I have a HID setup now. I am changing to LED. I am wondering does the transition from HID to led have any effect of the plant? Is it best to start from a seed with LED? I ask all this because I dont want to buy LED light then ose my plants cause they are use to HID lights. Is that valid or am I reading too much into it????? Please post only if you have used both HID and LED. I appreciate it. Thank you, kindly.
There shouldn't be too many issues, assuming you have a similar amount of light. (600w HID replaced with 600w LED) Things to consider: HID light scatters in a wider pattern than LED. LED is somewhat more focused (depending on which LEDs are used) This could cause some areas of the plant to no longer be in direct light. These may or may not dry up and wither away. If you are significantly changing the amount of light, then you may need to revisit your feed schedule. If you are replacing a 600W HPS with a 240w LED, then you'll have less heat output, and may need to supplement heat to the grow in order to maintain a similar temperature as before. This would counteract any perceived energy savings.
Thank you for the response. My biggest reason for needing to move to LED is the heat output. Im using a measly 250 watts and cant get the temps below 80F. My AC bill is getting high too not to mention I am freezing in my house trying to keep my plants cool. So while I suffer they grow....I need to make a change. I have 3 fans in the grow space. I stood inside the grow space and it is like a hurricane in their! the rate of air flow is high but the temps are not coming down. A lot of air is getting pushed out while a lot of air is entering the grow space, which is good, but the temps refuse to lower.... Money is not my problem, I just dont want to make the investment and lose all my plants. That would be a horrible thing. I water every 1-2 days, and mist daily to keep things "moist". So, I thank you for the post, but I dont want technical details, I am looking for life experience, here. I already read a million articles of what could happen, etc., but i want to know things like, If you made a change from HID to LED, what was your experience from it? Any plants die? what was your time change for light on and off? How was the energy savings? what was the wattage you change from and to? etc. I appreciate it, everyone. Thanks.
Original Past, is correct, see it as a penetration thing, and mostly on the lower leaves too, if you are flowering on a HPS now, I'd stick to it, until harvest, then start the next grow LED only, or just veg on LED and bud on HPS, options for your lifestyle...lol You issue is temperature based, so lights on at night, like they do in Australia, and off during the day, to avoid the day time heat, or increase the size of your grow space, Volume, so as to have more cubic feet of air, grow autos, that germ and budd very quick(short stuff) avoid sativa based strains that can take for ages to finish Really many many tricks to play with, and the best of them come from guys like you WITH A VERY SERIOUS NEED! pix would be nice here: California Lightworks 200w Solarflare http://www.californialightworks.com/Products_SolarFlare.htm
Thanks for the post. And yes I stick to indicas, lights on at night, although i dont do autos, i do DO fem indicas. Mainly white strains (medical). I dont smoke sativas at all. Its indica or bust! Anyway, I will try to expand the grow space to see if that solves the issue. I did some measurements and came up with the option that I can go from 3x2 to 8x4. And thats feet. I dont do many at one time......Thats going to change though. So I will try to make the most of the space I have. Heat is my main concern, really. I think I will invest in a bigger grow space as well as the LED's. I think that should work. Thanks again for the posts.
Most LED light assemblies do not have vent fittings. I had to design a heat extraction manifold for my CLW 800 Solarstorm, but it works great. Never going back to HID unless I have to.