LED will most likeley never match the specrum of a Hortilux Blue, or the new MassMedicalStrains Hortilux Blue Replica, but is 20% More Powerful. Has a 6000k color temp. Sun, at the equator, at mid day, is 5800k.
Hort Blue/MMS Halide. has a 280nm-2000nm+ Spectrum.
MMS says experiments with the same strain showed the strain(s) used produced more chemicals vs LED. Under the LED, some of the chemicals, WERE NONEXISTANT.
Useful Invisible Light
Plants use both visible light and invisible light wavelengths! The latest science proves that the short and long wavelengths outside of the visible spectrum actually drive photosynthesis and other cellular processes. Like the sun, MH technology produces light wavelengths from ~280nm to over 2000nm! While horticulture research focused on visible light (400-700nm) emissions, they mostly neglected the invisible portions of the spectrum which are present in sunlight and bulbs too. Science is slowly discovering that plants use much more than just the PAR range of light energy.
Light with a wavelength of 720-1000nm (FR, namely far infrared light) has a low absorption rate in plants, but it
stimulates the elongation of plant cells affects flowering and seed germination.
Fuller Genetic Expressions
In lab tests, additional compounds are regularly produced only under MH lighting. One example is our Star Pupil clone, which produces the best flavor and effect when flowered under MH. Labs show that it produces additional rare cannabinoids, CBL and CBC, and additional terpenes Geraniol, Guaiol, Cymene, and Eucalyptol, NONE, of which were present at all when flowered with HPS, LED, or even CMH.
It produces 1650 PPFD at 24" distance. With a larger reflector such as a Raptor hood, it can spread wider and be positioned closer, producing 1100 PPFD at 24" distance.
Also not saying LED cant grow good weed, because they can. Ive also smoked killer weed from a mix of Cool White/Warm White fluorescents, and in hot climates, LED is much easier to deal with.
BUT, Im not convinced LED GROWS BETTER WEED. And, even if they can beat HID on yield, that doesnt mean the weed is better.
Useful Light Ranges - Beyond PAR
Grow lamp efficiency is traditionally measured within the PAR Range of light which covers 400nm-700nm wavelengths. We now know that plants use light that ranges from 280nm past 800nm, as well as the infrared range that goes past 2000nm! New measurement standards can quantify this useful light energy as well, and changes our understanding of efficiency of grow bulbs. Bulbs put out a lot of useful light energy that was not being measured before!
With new scientifically backed
ePAR (Extended PAR) (380-750nm) or
PBAR (Photobiological Active Radiation) (280nm-800nm) measurements, we learn that high-frequency MH technology is putting out at least a 10% increase in useful light for plants than the industry previously thought. While most lighting brands calculate their efficiency based on PAR measurements, we know that plants use a lot more than just PAR energy. Using these new measurement standards, we see that MH is even more efficient than many statistics previously claimed.
Using extended ePar measurements, our MH bulb emits an additional ~75-80ppfd higher than regular Par measurements, while HPS and LED technologies emit only ~10-25ppfd higher in this extended range.) The measured PAR of a Metal Halide could be 600ppfd, while its ePAR measurement would be ~680ppfd. The measured PAR of an LED or HPS could be 600ppfd, but its ePAR would be ~610-625ppfd. This means that between two lights with the same standard PAR measurement, the Metal Halide is always putting out more useful light than LED or HPS. Within the extended range (700-750nm), MH puts out useful light at a greater amount than other lights. This raises the efficiency of MH bulbs higher than traditional calculations claimed.
Our measurements are stated in standard PAR for ease of comparison and familiar understanding for most growers, even though ePar and pbar measurements would show a higher number and more efficiency on our light!
Aren’t LED’s more efficient at producing light?
It actually depends on what you measure and how you measure it! Efficiency claims are often stating the amount of visible light produced per watt (PAR, 400-700nm), and ignoring the missing parts of the
spectrum (quantity over quality, in a sense.) To calculate how much light is produced, we should be measuring pbar (280nm-800nm) or even a wider range. Since these are not yet being used in the mainstream, LEDs appear disproportionately more efficient at producing photons. Companies are simply not measuring many of the useful photons produced by MH bulbs.
LED lights are not producing energy in the invisible light portions which are responsible for close to 20% of photosynthetic activity! Just outside of the PAR regions, our MH bulbs produce plenty of useful light for the plants, which traditional efficiency measurements ignore.
While an LED can still use less watts to light the same size space, they are missing out on important light spectrum benefits, as described above. It's not only about the amount of light, but the variety of wavelengths present and their ratios as well, equating to MH having a superior quality of light spectrum.
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This seems an appropriate place to keep the torch burning.
