Hey gang, I don't post much around here, but I do find a it great resource for info on lights. Perhaps not as much with gromau5 so quiet lately, but I'm sure you guys can help fill the void.
I was a long time hold out switching from HPS, mainly because of the cost of the gear. But having had a ballast blow out last year I had to make the jump to LEDs. Thankfully it was right around 4/20 so I scooped a deal on a TS3000 from mars hydro. Now yeah, I've heard all the bad stories about mars and whatnot, but I needed something RIGHT NOW and they not offered something in the right price range, plus they'd pay the return shipping if it turned out to be junk and it arrived when I needed it to.
It's actually turned out to be a pretty decent light. I paid right around $500 Canadian shipped to my door and if I use a 1/2 the wattage as a comparison to HPS at 450W it's yielding about the same as my HPS would if it were 900W. Even with it not having the 660nm reds like the newer models do. I really liked the spread of the light as well. Although I'm finding that at 12" from the canopy its resulting in some minor light burn and the occasional white bud tip in the taller plants. Closer than 12" browns the buds and turn them crusty.
This leads me to my next question. I've kind of tuned out what's going on in the LED world lately since I've made the jump. Now I'm looking to move the TS3000 to veg duty and need a couple of new lights to handle flowering. The room is going to be a couple of 3x3 flood tables side by side which should give me a 4x4 canopy area on each table. Would a 600W quantum board need to be hung higher to eliminate the light burns I'm getting? If so by how much? Is 600W even necessary for a 4x4 space? I'm trying to get back to the 1.5 to 2lbs like I was getting with the HPS @ 1150W. I'm getting 1.25 grams per watt now, growing a variety of strains in each grow and never trying to optimize any one strain for maximum yield.
I'm not stuck on using the quantum boards either. I have no idea what the strips are doing, but they seem to have taken over lately? Whats the benefit over a quantum board? Better spread seems obvious. Would this increase the yield enough with the same wattage? Would it help my light burn issue by spreading out the LEDs more?
The plan now is to hang 2 600W lights, but maybe this is overkill for what I'm trying to achieve. I've only got 7'4" in ceiling height so being able to keep the light somewhat close to the plants is a necessary evil. I'd also like to be able to raise my plants off the floor a bit since my old bones aren't a fan of being bent over all day. So that makes the low ceiling height issue even worse. Would 450W strips work as well as 600W quantum boards for my application?
I was a long time hold out switching from HPS, mainly because of the cost of the gear. But having had a ballast blow out last year I had to make the jump to LEDs. Thankfully it was right around 4/20 so I scooped a deal on a TS3000 from mars hydro. Now yeah, I've heard all the bad stories about mars and whatnot, but I needed something RIGHT NOW and they not offered something in the right price range, plus they'd pay the return shipping if it turned out to be junk and it arrived when I needed it to.
It's actually turned out to be a pretty decent light. I paid right around $500 Canadian shipped to my door and if I use a 1/2 the wattage as a comparison to HPS at 450W it's yielding about the same as my HPS would if it were 900W. Even with it not having the 660nm reds like the newer models do. I really liked the spread of the light as well. Although I'm finding that at 12" from the canopy its resulting in some minor light burn and the occasional white bud tip in the taller plants. Closer than 12" browns the buds and turn them crusty.
This leads me to my next question. I've kind of tuned out what's going on in the LED world lately since I've made the jump. Now I'm looking to move the TS3000 to veg duty and need a couple of new lights to handle flowering. The room is going to be a couple of 3x3 flood tables side by side which should give me a 4x4 canopy area on each table. Would a 600W quantum board need to be hung higher to eliminate the light burns I'm getting? If so by how much? Is 600W even necessary for a 4x4 space? I'm trying to get back to the 1.5 to 2lbs like I was getting with the HPS @ 1150W. I'm getting 1.25 grams per watt now, growing a variety of strains in each grow and never trying to optimize any one strain for maximum yield.
I'm not stuck on using the quantum boards either. I have no idea what the strips are doing, but they seem to have taken over lately? Whats the benefit over a quantum board? Better spread seems obvious. Would this increase the yield enough with the same wattage? Would it help my light burn issue by spreading out the LEDs more?
The plan now is to hang 2 600W lights, but maybe this is overkill for what I'm trying to achieve. I've only got 7'4" in ceiling height so being able to keep the light somewhat close to the plants is a necessary evil. I'd also like to be able to raise my plants off the floor a bit since my old bones aren't a fan of being bent over all day. So that makes the low ceiling height issue even worse. Would 450W strips work as well as 600W quantum boards for my application?