m99smith said:
Btw have you ever used a good led for a grow?
Pretty sure everyone has. Whats wrong with someone saying HPS is still king? Why that bothers you?
That's a pretty sweeping statement. Which is obviously wrong. If everyone here had "good" LEDs (and knew how to grow), there would be fewer arguments.
For the record, there is nothing wrong with saying "HPS is still king" – apart from the statement itself, of course. Because I don't see any proof of it in this thread.
If you're going to make statements like that, then at least back them up. Saying it doesn't make it true.
Again for the record, I – like many other LED growers – grew with HPS for almost 20 years. I have friends who have grown with HPS for over 20 years. One of the things we now have in common is we all grow with LED.
Does anyone here honestly think commercial growers would be using LED if it didn't work? Why would they waste their time and money? Even if personal choice does play a part in decisions, the physics don't lie: LEDs convert more energy to light and less energy to heat – that makes them more efficient than HIDs right there. There is no argument – countless sphere and goniometer tests have proven it.
Indeed, one of the other reasons LED beats out HID efficiency is because HIDs produce their light in 360-degrees and most growers use reflectors that reflect 75% of the light that a HID produces – the other 25% being direct light fro the bulb (unless you grow vertically, which shines almost 360-degrees of light directly on the plants).
LEDs produce all their light in one plane at a 120 degree angle – so most of it hits the plant directly and is not bouncing off a reflector or tent wall (there are some wall losses, like there are with all lights).
Not only that, LED has the potential to provide a better spectrum. Again, the science is incontrovertible: different spectra produce different morphogenetic responses in plants that have the potential to provide better yields and quality.
And finally, there is the small fact that LED technology is progressing all the time. LEDs get cheaper and more efficient every year – just like every other semi-conductor. That means they are becoming even more efficient than HID technology that has not improved efficiency much in past decades (as it still uses the same basic design – double-ended bulbs being the main advancement). Even CMH has been around for 25 years – we were talking about using it back in 2000 – but it took growers a long time to accept that CMH could rival HPS and even beat it in some areas.
Much like the debate about LED right now
The moral of the story is: Produce your facts, or state your opinions – but don't confuse your opinion for fact. Because in the real world, science talks and bullshit walks.