LED VS HPS

Not an easy subject to cover tbf 😉

Depends on your situation, but for me, HPS is king for flowering. Quantum board are awesome but too expensive. HPS is cheap and easy, you have to know more about how light works if you want to grow LED 

@macky

Nice one mate, I’ve always done hps veg/flower just wanted to know how many agree lol ????

Well, Metal Halide is better for veg, as it has the blue light spectrum the plants prefer, the switch to HPS when flowers start forming. Or you can use dual spectrums the whole way. 

100% led for me.

I run low watts for veg. Around 90w in a 80x80x160 tent.

450w in my main tent 1.2x1.2x1.8

I use 3500k cobs and grow autos 90% of the time. 

All my cobs can be dimmed down to 10% and I love the flexibility 

Using some more single cobs at 60w each if I ever need to add more.

My main reason was heat,electric cost and coverage. 

I find it much easier to grow with multiple lights than a big fuck off bulb.

@ivean420

Nice one mate bet you grow some lovely stuff! I’m liking the cobs ??

Don't get me wrong, I use HPS, CMH and LED lights, Its just them good LEDs cost a lot of money on the initial set up. I wanna build my own QB, but waiting for Ivan to write a guide 😉 

I think, QBs will rule one day, but HPS is just well known and reliable. You know you're gonna get good flowers with it. 

@macky

I'm yet to try some qb's and tbh I dont really see any benefit over the cobs.

Only reason I think I'd change now was if I was having height issues. Qb's seem to be great if have a small space. 

Qbs can also run a bit cooler than cobs but being in the uk I need more heat from my lights during the colder months or I have to add heating which defeats the object of keeping leccy costs down.

In my 1.2 tent I run 8 autos under 450w and get a minimum of 1.2 gpw 

I think the lowest I've had is around 2oz per plant but I have hit around 1.7 gpw and they average out at around 2.5/3 oz per plant. 

My very first grow I used 2x 400w hps and they just didnt have the spread I wanted so swapped them for cobs and dont think I'll ever go back.

Before I purchased the cobs I priced up moving over to cmh but with all the parts needed and the new bulbs etc every 12-18 months the cobs were much more cost effective and I took 300w of light away

im yet to try either man lol. I've not done cobs or QBS, either one looks good. 

Yep, IMO, the best LEDs are better than the best HIDs, but the best HIDs cost WAY less than the best LEDs, initially... so it's a cost/benefit thing I think...depending on your situation. I've run mid-grade versions of both... flower from my LED seemed a bit denser/tighter/more fragrant, but the HPS plants were bigger and more yieldy.... so I dunno. LoL. Hard question... replacing bulbs does suck though... ? 

Ive had this discussion lots over the past two months and quite frankly, lights are specific to the grower. Both HID and LED have pros and cons.  Is a painter or a sculptor  the better artist?

Its all about PAR. Scientists are involved now so we have leds that can hit the specific nanometers required for chlorophyll a and b to flourish in between 400-700 nanometer PAR. HID hit those nanometers in shear penetration. They measure this in umols( micromol). One umol is equivalent to 602 quadrillion photons of light. For example: An illuminare Il8 8 bar led fixture puts out 600 u mols compared to a 1000w phillips hps bulb doing 484 umols both measured from 6”. Both will flower great. One costs twice as much. One you don’t need to switch bulbs every nine months. Yadda yadda back and forth. 

I personally use both. It’s all about bringing outside to the inside and creating a perfect balance between all of your equipment so we can emulate nature as best we can. I’ve heard all the same arguments from both sides and imo one is not better than the other, your the artist, you decide what works best for you. 

Posted by: @fukentokin

Is a painter or a sculptor  the better artist

This is exactly it man lol. we all have different situations we are growing in, and we all use whats best for us. There is no right or wrong answer as long as the plants stay happy

Totally agree but........

My main issue is power consumption. We are unfortunately forced to grow indoors under artificial light. The amount of power that people who grow weed use is way to much.

Even with my leds I hit 1kw per hour with all my fans,extractor etc

That's not sustainable for the planet 🙁 

When I was using hid lighting I was hitting nearly 2kw per hour. I needed more extraction in the summer months etc. 

Power consumption was my deciding factor and if it cost me a few hundred to build a lower wattage light then imo it's worth it for the lower consumption:)

Posted by: @ivean420

That's not sustainable for the planet ?

Agree 100% man, I d go for lower wattage lights and get less yield, I have issues with that, just that initial setup cost kills it lol I Love QBs, but I can't afford one right now 🙁 But if I had a choice, I wouldn't be growing with HPS, Id go QBs for sure. right now i use 315 CMH, not using the Hps at all But winter approaches, gonna need the heat then lol

It's not as expensive as you think to start with

1 x https://www.tme.eu/gb/details/rad-a52317_1000/radiators/stonecold/

1 x https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F222462989764

1x

10x IDEAL Solderless Holders for CITIZEN COB CLU048 50-2204CT | eBay

Then about £10 on a dimmer some wire and a plug