Question about Cheap Lights...T5HO vs Blurple vs Cob

Xul

Xul

Active Member
Hi Everyone,

I apologize now if this question has been asked a ton of times but from what I've searched, I haven't really found a clear answer and hoping maybe some people could give their input.

I have been growing for the last year or 2 (indoors in coco) under T5HO lights (yes I know, everyone says you can't flower properly under T5, but I do) and recently just came into possession of a cheap LED light (Meizhi 450w reflector series) that I'm going to try out. As I was looking up reviews on this light, I came across many posts about COB Leds, but everything I look up basically says avoid the cheap ones (stuff off amazon, etc) and to build your own. I just grow a little for personal in a small room i built (3.5feet by 5 feet) so I'm not worried about the whole gram per watt issue, the 100% best efficiency, etc.

What I want to know is...Am I likely to yield more sticking with my 6 bulb T5HO Light (over 2 plants), another cheap Blurple LED (like the Meizhi I have), or would I be better to look into a cheap Cob LED (like the
Roleadro 800W or CrxSunny 1500w)? I usually yield about 90-150g(dry) under the T5. I want to deal with 4 plants total, 2 plants per light (All 4 sit in about 3.5'x3.5' of space).

I like the idea of these smaller LEDs as I feel they'd put off a little less heat than my t5 lights, and be less intrusive in size. However, I don't want to go down with the yield.

I'm in Canada, so trying to find all the parts and pieces for a DIY is a bit of a pain, which is why I'd like a per-assembled unit, and also don't want to sink much money into this (it's just for fun and some personal smoke).

So basically, would you guys suggest a cheap Blurple or Cob light over T5s?

Thanks for any help!
 
Xul

Xul

Active Member
rkymtnman said:
what do you consider much?
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well those cheap lights go for around $100-150 (cad), so i'm gonna say within the $200 range. I already know what I can get with what I have, so if these cheap lights won't serve any improvement at all, then I'll stick to what I have. If they'll yield as good (ideally better) than what I currently have I may consider purchasing it (just to get rid of the huge 4 foot fixture and hopefully a little heat).
 
rkymtnman

rkymtnman

Well-Known Member
Xul said:
well those cheap lights go for around $100-150 (cad), so i'm gonna say within the $200 range. I already know what I can get with what I have, so if these cheap lights won't serve any improvement at all, then I'll stick to what I have. If they'll yield as good (ideally better) than what I currently have I may consider purchasing it (just to get rid of the huge 4 foot fixture and hopefully a little heat).
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for your size area, a 315 watt cmh would be good. unless you want to stick with leds. check out craigslist or similar for a used fixture for cheap and then buy a new bulb for it. should be 200'ish.
 
Xul

Xul

Active Member
rkymtnman said:
for your size area, a 315 watt cmh would be good. unless you want to stick with leds. check out craigslist or similar for a used fixture for cheap and then buy a new bulb for it. should be 200'ish.
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Yeah, i want to stay away from CMH, too much heat. Would rather an LED (rather it be blurple or cob).
 
Chip Green

Chip Green

Well-Known Member
Do it man. That's the ultimate entry level DIY right there. Easily acquired materials, for not a lot of quid.....
 
Xul

Xul

Active Member
Chip Green said:
Do it man. That's the ultimate entry level DIY right there. Easily acquired materials, for not a lot of quid.....
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Yeah, I'm just wondering what sort of LED bulbs he's using ( I have a bunch of these : [URL='http://classiclighting.com/product/led14e26p3030kfl-2/']http://classiclighting.com/product/led14e26p3030kfl-2/ , but they're only 75watt equiv, not 100, not sure if they'd be worth anything). Hopefully I can get a few answers from him on that thread :)

Thanks for the help!
[/URL]
 
Xul

Xul

Active Member
KrazyG said:
Give it a go, I can't complain and if a chip goes faulty it's easy to swap bulb.
https://www.rollitup.org/t/will-gu10-leds-work.955347/
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That's wicked! Your bulbs would be about the same as I have (minus the cobs). In your opinion, do you think these would out perform the t5hos? They are 6 bulbs, 5000 lumens each, so they'd be a higher lumen count then if I did like 20 bulbs (20x850lumens = 17,000), but would the leds provide better penetration, therefore yielding more? Everyone agreed those LEDs were better than CFLs, so I can't help but wonder.
 
Xul

Xul

Active Member
Chip Green said:
Those bulbs you linked, are probably as good as any....14w each, 3000k.
If you do electrical work, and DONT start building your own lighting, I for one will experience some level of disappointment....
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Yeah, I'm an electrical apprentice, but money is my issue. haha
 
KrazyG

KrazyG

Well-Known Member
Xul said:
That's wicked! Your bulbs would be about the same as I have (minus the cobs). In your opinion, do you think these would out perform the t5hos? They are 6 bulbs, 5000 lumens each, so they'd be a higher lumen count then if I did like 20 bulbs (20x850lumens = 17,000), but would the leds provide better penetration, therefore yielding more? Everyone agreed those LEDs were better than CFLs, so I can't help but wonder.
Click to expand...
Tbh I couldn't say which would be best, the advantage with the led bulbs is you can mix spectrum and have them close to the canopy. I found some 660nm bulbs and have them with the 3000k bulbs for flower. Ive seen a big improvement with bud density with the extra red.
My yields doubled when I switched to led from CFL.
 
Xul

Xul

Active Member
KrazyG said:
Tbh I couldn't say which would be best, the advantage with the led bulbs is you can mix spectrum and have them close to the canopy. I found some 660nm bulbs and have them with the 3000k bulbs for flower. Ive seen a big improvement with bud density with the extra red.
My yields doubled when I switched to led from CFL.
Click to expand...
I'm going to try 12 lights over 1 plant and see what happens, so i'll have my t5, the meizhi led and this homemade jobby. See which seems to produce the best results and go from there! :)
 
Xul

Xul

Active Member
KrazyG said:
Tbh I couldn't say which would be best, the advantage with the led bulbs is you can mix spectrum and have them close to the canopy. I found some 660nm bulbs and have them with the 3000k bulbs for flower. Ive seen a big improvement with bud density with the extra red.
My yields doubled when I switched to led from CFL.
Click to expand...
Did up the light last night, it's not pretty, but looking for results...it feels less bright then the others but we'll see, i've got them on now, i want to see if they give off much heat. No plants to go in yet, but once they do i'll mmake another post!

Still gotta tidy up wires in the room and such, but this is what i'm dealing with...poor man's grow! Haha

20190210_143336.jpg 20190210_000921.jpg 20190210_143421_HDR.jpg 20190210_143511_HDR.jpg
 
KrazyG

KrazyG

Well-Known Member
Xul said:
Did up the light last night, it's not pretty, but looking for results...it feels less bright then the others but we'll see, i've got them on now, i want to see if they give off much heat. No plants to go in yet, but once they do i'll mmake another post!

Still gotta tidy up wires in the room and such, but this is what i'm dealing with...poor man's grow! Haha

View attachment 4279884 View attachment 4279883 View attachment 4279885 View attachment 4279886
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Subbed up!
Good luck!
 
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