CFL or LED bulbs for veg room

Humanrob · Mar 26, 2015

Any chance you'd put a divider/barrier between two groups, and run one with CFLs and the other with your new LEDs side by side? That would be a more relevant comparison... no?

(Of course, I could try it myself, but I won't have clones again until next month and then they'll only be vegging indoors for a couple of weeks.)

tokingtiger · Mar 26, 2015

i started out with 4x26w cfl lights overhead on splitters. would spread out the light nice over the 4 lights. have another one over another plant, put a double bulb, (110w) t5 going up and down between, spin the plants. that would be good for 3 foot plants, maybe 3 if you added another tf.

ISK · Mar 26, 2015

Humanrob said:
Any chance you'd put a divider/barrier between two groups, and run one with CFLs and the other with your new LEDs side by side? That would be a more relevant comparison... no?

(Of course, I could try it myself, but I won't have clones again until next month and then they'll only be vegging indoors for a couple of weeks.)

I am considering a side by side comparison, but not at this time....this current grow is just to prove to myself if LED bulbs can do as well (+/-) as CFL bulbs

ISK · Mar 28, 2015

they seem to be progressing okay, but I'm still thinking they're a bit slower than previous CFL grows

I moved the garden flowers under the HPS to make more room for these pot plants

mr.smileyface · Mar 28, 2015

Instead of buying a few lights u should buy 1. If ur gonna do it u need to invest a bit. Maybe 500usd for a sick setup with 3x3tent and 600w hps cooltube with ductbooster and 200cfm filter with 4inch inline on a 3 switch dimmer. Find some clones to. Do a scrog and maybe get a pound+... Goodluck brother

ISK · Mar 28, 2015

mr.smileyface said:
Instead of buying a few lights u should buy 1. If ur gonna do it u need to invest a bit. Maybe 500usd for a sick setup with 3x3tent and 600w hps cooltube with ductbooster and 200cfm filter with 4inch inline on a 3 switch dimmer. Find some clones to. Do a scrog and maybe get a pound+... Goodluck brother

Thanks for your advise but I already have a 600 watt HPS in another grow room with a crop near ready to harvest

This thread is all about seeing if LED bulbs can do as well as CFL bulbs in the veg stage

mr.smileyface · Mar 28, 2015

Cfls are kinda weak for growing so id say led wins just because no wastes light /heat cause the light is focused down and not all around the bulbs

ISK · Mar 28, 2015

mr.smileyface said:
Cfls are kinda weak for growing so id say led wins just because no wastes light /heat cause the light is focused down and not all around the bulbs

I'm doing this grow so I can say with some degree of conviction if LED bulbs are better/worst/same as CFL bulbs during the veg stage....have you done or seen a comparison?

mr.smileyface · Mar 29, 2015

ISK said:
I'm doing this grow so I can say with some degree of conviction if LED bulbs are better/worst/same as CFL bulbs during the veg stage....have you done or seen a comparison?

Well i have seen hps vs led. T5s are what u want tho 8 bulb 4 foot ones

ISK · Mar 30, 2015

I revamped the room a bit and re-positioned the bulbs and only using 6 for now

even the runt is doing okay now

they have been doing well the last few days

ISK · Apr 3, 2015

they are about 3 weeks old now and doing well under the LED bulbs.

below pic's are from a previous CFL grow, which are the same approx age as the current LED grow is now...... same strain, also in hempy solo cups.
So far, both the CFL and LED bulbs seem to have similar growth rates

I moved the runt out of the LED room into the HPS room to allow more space for the two stronger plants.
I can't believe how much this plant grew in just one day under the HPS

ISK · Apr 5, 2015

Well this would be the point where I would bring them under the HPS then would reduce to 12/12 in about a week
Not sure what to do with these plants as they will take until October to finish with sunshine
or I could try to finish with LED, as it's too hot in the summer to run the HPS without A/C

this one has clearly been the strongest all along but my guess says it will become a male

this one is more likely to be female...just my guess

and this runt is not overly healthy and will be terminated soon...besides it has been under the HPS for the last few days, so it's no longer part of this LED bulb trial

ISK · Apr 10, 2015

At times I think the LED bulbs are close to CFL's in growth performance, but most of the time I think the LED bulbs are not as effective as CFL's

The LED bulbs are most certainly cooler and cheaper to operate but they just seem to be lagging behind in growth performance compare to a previous CFL grow

Never the less I shall continue to post my trial even if the interest in this thread is mediocre at best .... LOL even the Cree/Home Depot shill is ignoring it.

I have recently reduced the hours to 11/13 as this strain seems to need that extra hour of darkness to flower

Also added more lights, so have nine LED bulbs in total, four 2700k and five 5000k (temps never exceed 74F and lows of about 65F)

pinacoloda · Apr 10, 2015

Looking good ISK!

ISK · Apr 10, 2015

pinacoloda said:
Looking good ISK!

thanks buddy

ISK · Apr 12, 2015

just a few updates to satisfy all the curious minds...no gender showing yet, this strain typically takes about 10 days to show any pre-flowers

I have a fan underneath blowing up so I opened up the grill a bit to allow better air flow.... heat is not an issue, if anything it's a bit on the cool side

it may be ghetto especially with the tin foil, but it does the trick

grapefruitmarmalade · Apr 12, 2015

are you going all the way with cfl vs led bulbs?

ISK · Apr 12, 2015

grapefruitmarmalade said:
are you going all the way with cfl vs led bulbs?

no, this is not a side by side but rather just a trial of LED bulbs and comparing it to a previous CFL grow

so my evaluation of LED bulbs vs CFL will be based on my personal experience, not a controlled experiment

I'm thinking of doing a true side by side next fall, but my gut feeling says the CFL will dominate in performance

example, pic below: plants are the approx same age as the post above, same strain, same hempy solo cups, same nutes, but only using six 23 watt CFL

pinacoloda · Apr 16, 2015

CFL appears more stalky and scant; LED looks thicker and more leaf...or maybe I should clean my glasses?

ISK · Apr 16, 2015

pinacoloda said:
CFL appears more stalky and scant; LED looks thicker and more leaf...or maybe I should clean my glasses?

the runt really does have the stout look, short but wide broad leaves...this is not the normal for this stain but I did have one like this which turned out to be a decent plant

I've got high hopes for that one,...the tall one will most likely become male,,,,,I should know the gender in a few days

CFL or LED bulbs for veg room

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