LED vs CFL vs Mh/Hps

hello every1.

This question has been put out there b4, but what is the "best" light/conbination.

Can Led be used for both veg and flower?

Does the same go for Cfl's?

If I use both Led and cfl will it be a good combo?

Please help me with some good advice, planting season is only 1 month away

zerocrombie said:

If I use both Led and cfl will it be a good combo?

Click to expand...

It can be but it depends on the configuration. CFL's are fairly uniform in quality but not all LED lights are created equal. The good ones are rather pricey. The new 180W Jumbo UFO looks very impressive but it's around $700. The 300W lights go for as much as $1400. I'd love to give one a shot but I'm going to have to stack my chips first. Lastly, let me just state for the record that I'm a MH/HPS guy but I'm very open-minded to some of the newer LED offerings.

what about cfl's though.

I think theres one like 105w = 400watts.

or general ones that are like 45w=150w

maybe 2 of thos on the sides and a Ufo led above the plants.

I read in a tutorial by Ed Rosenthal, the pot guru, that HPS is the most efficient for both vegetative and flowering. I don't know first hand though. Regarding LED, they are supposed to be good from start to finish. Mine, has blue and red spectrum, but much more red than blue which is good for flowering. However, I've heard that flowering with an LED will yield less goodies, and I'm about to find out here in months to come. Maybe use an LED for an inexpensive way to veg, then switch over to HPS to get max. yield? I may end up doing that as well.

I agree with Cr8z13 on the LED side of things, They work great as long as you get them close enough to your plant. CFL's are proven to work. Several growers use them, b/c they are cheap and easy to come by,and they dont use that much electricity. A lot of people say that they arent powerful enough for the flowing stage, but they work fantastically. Granted the setup had 12x42w bulbs. Plant got over 5'5". With a QP yield. Hope that helps answer your question.


When all are Freedoms are outlawed, only the Outlaws are FREE.

how about just using 2-4 high power cfl's with maybe a 90w led above

there would be much better light coverage that way.

that would also be around 700 watts for 200 watts on the power bill.

zerocrombie said:

I think theres one like 105w = 400watts.

or general ones that are like 45w=150w

Click to expand...

zerocrombie said:

that would also be around 700 watts for 200 watts on the power bill.

Click to expand...

No, don't be fooled. The "equivalent wattage" thing is bullshit, and is just used in marketing the bulbs, in comparison to incandescent bulbs. 200 watts is 200 watts worth of light, no more.

My advice would be to forget the LED thing for now, and go with either CFLs, or better still, a small HPS (150 or 250 watt).

Unless you have money for those LED's Nasa uses I would go with HID

zerocrombie said:

what about cfl's though.

I think theres one like 105w = 400watts.

or general ones that are like 45w=150w

Click to expand...

Yes, they have bigger ones that they use for Flood lights and outdoor lighting. A friend used one, but they get really hot and they are more blue in color which will not give the best results when flowering.