But then again, both hps and led suck balls compared to the sun. Although here in sunny upland California, I can't keep those fargin white butterflies from laying eggs in the plants and having all those little caterpillars eating the hell out of the plant...lol Sent from my Nexus 5 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
You shouldnt have to alter your growing methods to fit your light. It requires less water and less nutes because its growing slower. 2+2= 4 You can combat all of the claims you made against hps by growing in the winter. I grew in the winter once a year for a couple years, grew a few pounds and would stop til next winter. Getting a couple pounds off a couple plants should be anyones goal. You shouldnt have to compromise anything in my opinion. If your led fails in 5 years are you one of those people who will shell out another 2-800 or do you delude yourself that the "investment was worth it?" i can only assume that in five years when ive grown 30 more pounds of weed and havent spent a dime on new bulbs (since i already stocked up for years/investment) that i will see you making one of the two claims above. Should be interesting to see. Ill apologize sincerely if I am wrong. OP made an excellent point mathematically about them not paying for themselves fast enough. Also, for your caterpillar problem, spray some safer brand garden dust on your blants at night. The moths/butterflies/caterpillars will consume it all and die. I agree, if i could grow outside without being murdered for my crop i would. But here in southern california, things are different. Have you heard of lassen county/susanville/janesville? I grew up there
True that the sun is the best option. Unfortunately pests will always be an issue growing outdoors unless in a sealed greenhouse.
I know youre using hps, i was just providing you more info based on my own recent purchase/experience. I got anxiety from watchin those plants slow to a crawl. The same is true of antibiotics. I buy 100 antibiotics online for cats/dogs. Side by side they have the same numbers and all as human antibiotics, since the difference is in how theyre marketed. Wifes a nurse and i spent a few years living with doctors, so know what im doing. Anyhow, they mix it all in one batch then some goes to a pharmacy, requiring a doctor visit for say ten pills and the other batch goes to vets and warehouses and requires no prescription. Ive cut my doctor visits by 2/3rds by doing my research on this type of stuff. And it only costs me like 25 bucks...to get the same pills id get going to the doctor ten different times. Sorry so off topic just felt relevant. If youre interested in the source for these antibiotics pm me. We keep backups of the lot
I know what it's like to have to take antibiotics for months. Not fun! But I ended up hunting for pills too, and reached a similar conclusion as you. Oh man, it's so nice to recover from serious long-term illnesses. I don't even like to think back to those days. I appreciate the comment about the HPS vs MH. I didn't realize it was such a drastic difference in plant growth.
Thanks for your encouragement. While I would love to contribute to the community via a grow journal, I cannot. I should probably take this time to mention that all the information I have provided here is purely theoretical in nature, for the purposes of helping others who may be interested. For various reasons I would never actually grow or possess marijuana, I just enjoy contributing to the science in my own little way.
I love my t5 system it is great for noding. Because you can put right on top blows it up. Let's Smoke About It..... http://forum.grasscity.com/index.php?/topic/1320164-Sade's-First-Grow-Green-Crack
I was continuing Cervantes' Grow Bible, and ran into this info just now that seemed relevant to some of our discussion above: Also he had mentioned that there have been few technical advances in HID technology, and that the bulbs have had only a few small improvements over the past 20 years or so.
The only thing I was curious about is how much of a difference the digital ballasts/lamps made on HID performance. His book was last updated in mid-2011, which I think was just before the digital ballasts started becoming mainstream. Also I've wondered if the "digital bulbs" (the ones that supposedly work better with the digital ballasts) were just a marketing gimmick. I used to buy the $90 CAP Digilux bulbs for my digital ballasts, before switching to these $25 iPower bulbs.
I heard of susanville.that's like up north somewhere? Central Cali? I live in so cal. Sent from my Nexus 5 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
laugh if you want. If you try a 200 watt cfl on one plant, you'll never go back to hid. Considering the heat, and the electric bill. 2 plants? well then I would agree, the coverage is very weak. The best grower I know grows 2 plants under 250 watt mh. No hps. one plant growing is more about growing technique than lights or fertilizers you try that 200 watt cfl, and it will rekindle your love of growing pot. I know I love mine.
I started out with a single plant and 350w cfls. Then onto 3 plants under the same. I changed NOTHING and went to HPS. Ounces to POUNDS like that **snaps fingers** same food, same training, same methods, same everything, better lights made all the difference. I didnt start with HPS, I arrived there. Much like you went the opposite way. My bill didnt change at all since i changed all the bulbs in my house to 13w cfls.
I hear ya, one by one my house gets replaced by cfl as the old incandescents burn out. 1000bulbs was advertising the old 120 watts. Wish I would have bought some. They are running an add now on ebay for a 400 watt hps or mh, your choice, or both for $100. You can't beat that. I'm not a big fan of 400 watt. All the heat, not much light. good luck to you, enjoy your light, I'll enjoy mine pretty sure when it comes to yield, you will outperform me when it comes to enjoyment, well, we'll just have to smoke a bowl together and talk about it or we can just post on the internet
Your last two posts have talked about me rekindling my love for growing. When it comes to enjoyment? Whos to Judge that? Im happy with my lights, youre happy with yours, i dont understand those words or where theyre coming from my friend. I owe my life to cannabis, which is why ive dedicated the rest of my life to helping others with cannabis. Fyi, cfls are 25-40 cents every spring at walmart. Would be a wise investment to spend 6 bucks and drop your bill to the floor. My bill when growing a single 600w with a family of six, low income discount and frugal as hell is always under a hundred dollars. Used to stay around 70 with one light and 35-40 without any lights. Mid summer had the bill highest ive ever seen in my life at 250. Not bad for central cali imo. Ill smoke a bowl with you any time my friend and didnt mean to make this into a pissing contest. I personally wasnt happy with my buds beings airy at all, which was consistant with cfls. I remember it would take 3-4 weeks to see as much growth under a cfl as 4 days under and hps. I never saw "plant hair" on my leaves til i switched to hps. They cant get enough light.
ok, the original op question was what is the best light for one plant in a small tent. I vote for a 200 watt cfl, you vote for a 600 watt hps. Both of our opinions have been duly noted. Hey man, when do you want to smoke that bowl? I'm getting a little light. Can't really grow that much under a cfl.
Your sarcasm was duly noted. Ive yet to see anyone put cfl pics up to compare to hps. Cant say im all that surprised tbh.
Just for the record, 1 of my 2 new iPower bulbs ended up to be a dud. I'm gonna see if I still have time to return it. Today I switched my MH lamps to HPS, so that's why I tested these new bulbs for my first time today.
Just to note: the iPower bulb wasn't actually bad. It ended up to be a strange problem where my Lumatek digital ballast stopped working for all HPS bulbs. It still works for MH bulbs. And my other identical Lumatek ballast still works for HPS. The ironic thing is that iPower is a cheap brand, but Lumatek is one of the more expensive ones (the Lumatek was broken, not the iPower).