This is why us LED guys don’t really like to use watts/ft2 as a measurement to model a grow room. As @dbrn32 pointed out, LED manufacturers (specifically the blurple panel makers) list their wattage as the combined total of diodes on the whole board if the diodes are run at full power.
I would say that growing with LED has helped me to “try” to understand what the light actually is doing and providing, and how it’s doing it. I don’t have a full grasp of photosynthetic photon flux but at least I know how to compare lumens/watt in the same spectrums now. When I bought my first grow light I went with the “go big or go home” mentality and bought a “1500w” LED panel. All I knew at the time was the plants needed light so I bought the “biggest” one that fit into my budget.
Ugh.
I’d sure like to have the $500 I spent on Chinese blurple panels back to invest in a DIY build.
I see lights on the bay open for bidding. If your not going to use them any longer you could probably get at least half of what you paid for a lightly used light.
Well boys I guess some can look at it like this too if you have a camper that weighs 6500 lbs do you buy a vehicle that has a 6700 lb tow capacity or one that goes 11,000lb capacity I’m the dude that buys a super duty to tow a jet ski . Come with a higher bill but you always got what u need . But I don’t wanna b that way in my grow room. I’m really interested in these COB lights. Very compact and seem
Powerful . Sorry for my hillbilly analogy. !!!
That will do the trick for sure. You will have to watch out for the heat though. A 1000w bulb puts off almost 4000 btu of heat. So that is one thing to consider. A 600 watt will do to not as much heat will grow a good plant. Actually you can probably dim that one if heat is an issue
I hadn’t had the money after i had bought those other lights that I was told won’t work as well. Although I have switched to 12/12 and bud is starting to show so not sure if the hps light needed? Will they grow better with the hps? Thanks
In my opinion the HPS is more power than what you have going so yes your plants should get more light which means thicker dense buds. I use HPS lighting so I’m less familiar with the LED . But I do know a 1000w HPS will grow a good plant
I have to agree with @timmyv324. Hps is pretty much the standard for growing weed indoors for last 40 years +. They are well known for throwing heat into your space, so some measures need to be taken. A lot of growers using hps that big will use air cooled hoods. They’re more expensive, but can remove a lot of the heat thrown from bulbs. If you suspect canopy temps will be an issue, I’d maybe go that route. If you don’t have the money, maybe an open 600 will be a little better option. Kinda small for the space, but should be more manageable as well.
Another thing that could be an issue, potential is the rfi from digital ballast. If you live in heavily populated area, you’ll want to consider a potential issue there.
Sorry by open I meant using a reflector instead of a cooled hood. And rfi is radio frequency interference. Can be a problem with some digital ballasts. As in screwing with your neighbors phone, cable, and internet services. If it happens, the techs responding to call can and will locate the source of interference to your home.
I’m not trying to scare you away from using a digital ballast, lots of people use them. Just pointing out a potential downside of them. At the very least you want one the offers the latest protections.
I don’t think so. UL is more of a safety organization than anything else. The UL stamp can mean a lot, or it can mean very little, depending on exactly what you’re talking about.
An IEC stamp may mean it has some protections though
Seriously, the info is invaluable. I ended up going with a revolution deva 1000w hps for my 5x5. Should be low on rfi, when it gets here I’m gonna test it out a bit.
Ok so back again! I switched to 12/12 a few weeks ago and the plants are getting some more leaves but bids coming in slow. I got the ph kit and my ph level is fine according to everything but I still think something is wrong!!! Can it be nutrients and/or lights? I haven’t ordered nutrients as was using nutrient organic soil and very confused on what light to use? Please help !!!and I haven’t been replying to everyone as I’m not sure as a newbie here how much i can reply. I have attached photos of plants. And live in Massachusetts so all legal so I don’t need to worry about being caught!
