Has anyone grown HPS and LED? I am wondering what the real life comparison is. I see the LED lights at 1200W, wondering how it stands up against a 1200W HPS. Anything?
When I was first introduced to LED I was told they suck. They won't grow anything, but they will rob your wallet. I was shown a book that stated they are inferior. I liked LED lights though, so I kept researching. It seemed like there really were a lot of bad lights out there, but then there were some good ones. Expensive though. Well I took the plunge and bought a 350 watt LED light for near a thousand dollars. My other lights are 400 watt HID lights, but using cheap iPower or Apollo bulbs. Both seem to veg plants very well, the LED creating much more tightly spaced nodes. I attribute that to being able to get real close to the plant. I use cool tubes for my HIDs so they can get close too, but it's still a whole different story than the front face of the LED (the back still produces heat). Past that it seems to have trouble during flowering, but supplemented with a HID light it is wonderful. The size seems to come from the HID lights and the frosty, trichome laden bit comes from the LED (maybe because mine is full spectrum with UV lights). I know I didn't answer directly, but this is what experience I have. 1200 watt HID don't exist though. Most used are 150, 250, 400, 600, 1000 for MH/HPS and there is a 1500 watt HPS but I don't know if that is tailored to a growing spectrum. When looking at LED look for a few things... 1. Reviews. I wonder if things are too good to be true, so I type into Google what I am researching + scam. Example "1200 watt General LED Grow Light by XXX company scam." I try to find bad stuff about the product. That way I start off with the worst things about the product, which generally can be a deciding factor in a purchase before anything else. If 50 people say the light wasn't as pictured, doesn't work, caught on fire (seriously), didn't grow anything, credit card info stolen, etc." That's a huge indicator. I know, common sense. But I think it's smart to see both sides of the story, just like in an argument. 2. Actual draw. Some lights will say 1000 watt LED! But then draw something like 250 watts. Same story as CFL replacement watts not meaning what the actual draw is. 3. Look for good diodes, such as CREE integrated. I think Bridgelux is another good brand to see. 4. Diode size seems to matter. Lenses matter in regards to angle, opacity, quality of glass. May not be too big of a game changer, but if a company works with it to better YOUR results, they are working in your favor trying to get you more bang for your buck. They can also be a bad thing. Take for example a HID MH bulb in a cool tube. The glass filters out UV (or UV-B?) light. Something that can be used for the plant, but doesn't kill it if absent/hindered.