LED v/s HPS ? LED experts please weigh in

thisbuds4u101

Well-Known Member
I've been growing old school using MH/HPS 1000 Watt MH in veg. and 3000 watt HPS in my bud room for over 40 years very successfully I might say. A little over a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer and had to shut down my grow. I recently decided to fire back up now that I've beat the cancer and am back to my old self. My wife suggested I invest in LED lights and reluctantly I did. Can I expect the same
big beautiful buds I've been getting for years please let me know your thoughts on this. I'm sure many of you out there have made this same type change and can help me out
 

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
I've been growing old school using MH/HPS 1000 Watt MH in veg. and 3000 watt HPS in my bud room for over 40 years very successfully I might say. A little over a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer and had to shut down my grow. I recently decided to fire back up now that I've beat the cancer and am back to my old self. My wife suggested I invest in LED lights and reluctantly I did. Can I expect the same
big beautiful buds I've been getting for years please let me know your thoughts on this. I'm sure many of you out there have made this same type change and can help me out
If you purchased decent lights and you set up your room environment correctly you will grow big beautiful buds just like before.
 

thisbuds4u101

Well-Known Member
I went with 1 King 1200 Watt for veg. and 2 Bestva 4000 watt for bud room. This whole change has really messed with my head and the terrible thing is I haven't really even gave them a chance been doubting the decision since I made it.
Thanks Big time
 

Rakin

Well-Known Member
I started with HPS and MH conversion bulbs. They did great, especially when I went to a vented hood and got everything in check. I eventually went to single ended cmh and just really loved the spectrum and quality of light and used a little less wattage then the hps/mh. Then quantum boards came out. tried them and had to relearn how to grow and my environment. Once I got that down I never looked back. Ive also used t8s and cfls at some point for clones and mothers and veg.
 

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
No cant return 30 days have past. That's a waste on 900 bucks
Well.... you can use them in addition to hps or for veg or something... Not all is lost.... but thats not nearly enough light to do what you were doing in the past. You could replace one HPS with the two bestvas......
 

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
But yeah there are reasons the Gavita costs 1300 and pulls 645w while the bestva is 400 and pulls 690w. You might even get away with running 1 hps and the two bestvas.
 

thisbuds4u101

Well-Known Member
So watt you think those 4000 watt bestvas actual wattage is? Thanks for all your input folks! I think I'm going to add a couple 1000 watt HPS to the bud room
 

Thundercat

Well-Known Member
I went with 1 King 1200 Watt for veg. and 2 Bestva 4000 watt for bud room. This whole change has really messed with my head and the terrible thing is I haven't really even gave them a chance been doubting the decision since I made it.
Thanks Big time
I havnt ran either of those lights, but from what I am seeing on their site, and what I’ve seen growers say about them for years........ Those lights will grow plants, they just really aren’t gonna do what they are advertised as.

Do you have any electrical DYI skill/interest? There are some excellent DYI options with LED. Lots of information from the community here in the LED section explaining the in’s and outs. Coupling that with some skill or desire to learn and you can build an awesome light for a fraction of the cost of buying one.

Or do you want to buy an off the shelf light? From the grows I’ve seen that Gavita light linked above produces excellent plants. I’m personally looking at getting an Amare SB800, I like the full canopy spread of the bar style lights. The HLG lights definitely put down photons.
 

The8thChevron

Well-Known Member
If you get the same real wattage, then you'll do better with LEDs (depending of course on spectrum, efficacy, etc.). Gotta watch out for LEDs though, when they say, "replaces a 1000W HPS!" and its actual wattage is 150W, realize they're full of shit. I expect my two Mars Hydro TSW 2000 to do close to the same or better than an 800W HID though (their actual combined wattage being 600W) in my 4x4 tent.
 

The8thChevron

Well-Known Member
It's unfortunate that you bought the blurple lights now. With quantum boards taking the industry now, the blurples are gonna get phased out and the cost of them should free fall. I bet your Bestva 4000W will cost $200 in a year.
 

2Hearts

Well-Known Member
To replace 4000w hps with led gona cost a figgin lot. Every year leds try to dominate and say they are the best, i dont see it yet and they will still be having the same conversation in a years time so just to catch you up on what you have missed whilst been away.

Find the true wattage and go gavita or hlg but you wont regret not choosing leds if you tire of them, hps has always grown a lot if bud there have been few complaints.
 

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
To replace 4000w hps with led gona cost a figgin lot. Every year leds try to dominate and say they are the best, i dont see it yet and they will still be having the same conversation in a years time so just to catch you up on what you have missed whilst been away.

Find the true wattage and go gavita or hlg but you wont regret not choosing leds if you tire of them, hps has always grown a lot if bud there have been few complaints.
Dude my 1000w DE HPS was to bright this grow. I let my plants get to tall. Need a taller tent too.... 5x5 tent. When your complaining your light is to bright...... yeah nothin' wrong with that, why replace it?
 

sukMyCokLoser

New Member
I can't comment for the bigger lights but the 300w Viparspectra 'Reflector Series' is fine if you only want to use it during the Veg cycle of your little plants. I had been in a bit of a rut & was feeling a bit depressed (maybe I felt sorrow for myself, I won't deny this but I will not act as if I remember something that I really can't remember & I am sort of glad I haven't remembered any of that.
Anyway I was slack & never tied the plants down & after a while it became clear that they would grow into the led lights & become albinos or that is what I was told by the 'more experienced of my colleagues'.
I panicked & did the only thing I could think of & that was to whip it out ^& hook it up & stand back in awe as you start wondering how you ever started wasting seeds that could produce amounts like this. There are spots on some of the leaves but the stems that have the flowers/head on them are thicker than I have probably seen I think.
The buds created using the HPS light are so much thicker & bigger than the stuff produced by the viparspectra led light I had. I only change as I am trying to grow this plant in a 60cm X 60cm enclosure. What ended up happening was that the plant happened to get within about 3" of the HPS light & while this may not be fatal you will probably find that much of the foliage becomes quite burnt as a result of these extreme conditions.
I decided to see how the plant went rather thnan get into what might be causing any abnormal bebhaviour in it. So far so good. After tomorrow thre is only about 14 days of cultivation left so if anyone is to get caught & face any sort of serious crime then these 14 days wee whenthe whole issue became world newsIMG20210118234229.jpg
 
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