what is the biggest advantage of LED grow light?
- Thread starter Amy0824
- Start date
Endur0xX
Well-Known Member
you might get better response the LED section. Advanges are lower heat, lower power consumption. The bad is it`s hard to buy the right light for your need, lots of scammers out there. You may want to ask RIU users opinion of the light you are about to buy before buying it.
Scupra
Well-Known Member
I just recently saw some new lights on htgsupply made by AgroMax and they look niiice.
Daemonn789
Active Member
This is from my post from earlier today in the LED section in regards to your question:
If anyone is going to get growing more than 4 plants, I would highly suggest looking at having a minimum of 450w of LED. Whether you split it between two panels or one large, you need to achieve ACTUAL WATTAGE comparable to the HID equivalent wattage if you expect to yield similar results. When planning your grow, factor in the actual watts your lights are pumping out. Add each light source up - whatever lights are being used - that is your final wattage. From there we benchmark 1g/w and say hopefully we are doing everything right on our end and leave the rest up to the power of the lights. So if you have a great set up in terms of nutes, medium, ventiliation etc... and use a total of 200-300w between whatever light sources (HID, LED, CFL, T5...) expect to yield at best 200-300 grams.
Moral of the story is a 150w LED set up will yield AT BEST ~150g. And that is if everything goes PERFECT, 100% efficiency. I feel some people forget this when assessing LEDs. Anywho, I use LEDs in my set up for a few reasons:
Temperature - I don't have an A/C or a portable. It costs a decent penny even to run a portable where I am, on top of its initial cost. Don't have the need for intake/exhaust fans as heavily. Can get by with one or the other sometimes. I don't use an intake fan, just exhaust. Passive intake works just fine.
Headroom - LED panels are usually pretty thin, letting the plants have more room to grow or allowing your set up to be smaller if need be. If I had an HID set up, I would not be able to move around in my tent like I can now.
Power Cost - It's cheap. They truly don't impact the bill so harshly because of their efficiency. I also dont need to run nearly as much cooling. Dont need to run an a/c unit, heavy extraction fans, or humidifier/dehumidifier. All of those can sometimes pull as much or more juice than your lights.
No Bulbs - I will never have to change a bulb or replace one. HID Bulbs can burn out as fast as 2-3 cycles, its not uncommon for them to die during the first run!
Voodoo - Unproven, but commonly talked about in LED grow journals is that people report frostier nugs when using LEDs. Some people attribute the idea to the fact that they don't directly radiate hot air/heat at the tops of your plants, allowing resin build up that would previously not form due to heat. Heat degrades THC, so I guess it couldn't hurt to reduce the heat hitting the tops of the plants while maintaining proper ambient temps.
It's all about what works for you. I was originally going to buy serious wattage HIDs simply to get into it serious style. I became space limited due to life stuff and had to adjust. Now, after having one LED grow under my built and the second underway - I feel the potential and technology is really there now. All I gotta do now is step up my grow game as I am new to growing medical cannabis, the rest will come because I've seen the power of LEDs first hand.
I've been made a "believer" through my experiences.
I also posted some info on legit LED companies. I am in no way affiliated with any of them. Here's the post slightly edited:
LEDs can most definitely veg and flower, you just need to get the right ones. Here's just a few journals under ONLY LEDs:
2 Plants SCROG under a Magnum
2.5 Lbs (1111g) grown under 1020w of only LED
546g under 600w
There are a few companies that stand out among others, I'll try to list a few:
Not so expensive:
Blackstar
Pro-Grow
Not cheap:
Kessil
Magnum
Spectra
Penetrator
ProSource
There are more to list, many companies still emerging. The market is ever changing. There are a few tips when growing LED:
-Temps will be lower for sure and this can affect ventilation and then watering etc...
-You will need to move them around a lot height wise until you find the optimal distance each grow.
-Be patient, flowering may require an extra week to really pack on the extra weight in some cases.
Well, both threads are over in the LED section if you want to read more.
