Cob vs hid lighting

malkinfan

Well-Known Member
I have two separate grows right now. Same strains, nutes, soil, environment, but the lighting is different in both rooms. One room has a Spectrum King SK602GH and the other has a hortilux 600 watt conversion bulb. So far the LED is doing the better job, but I believe I need to do a few more grows to rule out any problems that may occurred that I wasn't aware of. So far, I haven't seen any problems with the exception of a over-fert on Ayahuasca purple, but that was in both rooms. LED is currently packing on more weight and the plants look like they will finish faster than the conversion bulb. I may try a hortilux 600 HPS in the next test. The only problem with LED is the cost. I'm over $2,000 on my SK602GH whereas the HPS is much cheaper, but with the cheaper monthly LED operating costs, it will eventually return investment. In any case, from what I see so far, the LED is winning slightly. Few more grows will let me know which way to decide. Both are great! :) Happy growing.
 

OneHitDone

Well-Known Member
I have two separate grows right now. Same strains, nutes, soil, environment, but the lighting is different in both rooms. One room has a Spectrum King SK602GH and the other has a hortilux 600 watt conversion bulb. So far the LED is doing the better job, but I believe I need to do a few more grows to rule out any problems that may occurred that I wasn't aware of. So far, I haven't seen any problems with the exception of a over-fert on Ayahuasca purple, but that was in both rooms. LED is currently packing on more weight and the plants look like they will finish faster than the conversion bulb. I may try a hortilux 600 HPS in the next test. The only problem with LED is the cost. I'm over $2,000 on my SK602GH whereas the HPS is much cheaper, but with the cheaper monthly LED operating costs, it will eventually return investment. In any case, from what I see so far, the LED is winning slightly. Few more grows will let me know which way to decide. Both are great! :) Happy growing.
What "conversion bulb", ballast, and reflector are we talking about?
Did you start from seed or clone?
Can you share some photo's of each?
 

ANC

Well-Known Member
If you broke and want in, go buy a few magnetic ballasts and HPS lights.
Cannabis prices are high enough where I live that the LEDs paid for themselves in the first grow.
That being said, I could have had all the other equipment I still need to up my game, already.
 

malkinfan

Well-Known Member
What "conversion bulb", ballast, and reflector are we talking about?
Did you start from seed or clone?
Can you share some photo's of each?
All plants in my rooms were started from seed. I'm currently running a Hortilux 57821 600 watt conversion bulb on an enforcer adjust-a-wing with a Galaxy DE GEN 2 select a watt ballast. It's not the greatest setup but I've always had success with it in the past. Like I said, I need to do more tests with other HID bulbs before making a decision on what is better. I'm due for an update on my ladies on Wednesday so I will take pics of both so you can see the difference. It's a minute difference, but a difference nonetheless. :)
 

meangreengrowinmachine

Well-Known Member
I hope opp doesnt hate but I have been slowly trying to upgrade to LEDs so slowly that the tech has passed me lol so I now have 10 cree cxb 3590s running on meanwells 2 just basic 5 foot bars... last run I only had one so I ran it in tandem side by side with my 600 Watt HPS... my thought this run is to have the 600 watt HPS in the middle and the 2 bars running along side of it... do you think I should bother with a light mover? I am only in about 5 x 5 space. My ultimate goal was to do a cob per square foot and run them rather low to maximize efficiency... but now with QBs and strips and all that I am not sure which way to go... just finish up the COBs and bit the bullet and order from Kingbrite?? what do you all think?
 

meangreengrowinmachine

Well-Known Member
I hope opp doesnt hate but I have been slowly trying to upgrade to LEDs so slowly that the tech has passed me lol so I now have 10 cree cxb 3590s running on meanwells 2 just basic 5 foot bars... last run I only had one so I ran it in tandem side by side with my 600 Watt HPS... my thought this run is to have the 600 watt HPS in the middle and the 2 bars running along side of it... do you think I should bother with a light mover? I am only in about 5 x 5 space. My ultimate goal was to do a cob per square foot and run them rather low to maximize efficiency... but now with QBs and strips and all that I am not sure which way to go... just finish up the COBs and bit the bullet and order from Kingbrite?? what do you all think?
sorry 250 watts per bar 3500K color temp on all the cobs
 

