Which do you use or prefer and what is your reasoning behind it. I personally am using a MH bulb right now but considering all options for my next grow. Cheers.
It's a learning curve alright, those from the ghettos or underage start with CFL's, those from the capitalist elite start with LED's, and those who parents were hippies, grow in the sun, whilst ex cons use T8 -T5's in time many go the Mh/HPS route, may be a little more expensive on the power, but you get bud
Lol, this is a weird post^ I don't think any light compares to hid (hps/mh) I've tried them all. T5-8s and cfls are ok for vegging if you are broke. I ended up at 400watts with cfls compared to a 400w single hps. Electricity was the same, give or take 20-30 watts. The hps produced ten times as much. LEDs IMO, lack a lot. The buds seem starved. Hps and mh is just incomparable to the others. As an example I did all organic grows, changing nothing but the lights over a 1 year period, three grows, 4 months each, 2 months veg, 2 months flower, some a little less, some a little longer. I went from ounces on a plant to a pound dry per plant from just switching to hid from the others, specifically to hps. Would rather not grow ever again than use the others. Considering a single hps cost 30-50 per month compared to 25-40 for cfl, I see no point in wasting electricity. Experience made me biased, and I cringe when I hear people recommend cfls now..... I ended up producing so much weed accidently that I gave most of it away to friends, neighbors, and family. The compliment that I recieved was that it was the best they'd ever smoked, had, etc. some people offered me stupid amounts of money for a single jar. I couldn't give the cfl buds away. The plants did fine through veg, albeit slow growth compared to other lights, but bud production was seriously lacking. No dense buds, real airy. The high wasn't bad, but left a lot to be desired. Nobody could tell me though, cause I had grown my own and was convinced nothing was better...boy was I surprised later! I'll admit, my first few grows I was impressed that I had even grown bud using cfls, since they were my first grows. But after adding an hps and seeing the difference, I put the cfls growbox away forever. Felt really sorry that my plants had starved so much and I didn't even know it. LEDs just didn't cut it for me. They were expensive, the buds were small but dense, which some like, but everything was just tiny. Some of my friends added cfls to the LEDs because they had the same reaction. Did some reading on par light, had high hopes for PLASMA lights, which OP didn't even mention, probably because they cost an arm, leg, and two nuts, but until we have some kind of solar light that completely mimicks spectrum, it's hids for me!
I'm sure you can edit that wall of informative text to 4 sentences .....lol good post ps Lol, this is a weird post...is google translate ...lol
the only real reason to encourage cfls are for the very reason I only use them micro growing its the only light imo that works in small spaces so imo the only thing with light choices is space
CFL's are cheap and easy - that's the only benefit. T5 and T8 are in same category as CFL's but a little more expensive and work a little better (more efficient) LEDs work well if you buy a quality (expensive) fixture. Personally, I think they don't nearly live up to the hype. HID is where it's at. There's a reason that all of the pros use HID lighting. You can't beat the price to performance even when considering electricity costs, etc.
Look up TrueLiteLeds im thinkin to buy one of thede tlm150 an use it for a small 2x2 space just to see if it will be better then my 2ft 4 bulb t5...let me kno what u think Only led company that is truthful! Sent from my SCH-M828C using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Would certainly be better than your T5 fixture. Although I would try to step up to a 250W LED fixture if you can find the scratch.
A true 250 watt for a 2 x 2 room?? Thats overkill dont ya think Sent from my SCH-M828C using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I like lots of light. Overkill - maybe, but just a little. I'm sure a 200W light would fit the bill if it's a true 200W.
My cfl setup let me know if its good http://forum.grasscity.com/index.php?/topic/1245419-Do-you-guys-think-my-grow-will-complete-with-current-setup? Sent from my LG-L38C using Grasscity Forum mobile app
There's no such thing as overkill with LEDs. There's not enough light there to allow the plant to grow to its full potential, which is why people add cfls/t5s/8s along side them.
It can yes but not as good for flower. I would get an enhanced spectrum hps (one with more blue) to use for veg and flower. Sent from my NSA recording device.
Yeah they're better than cfl's but flowering with MH doesn't give you the same density that hps does. Sent from my NSA recording device.