Just in case it is useful to somebody one day my last two 250w HPS grows have got 5oz (Chronic) and 5.4oz (Orange bud). Both grows were scrogs using Biobizz nutes in 10L pots of J Innes. Both were in a tent 0.75x0.75x1m. The Chronic was from 2 plants with 60 day veg, the Orange bud was 3 plants 45 days veg. I would be intereted to hear other peoples 250w soil yield just to compere techniques and strains
very nice. I too have a similar sized tent to you but just have a 150w CFL bulb but would hope for at least 1oz from 2 plants. Got any pics so i can see your lst methods etc
no pics i am affraid but i spread them wide as soon as the stems are long enough to take it. Opening the bottom stems up to the light as soon as possible. As long as you can get rid of the heat, i use a cooltube, i would def get a HPS. The diffrence is very noticable.
HPS isn't really that efficient at lower wattages. An equivalent wattage of CFLs or T5s grown by you would produce similar results if you were to use red spectrum bulbs. 150W will of course not perform as well as 250W, regardless of the technologies used (well, ok, MAYBE 150W LED vs 250W other).
Sorry i just checked an has a 250W CFL so could make a good comparission if we grew in a very similar style. I have both spectrums of CFLs to get the best results so will keep you updated. Only thing i would say about CFLs is the light penertration is nothing compared to HPS or MH making it harder to grow taller plants. So i canno use the whole metre of height, instead i woudl say im using 1/3rd and most of that is the pot! Ill perfect it soon maybe with more CFLs or something. Hopefully will suit my needs anyway.
This is a lie that people perpetuate for reasons I don't understand. There is no way that light from one source at a wavelength does ANYTHING different from light from another source at the same wavelength. HID lights do not "penetrate more" for a given output. Period. You should also be putting your CFLs about 1-2" away from your plant and arranging them around it to get maximum effect instead of hanging them all overhead. The "less penetration" idea comes from people using half the wattage of CFLs and putting them 2 feet away like an HID lamp. Surprise surprise, it doesn't work that well.
Fair enough and i am onyl hanging it a few inches away from the plant. im not complaining my plant has been lstd so using a lot ot floor space rather than hieght. Only issue it i have 1 x 250w CFL so cant really move it anywhere, just need few smaller lights. So why do you have to have the CFL closer? Surely you can keep it the same as a HID set up and have the same results? I know that CFLs are lower in temp so you can get them closer and obviously this means less light is wasted etc.
CFLs have a lower efficiency than HID for converting input energy to light. That is made up for by the ability to place them closer. Also, CFLs lose efficiency at higher wattages while HID gains it to a point. T5s are about as efficient as HID lights for input energy to output light, AND you can place them extremely close to the plants.
hey, Im using a 250w and I really appriciate your help with yeild info. as a matter of fact im attempting scrog for my first grow so thoes numbers are lookin mighty fiiiine xD thax again bro
im also in on this, im going to be running a 250w cfl bulb for my flowering and maybe a couple smalle 40wcfl bulbs as well as supplement light, do youthink this will compare to a HPS as far as result go?
i also have a 250w digital ballast with mh/hps bulbs for veg and flowering (for those of you who dont know yes you can use both on the same ballast) i will be using 4 45w cfl's too to help i only have regular plant nutes so hopefully with the added light i can top your yeilds when im dont ill definitally post yeild numbers and some pics. thanks for your yeild info it helps me zero in on what mine is going to turn out like, theres a little difference thow i have 2 bagseed at 4 weeks veg and 3 auto seeds will be going into the germ box very soon for a total of 5 plants if both bagseed turn out female untill then....
penetration is a real argument. you have to have the CFL lamp right above the plants, having it just a few inches away. with a 250w hps you have it placed further away giving the lamp a far bigger foot print of light. but that's only one part. a 250w CFL only uses about 200watts of actual electricity. whereas a 250w hps actually uses over 300watts of electricity. so are an unfair comparison really. plus the 250w CFL will give off much less heat so you can often afford to cram more lamps in to the grow without upgrading the exhaust fan. if you use enough cfls to match the hps's heat output you will be giving your plants much more light and a more even distribution of it
I've seen grows ON THIS SITE using 250-300w cfl and get the same yields as the OP did with HPS... says a lot about experience, knowledge and every other variable there is when it comes to growing! Its not just the light that will give you your yield.
I second this statement Give a noob the same set up and enviroment as an experienced farmer, and it`ll be clear who pulls most. Its not just down to the lamp you choose.
by measuring my 250w hps energy consumption. I believe digital ballasts use a bit less, mine is an old style one
I have to echo the above posts too. so many people on here think that it's all about light, "add more light to increase yield" I read all the time. this is only true if you get all the other factors correct
I just bought one of these... HPS/MH Digital Dimmable Electronic Ballast Hydroponics Grow Light 250W/400W/600W | eBay I want to test the difference between a 125w CFL and a 125w hps when it comes to electricity consumption, heat output, and light output. should be interesting and also test the same between my old 250w hps and the digital 250w hps. I like the extra boost setting too