What are the yields using the more preferred LED lights?

A customer has a question or concerns and I hope we can get some opinions on it, thanks

“What are the yields using the more preferred LED lights as opposed to HPS as a light source?”

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These haven’t been harvested yet. This is our first indoor grow and all we’ve had them under is full spectrum LED lights. From what they look like so far, looks like a fair yield.

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What strain , how strong a light, what type of medium are your useing, is it topped, fim , super cropped, how tall, wide ? All of this has to be taken in a count as well imo .

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https://www.amazon.com/HIGROW-Optical-Spectrum-Greenhouse-Hydroponic/dp/B01N7GBF2S?tag=greenrel-20

These are the lights we use. We have two in our tent (4×4×6.6). @70sChick

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Yield potential is typically going to be a little higher with higher efficiency leds. Not necessarily any led, and you can expect to pay heavily for the good ones. As opposed to hid lighting, where you can get into a pretty good setup for much lower initial cost.

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Like anything else, it’s all a matter of what you put into it. If you use a cheap $69 led you can expect airy buds. If you spend top dollar and buy or build a quality led you can do as well as any other lighting system. The chief advantages being longevity and heat dissipation.

Or, you can go down the same road I and many others ended up doing which is using a BUNCH of $69 led’s. There are advantages and disadvantages to that as well.

I get good yields- - - about 1/2 pound per plant- - - but too many other factors come into play to point to just the lights being responsible.

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nice buds there @Buck3

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I hope this helps

1.) High Intensity Discharge (HID) Grow Lights

HID grow lights are much more efficient than fluorescent lights and are powered by large, oddly-shaped bulbs. They are usually screwed into a reflector or hood to reflect more light down onto the plants. HIDs are great at growing cannabis, but they also get very hot and are usually hooked up to an exhaust to help vent out heat

             2.) Metal Halide (MH) Grow Lights

Metal Halide grow lights are generally used for the vegetative stage because they produce a bluish light that vegetative plants love, though this type of light can also be used all the way to harvest.

The light from a Metal Halide appears a little bluish, and is well suited to growing cannabis plants in the vegetative stage

            3.) High Pressure Sodium (HPS) Grow Lights

High Pressure Sodium grow lights are often used during the flowering stage because they are very efficient and their yellow light stimulates bud production. HPS grow lights in the flowering stage get better yields per watt of electricity than any other type of grow light available today, which is a big part of why they are so popular.

The light from an HPS appears yellow, and is great for flowering plants because the light spectrum stimulates bud production

4.) Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH) & Light Emitting Ceramic (LEC) Grow Lights

These are actually just two names for the same thing. This type of metal halide bulb uses ceramic as part of the lamp just like an HPS. As a result, CMH bulbs are more efficient than regular MH lights (though still not as efficient as HPS bulbs).

Lately I’ve been seeing CMH grow lights these labeled as “LEC” lights, which stands for “Light Emitting Ceramics.” Since LECs are the same thing as CMH lights, personally I think the term “LEC” is used to make this seem like some new type of light, and in order to ride on the popularity of LEDs…

“LEC” and “CMH” both refer to Ceramic Metal Halide grow lights, which is a type of HID light that is a bit more efficient than a regular Metal Halide light
High Pressure Sodium grow lights are often used during the flowering stage because they are very efficient and their yellow light stimulates bud production. HPS grow lights in the flowering stage get better yields per watt of electricity than any other type of grow light available today, which is a big part of why they are so popular.

The light from an HPS appears yellow, and is great for flowering plants because the light spectrum stimulates bud production

                 5.) LED Grow Lights

LED grow lights are very popular among cannabis growers as an alternative to HPS grow lights. They tend to run cooler and also usually come with built-in cooling. They can often be plugged into a wall and simply hung over plants which is definitely easier than setting up an HID grow light. LEDs also have great penetration so they don’t need to be moved frequently like fluorescents.

Simply hang an LED light over your plants and start growing!

There is a larger size MH/HPS grow light available (1000W), but at that size it starts going outside the scope of a “hobbyist” grower as far as ease and yields. In addition to needing a lot of extra cooling which costs electricity, a 1000W HPS grow light is less efficient compared to a 600W grow light (as far as how much light is put out for electricity used). I think most hobbyist growers would be happier with a 600W, or even two 600W lights, over a 1000W :slight_smile:

HIDs are very well suited to growing cannabis and very easy to use once they’re set up. If your main goal is to get the highest yields possible, then HIDs are the way to go! However, they do require extra setup compared to the other grow lights because chances are you will need a fan to vent out heat from your grow space

Will

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Thanks @pootyTang!

Great article @garrigan62! We’ve been very pleased with our LED’s.

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@Buck3

That’s good news to here cause i’m thinking of changing over to L E Ds for my next grow.

Will

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We just finished setting up a new tent (2x3x3) for seedlings and autos. We put in a 4"iPower inline 190 cfm fan/filter combo, a 6" 240 cfm iPower intake fan for fresh air (with the ducting it cut down the cfm’s but still puts out well), a couple little desk fans for circulation, and a 400 watt Roleadro COB full spectrum LED light. We’re thinking of maybe putting in another one of those lights. If you have any advice on this set up we’re all ears.

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If you’re dedicating that tent to seedlings, you could do a lot less light. Running the autos in there would suffer a little though. If you were considering a different light for that tent I would suggest something that maybe spread the light intensity out a little better. Due to the low height, cob lighting at that kind of wattage won’t really be able to spread out as much. It could create a hot spot in the center and weak coverage at the edges.

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@Buck3

@dbrn32 said it for me thumb

Will

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Thanks for the tip…out of likes. :+1:

I think we are going to add another one of those lights for more coverage.

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Normally I would say that’s great. Buy I really would look at something with a little less output and heavy in the blue wavelengths. If nothing else you can keep it to one side of the tent, and use the cobs for an auto or two on the other side.

More light is usually better, but seedlings require very little. And in some cases too much light will burn them easily. It’s great that you’re willing to spend the cash, but a cheaper light will probably perform better for you in this instance.

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:+1: @dbrn32…out of likes

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In the Cheapatron line, I am happy with the Meizhi 300 watt reflector series. $83 last time I checked. 115 watts at the plug. Nice blue spectrum the vegging plants really like and you can get right down on em if you like.

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Is this the one you’re refferring to?
@70sChick

https://www.amazon.com/MEIZHI-Spectrum-Hydroponic-Greenhouse-Growing/dp/B01HFZ3PC2?tag=greenrel-20