Whats the benefit of LEDs? I dont care what people say, Ive just seen first hand that fluorescent lights are way inferior to mh and hps, from a friends grow. I stick to what works best, but I know nothing about LEDs. Do they work well, and how much heat and electricity do they use vs mh and hps? I might try experimenting next time if LEDs can yield close to as much as the traditional mh and hps.
Yes they work well but you have to spend a fair amount of money. Don't be fooled by the cheap chinese ones or any low wattage LED saying 200 watts equates to 600w HPS etc. Why are they good? Well 90% of a HID's light or more is wasted as heat. LEDs can be precisely dailed in to the spectrum that plants need...thats a challenge in itself though and the cheap ones dont do that. One benefit and its a big one with LEDs is its closer to full spectrum light vs HID. HID your making a choice on the spectrum you want. Plants use the light MH provides most in veg and HPS in flowering...but a plant utilizes a considerable amount more in either...with HID you sacrifice alot of that. The plant adapts though easily in either case. With LEDs theres a crap load more spectrum provided. One of the reasons why outdoor grows rock...sun is full spectrum. Heat? Well I have a 800w Solarstorm LED and have to have my 4 inch inline fan on max to keep it at 80. If I turned it off the tent would be over 100 degrees. It pulls on my killawatt about 700 watts 5.5 amps...700 watts of anything will generate alot of heat. I will be upgrading to a 6 inch inline soon. LED grow lights are a long history before you dive in read read read. Only about 10% of the makers out there are honest. There are tons of cheap rip off ones and expensive rip off ones...that do to LEDs being easy to obtain...there used in everything from traffic lights to electronics. Heres a good website with some limited reviews to start you off...LED Grow Lights Review Are they comparable to MH/HPS yes as well. I would put my 800w Solarstorm against a 600w or 1000w HID light...but it comes at a price. I paid 1000 bucks for mine and that was half off...California Light works has a growers program regular price is 2000 bucks. Im a LED advocate but at 2000 bucks it will take quite some time to pay off for itself if ever. So I never advocate a cost savings. Just depends on what you want. Just be careful on what you buy none of them save about 10% are honest, don't believe the wattage of what they say...its far far less, and good luck!
Hey rhapsody, I recently purchased a 135W Blackstar LED UFO. I read and from what I could find, most people were staisfied. I plan of using it supplemented with CFLs for 1 plant, 2 max in my 2x2x3 grow box. Have you had any use with these products?
I have a Blackstar 240w in my smaller tent. Seemed to do well for 2-3 plants I would say 1-2 should be fine. I wish they would just rate lights as space for growing rather then wattage. Would make it all so much easier.
True, Ive found through here all different wattage types work differently for different people. The main reason for my LED is summer is coming and I need to do everything I can to keep that heat down. For your 240 did you supplement it with anything else or just that light by itself?
Just that. My friend uses that UFO your talking about she seems to be able to grow 2 plants at a time with it. What I mean was I wish rather then wattage something like ... this light is suitable for a 2x2 maximum area etc.
Thanks for all the info! LEDs may definitely be in my future, as soon as I get comfortable with using a hydro setup, I may make the switch.