Defending HPS in a LED world

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lilroach

lilroach

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Probably five years ago, urged on by my LED guru, I built myself a high-quality COB light set-up. I think I spent over $500 in parts....probably closer to $650...and had high hopes that this lighting would be the answer for me.

While I enjoyed the build, the light didn't perform anywhere near what I expected. It now sits on a shelf in my basement collecting dust.

Around six years ago I had a good friend that spent $30K on the latest-and-greatest grow room. He had CO2, a flood and drain system for 45 plants, an 8 ton A/C unit, and 15 1000w Kind blurpuple (did I spell that right?) overhead. To make the story short, it was a dismal failure. He didn't know what the fuck he was doing and probably killed about 150 plants before quitting. My take away from this is that spending a boat-load of money doesn't necessarily translate into a good grow. He paid $1,500 per light....big bucks even today.....and they were hot....and sucked. He tried selling the lights back to the grow store......and they didn't want them.....they had already moved on.

Just because something has been around a long time....sorta like me I guess....it doesn't mean it's outdated....or easily replaced.
 
Gemtree

Gemtree

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lilroach said:
Probably five years ago, urged on by my LED guru, I built myself a high-quality COB light set-up. I think I spent over $500 in parts....probably closer to $650...and had high hopes that this lighting would be the answer for me.

While I enjoyed the build, the light didn't perform anywhere near what I expected. It now sits on a shelf in my basement collecting dust.

Around six years ago I had a good friend that spent $30K on the latest-and-greatest grow room. He had CO2, a flood and drain system for 45 plants, an 8 ton A/C unit, and 15 1000w Kind blurpuple (did I spell that right?) overhead. To make the story short, it was a dismal failure. He didn't know what the fuck he was doing and probably killed about 150 plants before quitting. My take away from this is that spending a boat-load of money doesn't necessarily translate into a good grow. He paid $1,500 per light....big bucks even today.....and they were hot....and sucked. He tried selling the lights back to the grow store......and they didn't want them.....they had already moved on.

Just because something has been around a long time....sorta like me I guess....it doesn't mean it's outdated....or easily replaced.
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Well most everyone skipped those parts and waited till the lm301b which changed the game
 
Coldnasty

Coldnasty

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lilroach said:
I appreciate all the comments. I get all the pluses of LED's.

Do you know what.....I was getting the same comments 6 years ago about the end-all in LED's and they were......and to put it nicely.....were lacking.

And I would like to point out that of the comments, no-one has tried to tell me that LED's are better for growing quality plants than HID's.

I acknowledge that LED's have come a long way since then....and maybe someday will actually match HID's .......but we're not there yet.

I have a LED expert that is a nerd on this and his suggestion of what I would need to spend to replace what I have going is about $2,000. Using his math, I would save $50 a month in electricity and about $300 a year in not needing to replace bulbs.....for lights that are almost as good as what I have.

While I bitch about the heat.....I live in Upstate New York where we have some pretty cold months....and that heat goes from unwanted to welcomed during those months. I would have to run heaters to keep the plants in the desired range....guess what that does to my electric bill?

I've spent years considering and debating LED vs. HID and here I am....still using HID's.
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I still use HPS to flower. Lots of people do but there are some good points made considering the climate, time of year so on and so forth. I think in the end it depends on your latitude and attitude. Both can do the job, it doesn’t have to be an either or situation. I actually use both but after having used both, in my setup HPS is king for MY flower.
 
Thundercat

Thundercat

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lilroach said:
So....the $15K he spent on those lights were a smart move....ya know...because it was the best back then?
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I didn’t say that, I said it wasn’t the lights that made him fail. Clearly spending $15k on lights or $30k on a grow room when you don’t know how to grow is foolish.

Ive been an hps grower since shortly after I start growing in 05. I’ve been watching the LED market change and grow for years. The next light I buy will be LED because it’s obvious to me at this point they have reached the point of producing as much light or more with less electric use and a better canopy spread.

Most decent growers can grow with any of these lights. You make adjustments to your grow environment based on the plants needs and poof success.

This whole thread is full of people saying it doesn’t matter what light you use if you use the right light for your conditions and you are the only one trying to “defend hps” and trash talk other tech. Kinda seems like a troll thread to me.
 
Coldnasty

Coldnasty

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Thundercat said:
I didn’t say that, I said it wasn’t the lights that made him fail. Clearly spending $15k on lights or $30k on a grow room when you don’t know how to grow is foolish.

Ive been an hps grower since shortly after I start growing in 05. I’ve been watching the LED market change and grow for years. The next light I buy will be LED because it’s obvious to me at this point they have reached the point of producing as much light or more with less electric use and a better canopy spread.

Most decent growers can grow with any of these lights. You make adjustments to your grow environment based on the plants needs and poof success.

This whole thread is full of people saying it doesn’t matter what light you use if you use the right light for your conditions and you are the only one trying to “defend hps” and trash talk other tech. Kinda seems like a troll thread to me.
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Pretty much.
 
lilroach

lilroach

Well-Known Member
Thundercat said:
I didn’t say that, I said it wasn’t the lights that made him fail. Clearly spending $15k on lights or $30k on a grow room when you don’t know how to grow is foolish.

Ive been an hps grower since shortly after I start growing in 05. I’ve been watching the LED market change and grow for years. The next light I buy will be LED because it’s obvious to me at this point they have reached the point of producing as much light or more with less electric use and a better canopy spread.

Most decent growers can grow with any of these lights. You make adjustments to your grow environment based on the plants needs and poof success.

This whole thread is full of people saying it doesn’t matter what light you use if you use the right light for your conditions and you are the only one trying to “defend hps” and trash talk other tech. Kinda seems like a troll thread to me.
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Wow......that sounded a bit hostile....for what....my sharing my experiences and opinon?

My sharing about my buddies $30K wasn't about just the lights, and I admitted he didn't know what he was doing.... It was the cost of the sub-par lights that were supposed to be the end-all in LED lighting.

I have stated I've seen many nice grows under LED's......are you not paying attention? If that's trash-talking....well then I really suck at doing that.

My point is.....and I don't know if I could be clearer.....is that HID lighting should not be over-looked when deciding which way to go.

As other have pointed out......over the years the claims about LED's have been over-rated and too many people spent a ton of money chasing the dream of affordable lighting only to be disappointed. I see the same adement claim still today. Yes, LED's have come a long way in recent years, and I"m sure they're a viable choice. One thing that has remained constant is that HID's have been a great way of growing weed.....and it's an affordable option. You can get a 600w HPS set-up, often including a (not all that great) bulb for less than $200 and get great results.
 
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farmerfischer

farmerfischer

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DoubleAtotheRON said:
LED's are constantly getting better and better. Kinda like iPhones or computers, you gotta upgrade every now and then, but the downside is that LED's last so damn long, you gotta wait years to upgrade if you really got the itch to do so. I'd really like to get my hands on the new DimLux.. looks interesting. Programmable spectrum that has a LCD display showing the light spectrum... pretty cool. Don't even know if they're available just yet, but they look like they're gonna be hella expensive.
https://dimlux.nl/dimlux-xtreme-series-led-750w/
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Hopefully this is legit.. it looks good and i agree, i like the programmable spectrum.
 
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