If anyone is going to get growing more than 4 plants, I would highly suggest looking at having a minimum of 450w of LED. Whether you split it between two panels or one large, you need to achieve ACTUAL WATTAGE comparable to the HID equivalent wattage if you expect to yield similar results. When planning your grow, factor in the actual watts your lights are pumping out. Add each light source up - whatever lights are being used - that is your final wattage. From there we benchmark 1g/w and say hopefully we are doing everything right on our end and leave the rest up to the power of the lights. So if you have a great set up in terms of nutes, medium, ventiliation etc... and use a total of 200-300w between whatever light sources (HID, LED, CFL, T5...) expect to yield at best 200-300 grams.
Moral of the story is a 150w LED set up will yield AT BEST ~150g. And that is if everything goes PERFECT, 100% efficiency. I feel some people forget this when assessing LEDs. Anywho, I use LEDs in my set up for a few reasons:
Temperature - I don't have an A/C or a portable. It costs a decent penny even to run a portable where I am, on top of its initial cost. Don't have the need for intake/exhaust fans as heavily. Can get by with one or the other sometimes. I don't use an intake fan, just exhaust. Passive intake works just fine.
Headroom - LED panels are usually pretty thin, letting the plants have more room to grow or allowing your set up to be smaller if need be. If I had an HID set up, I would not be able to move around in my tent like I can now.
Power Cost - It's cheap. They truly don't impact the bill so harshly because of their efficiency. I also dont need to run nearly as much cooling. Dont need to run an a/c unit, heavy extraction fans, or humidifier/dehumidifier. All of those can sometimes pull as much or more juice than your lights.
No Bulbs - I will never have to change a bulb or replace one. HID Bulbs can burn out as fast as 2-3 cycles, its not uncommon for them to die during the first run!
Voodoo - Unproven, but commonly talked about in LED grow journals is that people report frostier nugs when using LEDs. Some people attribute the idea to the fact that they don't directly radiate hot air/heat at the tops of your plants, allowing resin build up that would previously not form due to heat. Heat degrades THC, so I guess it couldn't hurt to reduce the heat hitting the tops of the plants while maintaining proper ambient temps.
It's all about what works for you. I was originally going to buy serious wattage HIDs simply to get into it serious style. I became space limited due to life stuff and had to adjust. Now, after having one LED grow under my built and the second underway - I feel the potential and technology is really there now. All I gotta do now is step up my grow game as I am new to growing medical cannabis, the rest will come because I've seen the power of LEDs first hand.
I've been made a "believer" through my experiences.
I also posted some info on legit LED companies. I am in no way affiliated with any of them. Here's the post slightly edited:
LEDs can most definitely veg and flower, you just need to get the right ones. Here's just a few journals under ONLY LEDs:
2 Plants SCROG under a Magnum
2.5 Lbs (1111g) grown under 1020w of only LED
546g under 600w
There are a few companies that stand out among others, I'll try to list a few:
Not so expensive:
Blackstar
Pro-Grow
Not cheap:
Kessil
Magnum
Spectra
Penetrator
ProSource
There are more to list, many companies still emerging. The market is ever changing. There are a few tips when growing LED:
-Temps will be lower for sure and this can affect ventilation and then watering etc...
-You will need to move them around a lot height wise until you find the optimal distance each grow.
-Be patient, flowering may require an extra week to really pack on the extra weight in some cases.
Well, both threads are over in the LED section if you want to read more.
Someguy15
Well-Known Member
No one mentioned it, but a LED panel will never penetrate as deeply as a 1000w hps. The biggest thing holding back LED is cost. Daemonn makes a good point about the wattage necessary to match HID. Price out a complete 1000w HPS setup, with top of line bulb and hood, your talking like 450. Now price out 1000w of LEDhttps://www.rollitup.org/members/daemonn789-365257.html, first of all your talking multiple panels to even achieve that, second of all I'm pretty sure most 250w ish panels are going for 4-500 each. So 2gs vs 450. Now obviously in the long run LED might save on A/C, but certainly will make no difference in humidity situation. The reduced heat is also nice for small spaces. But if your looking to get anything serious off LED, you better be prepared to drop 2g on lights. It's just hard to recommend to someone when 450-550 (with fan) will get you the same coverage and better penetration. And if the wattage matches you HID wattage, your electricity savings they tote are out the window. They do work, but they got probably 10 years or more before they become cost effective, and by then technologies like Sulpur plasma or induction might even make them more obsolete. If your doing a small grow, you need small space, low cooling, and you've got a lot of dough burning in your pocket LED might be right for you.
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