Fero LED 4G 360 vs 250 watt HPS

Hey guys,

I didn't get around to posting this as a my grow on this forum, but I found the results interesting so thought I'd share them with you for your opinions.

My problem with the LED lights is that I've always been a bit sceptical of when a good grower gets great results with them ... is it down to his experience, his use of all the extra tech eg CO2 etc. Conversely the new tech often seems to be used by new growers who jump in enthusiastically and whole heartedly and its difficult to differentiate between typical newbie mistakes and the benefits of the system. So I thought the best thing would be to do a side by side grow myself.

I chose to pit one of the smaller LEDs against a 250 watt HPS as it seemed to me that one of the biggest selling points for LEDs was their use in small closet grows. I had to use autoflowers because I have electricity problems during the winter which would (if they occurred) interfere too much during the light cycle of photoperiod plants. This was a real shame, and I intend to run a new trial once the winter storms are over using clones. For the time being though I had to use what I could.

I'd just like to point out that I have no affliation with FeroLED (I'm in southern Europe, they are in Canada), and neither was I biased in favour of the LED lights. Actually, with 14 years of growing using HID probably the reverse was the truth.

Anyway, for anyone who wants to read the full grow history of this trial, there is a summary here on our blog, plus links to the previous reports.

Now I know there are probably lots of things we didn't do that maybe we should have .. please remember though that I am just Jo Bloggs growing a bit of weed in my spare room LOL, but I did try and make the trial as objective as I possibly could, with pots labelled, temps recorded etc. I know the data isn't empirical enough to convince any real close-minded doubters; but I can also say hand in heart, that I AM NOW CONVINCED: LEDS not only can produce a good crop, they can do it better than an HPS.
(you'll have to read the link above to find out by how much).

So I put it to you guys her on roll-it-up: what do you think?

and what do you think needs to be done in a second trial?

no link? ?

sorry link works fine on my pc ... but its a very subtle one on the word "here" : here it is again!! read blog report here

From my reading here....you replace the 120w fero for the 256w(actual draw) fero to compare against a 250w hps??? You matched it watt for watt and the fero is $400 more than the hps(what he says it costs) and yielded 40g more(not bad)......Still it could be genetics....ha

40g more on these little autos = 25% more bud ...

My first LED purchase was going to be a Fero 360 4G. I ordered my light, and got a call notifying me that the Fero building in BC, Canada was waiting on parts to complete my panel from China and it would be an additional two weeks until the unit even shipped. I'm not trying to rag on FERO or Brent for that matter, but it would have been nice to know that the panels were out of stock before sending out a $400 payment. Along with this, I got another call after the second, delaying my delivery even further. I really wanted to try a FERO panel, but I couldn't wait that long and it was getting complicated / a little hassling. However, Brent did refund me right away which was nice.

If the journal is legit then I am still quite interested in FERO and where they'll end up in the LED growing industry.

that's a shame .. I know from my grow that they have been in the process of changing spectrums & trying to max the potential of the lights they sell (I know this because they offered me the new one). I've always found Brent to be a straight up kinda guy. Personally, as a small business myself, I have respect for some one putting up their product for public testing. I made it quite clear from the start that I would be going from start to finish with a blog & grow reports of the trial, warts and all and whatever the result was.

I know there's going to be some doubts about the impartiality of any trial like this, without giving out my real identity theres no way to prove anything ... I am a real person, and a real anonymous internet grower too, with a profile & friends on FB (as Campo) etc long predating this trial ..