Light change :-)

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
I live in rented apartments built about 150 years ago I'm not sure what sort of permission I'd need or if it's even possible, My intake comes from ambient temps of 17Celcius summer and -10-5Celcius all winter so not sure it would make a difference where I am!
You might slow down your intake, then. HPS and all other HID lamps are inefficient, wear out and need replacing often and offer poor spectrum performance relative to the plant's demonstrated needs.

LED really is THAT much better. If your grow is small compared to the space it's in, then perhaps a smaller space or a tent would help.

The plants need to be warm one way or another.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Modern led alternatives are much less money for much more and better quality light than even a few years ago.
And a few years from now those will be crap just like the blurples that use to be state-of-the-art.

A lot of growers are like iPhone junkies. Lining up for the next great thing no matter the cost.

I'm thinking of building a DIY COB system one of these days but if I wait a little longer I'm sure there will be even better lights around the corner. ;)

:peace:
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
And a few years from now those will be crap just like the blurples that use to be state-of-the-art.

A lot of growers are like iPhone junkies. Lining up for the next great thing no matter the cost.

I'm thinking of building a DIY COB system one of these days but if I wait a little longer I'm sure there will be even better lights around the corner. ;)

:peace:
Whatever you build today will still work just as well when the next greatest thing comes out.
 

McFrosticles

Well-Known Member
You might slow down your intake, then. HPS and all other HID lamps are inefficient, wear out and need replacing often and offer poor spectrum performance relative to the plant's demonstrated needs.

LED really is THAT much better. If your grow is small compared to the space it's in, then perhaps a smaller space or a tent would help.

The plants need to be warm one way or another.
I built 10 bars of 4 cxb3590s a couple of years ago, getting the components from kinbrite, for a 10x5" space. But life got in the way and couldn't do the grow, I was able to sell them on ebay at the time for a decent profit, do wish I held on to them now. I am aware of the efficiency compared to HPS but I just needed something quick and hassle free, maybe looking back to cob or QB in the future.

But I have to say I've been able to enjoy the grow under hps and let the plants grow pretty natural at varying heights after flipping them without the constant training an led scrog requires, can also take each plant out and muck around bend parts down, spread them out, get in the back etc. Its a bit of a jungle and each plant is now stacking pretty deep

But when you mention how LED perform better in 30 Celcius it got me wondering if it's worth it in my cold climate. I suppose gas is cheaper than electricity so overall heating the room would be cheaper than getting heat from the hps, but then there's the air exchange.. lot to think about.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
I built 10 bars of 4 cxb3590s a couple of years ago, getting the components from kinbrite, for a 10x5" space. But life got in the way and couldn't do the grow, I was able to sell them on ebay at the time for a decent profit, do wish I held on to them now. I am aware of the efficiency compared to HPS but I just needed something quick and hassle free, maybe looking back to cob or QB in the future.

But I have to say I've been able to enjoy the grow under hps and let the plants grow pretty natural at varying heights after flipping them without the constant training an led scrog requires, can also take each plant out and muck around bend parts down, spread them out, get in the back etc. Its a bit of a jungle and each plant is now stacking pretty deep

But when you mention how LED perform better in 30 Celcius it got me wondering if it's worth it in my cold climate. I suppose gas is cheaper than electricity so overall heating the room would be cheaper than getting heat from the hps, but then there's the air exchange.. lot to think about.
Just insulate. You'll get the best of both worlds.
 

hillbill

Well-Known Member
Whatever you build today will still work just as well when the next greatest thing comes out.
Exactly right! My lights even include mostly white and all white old a51 panels with discreet Cree diodes. Obsolete but still damn effective and my newest COBs fixture is 3 years old. They all work like day 1 with zero trouble and have saved hundreds in electricity and no bulb replacement.

Those Philips 315 CMH are always tempting though, don’t know why they just are.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Exactly right! My lights even include mostly white and all white old a51 panels with discreet Cree diodes. Obsolete but still damn effective and my newest COBs fixture is 3 years old. They all work like day 1 with zero trouble and have saved hundreds in electricity and no bulb replacement.

Those Philips 315 CMH are always tempting though, don’t know why they just are.
Don't be tempted. They don't put out UV like people say they do.
 

Kingrow1

Well-Known Member
The key to using light sources that emit less heat- that is, infrared light- is to run your grow room at warmer temperatures. The LED guys get their best results with ambient air temps around 30C/86F.

