To do , Or not to do? That is the question!

I'm growing 2 girls at a time, stealth like grow (i don't have much space in my appartment)
Should i invest in a good LED panel ? currently i grow under a 250w hps with 4 additional 23w CFL's.
i've read alot about LED's having better results in small grows with less power consumption and significantly less heath build-up!

My problem is kinda that my closet i'm growing in is 2ft deep, 4ft wide, and 4ft high. so i need to be able to cover most of the 4ft width with just 1 led pannel. or maybe 2 smaller ones (but i guess this will bump up the investment?)

let me know what you guys think, i'd like some opinions of growers who have hands-on experience with both LED and HPS;

Go led only if you are going to invest in the latest cob led systems

I am all LED and love it. Look into Area 51... I use a couple of theirs for flower and just normal home depot cree led bulbs for veg..

Go to the LED section in the indoor grow. There is a wealth of knowledge there. Also, look up growmau5 on you tube a watch his 7 part DIY LED build. Cree CXB3590 COBs would be perfect for your situation.

The best thing about LED is whatever you buy today will be worthless in a few months.
Look at all those people running around with 1 watt LED bulbs, then 3 watt LED bulbs, hell where are they even at now? 5 watt or 7 watt? Can the guy with 1 watt LEDs even throw that shit in the garbage now after paying 800 bucks 5 years ago....

Btw, my 150 dollar 600watt HID is still kickin strong.

althor said:

The best thing about LED is whatever you buy today will be worthless in a few months.
Look at all those people running around with 1 watt LED bulbs, then 3 watt LED bulbs, hell where are they even at now? 5 watt or 7 watt? Can the guy with 1 watt LEDs even throw that shit in the garbage now after paying 800 bucks 5 years ago....

Btw, my 150 dollar 600watt HID is still kickin strong.

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This is my biggest concern realy.
Spending money on smth that is still being developed so strongly...
Heath is also concerning me cause 4-5 months a year i can't grow under my hps :'(

shpongler said:

This is my biggest concern realy.
Spending money on smth that is still being developed so strongly...
Heath is also concerning me cause 4-5 months a year i can't grow under my hps :'(

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Look up California light works solar flare 220w... It will cost a little more than you want to spend but it doesn't give off much heat and it will be great in that area.

I run that light in a 2x2x4 tent in my apartment, Bill only went up like 10-15 bucks. And with no fan max temps get up to 85 in the tent. I live in so cal and exhaust outside

It really depends upon your budget. Go all led if you can afford to replace with something decent but if good quality is out of reach stick with your hid- I bought some low end LEDs and find they are only good for veg or as side lighting.

Why don't you just get a cool tube and inline fan?

Keep the good light and destroy the temps. Your total electrical cost might be higher but you might be sacrificing some bud quantity or quality by switching to LED.

t5 preferred over led here. old school. I know they work . best to air cool them get a larger bulb 400 or so hps

Do a t5 panel it will be great for ur area

dabbindylan said:

Do a t5 panel it will be great for ur area

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i've been thinking about that ...
but it's also a costly affair compared to HPS... if i want to invest in a decent T5 or even T8 setup it will cost me about the same as a small size led panel....
it's so hard on what to decide.
I've seen lots of youtube vids / posts about LED being awsome and all but ... i'm just not sure if buying one is the right thing to do.
also, alot of Fluorescent tubes will build up alot of heath aswell, tough that would be easily removed since i could just make a armature that is basicaly the same surface area of the area i'm growing. so i guess most of the produced heath will be going above the lights and not under where the girls are growing....
HMHMHMHMHMHMMMMMMMMMMMM
so many possibilities.

i'll see how growing with Fluorescent tubes work in a little experiment i'm doing now (trying to get myself some seeds)
if the buds swell nicely under the t8's i have right now i might go for it. it's also very practical for my grow space actualy ....
and seeing RM3's results under FT's it surely is a possibility

T5 and t8 are differnt yo