 700w TOTAL. Try that with an HPS lol

and your getting 2100 grams a run

 

[Justin Goody]

and your getting 2100 grams a run

No, I’m not.
But in 70-80 days I can get 17 ounces (dry) in a 2x3’ area from 140 watts. During that 70 days I don’t ever worry about heat stress, burning my house down or when I need to replace my giant ballast or bulbs. And I don’t have to use an entire bedroom and thousands of watts to get it. Between my 3 little tents I average more than an ounce per week, all year long. That’s more than I can smoke.
Scoff all you want but your lights are outdated and you won’t convince me that I should go back to HPS (which I used for 20 years) just to get a little more yield.
I don’t sell my weed to live or anything, so I don’t need MORE. I aim for BETTER.

People still ride horses to get places too. It works, there are just better ways.

 

[dequilo]

no worries my friend I am sure you do well for your needs

and for the watts used the 17 oz is just fine and if your happy I am also

I am not scoffing at anything just a friend bust as i read in many place the 2 1/2 3 grams a watt thing

I do not sell my smoke I just grow for me and the wife

Scoff all you want but your lights are outdated and you won’t convince me that I should go back to HPS (which I used for 20 years) just to get a little more yield.

would never try that as you know what works the best for you

it appears I do not eh?

I have never worried about burning down anything but I know some have

I am looking to build some 4 foot LED strips over shelves to do Sea of Greens still not getting

the driver thing figured out

looking at these

BXEB-L1120Z-50E4000-C-B3 Bridgelux | Optoelectronics | DigiKey

Order today, ships today. BXEB-L1120Z-50E4000-C-B3 – LED Lighting COBs Engines Modules LED Module series White, Cool Linear Light Strip from Bridgelux. Pricing and Availability on millions of electronic components from Digi-Key Electronics.

www.digikey.com

probably use 4 or 6 strips over each shelf for a total of 4 shelves

just trying to find the best driver to run them or two drivers

all the best and be safe

Dequilo

 

[Dr Fish]

My Mixed Hydro thread is an example of three types of lights, all feed FNB the entire grow.. No additions for better results.. Excellent results from each type of light.. The 430 hps was used for most of the grow for that plant.. There's still something of value in the old threads for the new members.. My 315 cmh did all right with a 3100k bulbs.
MY MY MY, bet you wear more than two shoes at a time Goody. If I dare to say more than that I'm sure to get spanked again for my attitude