This is no longer news or in any way controversial.
Sorry that is not right, warm air does not supplement ir on leaf energy budget - again you led peeps need to do actual science not broscience.

Id say prove it and provide a leaf energy budget and transpirational curve to represent your new equations and science? Ill be waiting just like i did with PPFD and drying and curing and all the stuff no one seems to really study :-)
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I love my 4 ft 4 bulb HO T5. I use it for seedling through veg. Plants do great. I get plants over two feet tall and not leggy at all. It fits perfectly in a 2 x 4 tent. I know the latest fad is to buy the latest expensive LED but I don't follow fads. I grow marijuana. The equipment I have does a damn fine job of assisting me with that task. I'm more interested in acquiring rare strains, hobby breeding, and automating my grow as much as possible so I can use the time some spend fiddling around with their plants for other things.

Grown under T5's




As you were...
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Whatever you build today will still work just as well when the next greatest thing comes out.

My HID grows just as good of pot as the LED's coming out. So I agree, whatever you have will still work when the next thing comes out.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Sorry that is not right, warm air does not supplement ir on leaf energy budget - again you led peeps need to do actual science not broscience.

Id say prove it and provide a leaf energy budget and transpirational curve to represent your new equations and science? Ill be waiting just like i did with PPFD and drying and curing and all the stuff no one seems to really study :-)
Warmth reduces RH, increases metabolism and improves transpiration. Thus it does indeed accomplish the same thing as infrared light, with the possible exception of Emerson effect.
 
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meangreengrowinmachine

Well-Known Member
Better yet, insulate.
I have insulated the walls I made sadly the ceiling is low so I dont really know how much I could get away with on the floor and one wall is brick/stone foundation and I dont think I should put anything over that in risk of having condensation between the foundation and my wall and then grow mold.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
I have insulated the walls I made sadly the ceiling is low so I dont really know how much I could get away with on the floor and one wall is brick/stone foundation and I dont think I should put anything over that in risk of having condensation between the foundation and my wall and then grow mold.
Vapor barrier. A layer of plastic works fine.

The idea is to be able to get full control over your environment.
 

3rd Monkey

Well-Known Member
Sorry that is not right, warm air does not supplement ir on leaf energy budget - again you led peeps need to do actual science not broscience.

Id say prove it and provide a leaf energy budget and transpirational curve to represent your new equations and science? Ill be waiting just like i did with PPFD and drying and curing and all the stuff no one seems to really study :-)
It's not about IR supplementation, it's about leaf surface temp.

The blue spectrum keeps stomata open, which in turn, increases transpiration and respiration. The warmer air is to increase lst to boost photosynthesis to match transpiration and respiration rates... hence the "calmag" issue with most LED/QB grows.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I used to think that until I did side by side comparisons.

Oh well, that may be true but I'm completely satisfied with what I'm using. I have no need to spend hundreds or over a thousand dollars to get slightly better results than I am already getting. I'm more interested in the plant than the light. Maybe I could get another ounce or so out of a grow which I doubt. The fact is that I just don't care. I'm more interested in the plant science than lighting technology. But I understand those that that want to maximize every aspect. But from a lot of what I've seen on the forums, some are more interested in playing with lighting than growing plants. It's gotten to the point that people post pictures of crappy looking plants and everyone says "Looking Good" when the plants are crispy and over fertilized. And the things that have become commonplace that have no merit like checking soil runoff pH, flushing, etc... All a waste of time as far as I'm concerned but someone saw an infomercial from some dude on youtube that said to flush with X product blah blah blah. I'm just going to do my thing and source and save hard to find landraces, make crosses, share with my friends and spend as little money doing it as I can. If others want to spend thousands on lights, nutrients, seeds of the latest strains then that is their choice. But there is no way I'm getting my wallet sucked into this money grubbing industry. Someone posted a link where they were selling clones for up to $2000. That's just plain bullshit and anyone paying that is crazy as far as I'm concerned. Just like I think it's crazy to spend $1500 for enough LED lighting for a 4 x 4 tent but some people do.

Anyway, I probably don't really belong in some sections of this forum so I'll probably just post in the Advanced and Gardening sections where most talk is about the plant or plants from now on as it seems I'm on a different path than many. I'd much rather talk about the plant and it's propagation, making seeds and crosses than lighting spectrum's, diodes, and overpriced nutrients.

I'm not taking jab at you. So please don't take it that way. Just ranting. :blsmoke:
 
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