ANC

Well-Known Member
Nothing wrong with 3590, even today, I just don't use COB's as they are too big of a fire hazard for me.
 

malkinfan

Well-Known Member
Care to elaborate on that one?
I'm also confused with this. I haven't heard of any fires related to LED (cob) lighting. Maybe if someone put some cheap assembly together to save a few bucks, but these prefab LED kits are about as safe as they come. My SK602GH runs pretty darned cool, even when compared to other LED systems on the market. Can't say I understand his concern. Enlighten us. :)
 

growingforfun

Well-Known Member
I like the hps route personally. I agree diy LEDs can be a hazard, some people dont care or are fully confident, but I'm not.

I went with de gavita 1kw for my recent upgrade. Have done traditional hps for nearly 10 year before the change. I believe that the hype is real with de hps. Does in fact do a 5x5 properly. I'm on my first cycle and I had a lot of issue not related to the light and I think I'll still be ok, I'm pretty optimistic about my second run under them.

I ran the greenleaf mega crop the first few weeks of this cycle and I got the worst results out of anyone I've seen... I had a total of 3 plants literally die. I thought I was going to lose everything. Worst "free sample" of my life. Probably ended up costing me 24 ish oz.
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
I went with de gavita 1kw for my recent upgrade. Have done traditional hps for nearly 10 year before the change. I believe that the hype is real with de hps. Does in fact do a 5x5 properly.
Good choice, my DE HPS lights have really worked well for me. As long as you can control the heat they are bad ass. Gavita sure makes a good one too.
 

growingforfun

Well-Known Member
Good choice, my DE HPS lights have really worked well for me. As long as you can control the heat they are bad ass. Gavita sure makes a good one too.
I personally dont think they make any more heat than a se batwing but that's me..
After so many years doing hps I litterally noticed zero differance. Most here claim a need for a high ceiling but mine is actually low. 7 ft. No issues.
 

malkinfan

Well-Known Member
What "conversion bulb", ballast, and reflector are we talking about?
Did you start from seed or clone?
Can you share some photo's of each?

Hey buddy, Here's a few shots of comparison on the same strain (Critical Plus), but in different rooms. All plants are in the same soil, same nutrients, environment, temps, etc... all the same with the exception of the lights. Hortilux 600 watt conversion bulb VS the SK602GH. The plant grown under the SK602GH is at least a week ahead of the HID and the buds are more dense. There is less stretch with the LED as well. Also seems to be a tad more resin production on the LED. All other strains in the room are showing the same results with the LED outperforming the 600w HID. One could argue that there could be phenos, but all strains in the LED room outperforming? We're talking 4 strains in total (Ayahuasca Purple, Critical +, Critical Cheese, Nuken) I can't wait to run more tests in the future with clones. I just took clones of critical plus, bubba kush and dimachem. Those will be my next run and will be be able to ascertain whether or not there were phenos at play.
 

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GBAUTO

Well-Known Member
Hey buddy, Here's a few shots of comparison on the same strain (Critical Plus), but in different rooms. All plants are in the same soil, same nutrients, environment, temps, etc... all the same with the exception of the lights. Hortilux 600 watt conversion bulb VS the SK602GH. The plant grown under the SK602GH is at least a week ahead of the HID and the buds are more dense. There is less stretch with the LED as well. Also seems to be a tad more resin production on the LED. All other strains in the room are showing the same results with the LED outperforming the 600w HID. One could argue that there could be phenos, but all strains in the LED room outperforming? We're talking 4 strains in total (Ayahuasca Purple, Critical +, Critical Cheese, Nuken) I can't wait to run more tests in the future with clones. I just took clones of critical plus, bubba kush and dimachem. Those will be my next run and will be be able to ascertain whether or not there were phenos at play.
Looking quite tasty. I would think that the 602 should be able to pump out a few more photons than the HPS, so I'm not surprised by your results.
 

augusto1

Well-Known Member
I personally dont think they make any more heat than a se batwing but that's me..
After so many years doing hps I litterally noticed zero differance. Most here claim a need for a high ceiling but mine is actually low. 7 ft. No issues.
Are you using 1000 Watts? Thanks
 
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