HELP me get back? LED's vs HPS? I Notice a difference. Do you?

What's crackin' RIU!? For a decade I ran 3 600W HPS' when in flower for a 4x9 footprint (8-10 ladies). Now I run 3 LEDs that are around the same power, color spec. and intensity. Same everything. Same Temps. RH. food. soil etc etc. But the last three years of having LED's have been far less amazing than the first 10. The amount of trikes is still nice but still noticeably less than it was with the same strains and HPS'..

The intensity and power of the smoke once dried and cured is not as insane as it was either. Nor does it have the same stunning aesthetics as it did.

Is it just me or does everyone have this noticable difference when switching over to LEDs?

Should I add one of my older HPS lamps to my next grow still keeping the same footprint? Then I'd have 3 LEDs and one HPS lamp or Ceramic lamp to go with them? Try something else? Thanks all! Oh. I'm still running Nectar for the God's nutes by the way fwiw.

-T

theres a thread about this allready, you might want to read it and podst in there rather then start a new thread. https://www.rollitup.org/t/led-vs-h-i-d.1105378/

go go kid said:

theres a thread about this allready, you might want to read it and podst in there rather then start a new thread. https://www.rollitup.org/t/led-vs-h-i-d.1105378/

Click to expand...

For sure. I read it. It's the single most confusing, convoluted, "get me nowhere" post on this site. Or at least tied for the lead. All good though. I'll figure it out at some point.

I've only ever grown in LED, going back to my one grow in 2017 where I used a blurple. Started up again in 2021 and have, I'll admit, collected a variety of different LED's based on the need. Well, on my justifying a "need".

One change that HPS growers have to make is in ambient temps. LED's just don't heat the grow area the way an HPS does. Plants tend to grow faster in warmer temps so there's that.

Is a product "better"? Perhaps, define "better". It's not easy.

The market for HPS is shrinking so it's going to get more difficult, over time, to source the lights and the bulbs. OTOH, that'll start causing problems many grows from now, I suspect.

LED's are more energy efficient. There's no question about that and the difference is not trivial, as a percentage. But what does that mean to the home or personal grower? If you love HPS, it'll cost a little more each month. If you're in a cold climate, you won't have to buy something to keep your grow area warm but when summer rolls around? Yup, you're going to have to pay more to keep it cool.

Also, HPS and many LED's produce a light cast that has a "hot spot" where there's a lot of light in the center but light levels fall of pretty quickly. In contrast, "modern" LED's have a "PPFD map" that's more even so there's still enough light around the edges to get excellent results. Many growers overlook that when they go shopping for LED's. It can be a factor if you're looking to grow "lotsa weed".

While it's great to banter back and forth and people do seem to want to d*ck wiggle about it, both types of light will produce a lot of quality cannabis. And, no shock, the biggest cause of problems is not the equipment, it's the grower doing something "brilliant" (and I've f'd up a few grows, no question about that).

I don't know how 3 hps Equals 3 led of the same power in intensity or spectrum.

The intensity would be higher watt for watt and the spectrum is very different.

I used to run 3 hps in my 8x4s and i switched out for roughly around 1300w of LED , didn't notice any drop in strength or quality and neither did anyone else.
Nobody ever asks how it's grown or what it's grown under.

Generally the environment needs changing a little.
Higher temps in veg help.
I wouldn't be running 3 600w quality LEDs in your space.

The good thing is , if you aren't getting on with them, it won't cost much to switch back to hps.

i've only ever grown under mh/hps realy, i baught two ts600 mars hydro, they were great for seedlings and young plants. but i didn't notice anything differant except temps. now where i livr, you realy need the heat from hps/mh to keep temps up and dry it out a little. if i was growing in a house and not a caravan, i might have delved a little deeper down the rabit hole.

CheeseDogGrow said:

What's crackin' RIU!? For a decade I ran 3 600W HPS' when in flower for a 4x9 footprint (8-10 ladies). Now I run 3 LEDs that are around the same power, color spec. and intensity. Same everything. Same Temps. RH. food. soil etc etc. But the last three years of having LED's have been far less amazing than the first 10. The amount of trikes is still nice but still noticeably less than it was with the same strains and HPS'..

The intensity and power of the smoke once dried and cured is not as insane as it was either. Nor does it have the same stunning aesthetics as it did.

Is it just me or does everyone have this noticable difference when switching over to LEDs?

Should I add one of my older HPS lamps to my next grow still keeping the same footprint? Then I'd have 3 LEDs and one HPS lamp or Ceramic lamp to go with them? Try something else? Thanks all! Oh. I'm still running Nectar for the God's nutes by the way fwiw.

-T

Click to expand...

yes it is a bit confusing, there's arguments for both,

Like coreywebster mentioned, the enviroment needs a slight tuning to fit better for the LEDs.
Mainly they have way less IR light, so instead of IR warming the leaves you need bit higher temps to compensate.
The point on spectrum and intensity is valid too.

Also there was no mention of grow medium and nutes,
but the temp difference without tuning, would decrease the transpiration -> which would decrease the amount of Calcium absorption.
So if temps aren't compensated for the lower temperature from LEDs, you might get problem with either K:Ca:Mg absorption/excess.
Too much of the one leads to deficiency of the other 2.

There seems to be cuts that adapt better or worse to HPS and LEDs.
There are many different spectrums possible with leds but it seems like most manufacturers have settled into the same type of spectrum which is optimized for highest light output per watt and full cycle instead of being either veg or flower centric. In my own opinion, having run that Highest Efficiency approach to led growlight in flower next to other spectrums; it didnt give me optimal results in comparison to the other leds more tuned towards flower. Theres a lot that goes into my thinking of why that is but maybe not helpful here.

Have you got a way to run both leds and HPS for a run to make a try to see what you like best, with same genetics and growcycle? Thats the best way to decide what works for you.

The hps vrs led question has been argued to death long before today with fervent disciples on each side. I was once fully onboard for leds; our first runs with Amnesia haze the leds won in yield and there was no quality loss; even when compared CMH.

But our mandarine kush never thrived under leds, and im now in the opinion that most current led offerings could do with a work over if you really want the absolute best flower results. Unfortunately the type of rework needed would make the topline number (ppf/w-photons per watt) to drop a little due to adding some violet and uv, and make the lights slightly more expensive. The current growlight market seems to mainly be pushed to cheaper and cheaper lights. So seeing this happen adaption happen is probably less likely.


You should grow with what convince you more, as stated above your temperature situation, whether cooling or heating works better for you is also a factor in how well either of the lights will work. And if youre willing to work your grow and setup a custom system having both is a very good option.

My 2cts and ill get out of this thread