Led grow lights

[Sir PsychoHashy]

I'm not in the anti LED camp, but I would encourage anyone thinking about them to do some real research, and look beyond the hype and marketing.  McThree's comment above is spot on, and the reason is simply penetration, or more correctly lack thereof.  Their big advantages are supposed to be lower power bills and less heat, but they don't seem to be able to get both the same coverage and penetration depth as HID lighting, even if you up them to the same wattage, and they do still put out heat.

 

Given that advancements in LEC, or CMH if you prefer, lighting, and a dropping price, I would like someone to explain to me why you would spend more money getting a quality LED light to cover the same footprint?  They give roughly the same performance as double their wattage in HPS, with a dramatic heat reduction, and a spectrum close to natural sunlight.  You can get 315w kits now for $650, or less if you don't mind taking risks, and that easily covers 1.2*1.2m, or you can pay double that for an LED with less penetration, and globes that aren't as cheap or easy to replace when the wear out.

 

Don't get me wrong, I've seen some growers get some very nice, and very resinous results, with LEDs, and they have always had their little niche circumstances where they are the best option.  It's just that I see CMH filling many of those niches better, and now they are heading towards lower cost.

 

But please, if you really want to go LED, do not let me talk you out of it.  Both diversity, and self expression/taste, are wonderful things in all parts of life.

[eestapak]

I know it is each to their own but we recently did 2 side by side tests with 4 tents nearly identical conditions except for stronger outtake fans for the hPs MHs lights with mh and hPs lights vs leds many different brands some good some not so great but either way the leds just didn't stack up, they do okay in the veg stage but no way near produce as good, dense flower. That's what we found

 

 

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What LED's did you use to compare?

[mcTHREE]

What LED's did you use to compare?

We used a few some is suppose you would say no name, grow lush 400, 600,1000w, black dog 600, boasted,600,400w, marinetech, gr6 and a gr4 , viparspectrum, 600 and 400 and some 1000w no unbranded ones.

We actually spent a fn lot of money on leds due to a situation that would have been better if avoided, we were growing at a place where the owner informed us he was going to pull the pin on it unless we switched to keep costs down so To keep it easy we did it, plus he raved on and on about how good they were despite never using one. At the end of the day it was a mistake and an expensive one, in hind sigh should have let him pull the pin as we moved any way.

In the end the only thing it was good for was to test them with mh and hPs lights side by side. And don't get me wrong, the better more expensive ones such as the black dog and marine tech did well actually they all do well in veg stage but don't get near the same results in flower stage, there is no other way to say it that's just how it is. I'd like to have say 5 black dog phytomax 1000s and give that a go but that's not gona happen any time soon [emoji1303]

 

 

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[Sir PsychoHashy]

This is the issue with LED's, flowering.  They do seem to give great resin production, but yields seem to be consistently lower.  Over the last few years on this site there's been a few guys come on telling us we are all wrong, and LED's yield at least as well as HPS, blah blah blah.  A couple of them even went as far as starting a grow diary to put their money where their mouth was, but all of them suddenly disappeared from the site by mid flower, mmmmm?

 

Thankfully there's now a few LED growers posting diaries start to finish here, and we've seen some nice results, but none of them have ever claimed that they can get great yields, nor have they achieved them.  But they are happy with what they are doing, and getting, so good luck to them and thanks for sharing their results.  There are special techniques for doing well with LED's.

 

So if you're worried about yields, look for alternatives.  If not, and LED's appeal, then go for it.  But for the same money, or less, I would encourage you to research CMH to see if it won't meet all your needs before making a decision.  In my book, quality is much more important than weight.

[torrietree]

I'd like a half decent led just for seedling/clone box

 

 

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[c0bblep0t]

My led does exactly what I expect from it and I reckon it's awesome I can get nearly 10 oz out of my closet which is pushing the limits of the space I have , plus I guess 1 gram per watt which is the standard for any light isn't it ? think it's a case of you get what you pay for , not going to get good yields with a $100 led

 

 

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Edited January 13, 2017 by c0bblep0t

[billdampier]

I think the previous posters nailed it. LED's produce acceptable results, but the buds will never win prizes (for the record, I use two 400w Mars LEDs in a 1.2 x 1.2m) tent. I don't have much experience, but the buds produced under these lights don't look anywhere near as impressive as other grows i've seen using outdoor conditions or other types of grow lights. Having said that, they do the job I intended for them

 

The real advantage of them is as a stealth option. Less heat, lower power use. Like most things in life, it's swings and roundabouts

[Quick bloom lights]

Hi Billdampier, how long have you been running the Mars LED's? Asking as I hear they usually break around or before the 12 month mark and Mars asks that you do own repairs with stuff the mail to you. Maybe not the case with yours. But mars vs some of the USA lights does not last long.

 

 

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[N3ro]

I really wish people did their homework, get a COB, lushpro.

[Quick bloom lights]

The right LEDs works wonders. Just can't buy the cheap no name ones.

 

 

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