How does efficiency effect a grow?

hiw does running leds effect the way you grow? As in, do you need to run the lights closer for the same given wattage?

I have 9 cxb3590s, for the purpose of this (they are copies) I have 4 fusion board copies and 4 qb304 copies and was running Roond 600w on the whole fixture which was 360w through the 9 cobs with Angelinas and 30w ish through each board.

Had a few people tell me they are wasted light at such low wattage, but also after a grow I have big tops and stuff but the lower stuff was like hps lowers making me wish I had taken them off.

So is there a point where the boards have to be ran to be effective of doni just have to keep the light right on top of the plants?

If this was your light how would you run it in a 4x4?

175w max through each set of 3 cobs so 525 cob watts, 225 max through the 4 fusion boards and 180w max on the 4 qb304s

I can’t run them all full wack due to electric costs but can run around 6-700w at the wall.

This will veg and flower 8 plants this time.

Been faffing for so long but can’t bring myself to pay out on a par meter just to set and forget my lights.

Thanks for your opinions

efficiency is not your issue when deciding between cobs and boards as they cover the same range for the most part

coverage is more your issue. you want to hang whatever you are using at an appropriate distance to where the canopy is uniformly illuminated. putting cobs and boards too close to canopy is self-defeating unless you have a lot of them.

like you could run a board 4-6" off the tops of your plants but that would only really work if you had a wall of boards, like completely covering the canopy like a fluorescent fixture

also using cobs with reflectors right next to boards makes zero sense in my mind

@CobKits how would you do this then? Just starting a grow now with light 36inchs above newly transplanted plants.

Thanks

I want to run them so I don’t have to adjust the light cause it’s a pain in the as lol

You have enough boards and cobs to light that place up 3 times over.
One issue i can see is having cobs with reflectors needing to be X distance while the boards running very soft might be better closer. You could turn the boards up and lower the wattage on the cobs to get a more equal intensity so you can find that perfect spot where you are getting good lower growth but not bleaching your tops.

coreywebster said:

You have enough boards and cobs to light that place up 3 times over.
One issue i can see is having cobs with reflectors needing to be X distance while the boards running very soft might be better closer. You could turn the boards up and lower the wattage on the cobs to get a more equal intensity so you can find that perfect spot where you are getting good lower growth but not bleaching your tops.

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This is what I want to do but need to know roughly what wattage to run each, thinking could lower the power to the cobs. But if running the boards at 50w each where would I need the cobs at roughly?

Thanks

id ditch the reflectors

dim the cobs down to 25W a piece and run the boards at 50W each

then everything is about the same efficiency and thats plenty of light for that space

My experience using the reflectors on my Vero rig is that I found better uniformity across my space without them. With them it created hot spots under each of the arrays.
So, I'd ditch the reflectors, dial each of cob drivers down to 100W and keep the boards cranked up. This should let you run the rig closer to the canopy.

CobKits said:

id ditch the reflectors

dim the cobs down to 25W a piece and run the boards at 50W each

then everything is about the same efficiency and thats plenty of light for that space

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Sweet thank you, just what I needed to be told. So would I be ok leaving them at 36inchs and letting the plants grow up to it do you think?

depends on the depth of canopy youre going for

its a literal wall of light. turned down that low 12-18" should crush it.

as close as you can get to the tops without bleaching and tacoing

if you want a deeper canopy raise it and crank it up a bit

i mean look at your colas lol. ill bet they are rock hard

dont change too many things haha

CobKits said:

depends on the depth of canopy youre going for

its a literal wall of light. turned down that low 12-18" should crush it.

as close as you can get to the tops without bleaching and tacoing

if you want a deeper canopy raise it and crank it up a bit

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I’d like a deepish canopy yes, the fixture is 1m x 1m in a 1.2 x 1.2 and as I’m running 8 that will be topped once with at least 4 week veg from seed I will need the penetration.

Only thing I can crank up are the cobs. I’m limited to 220and 180 on the boards and have the cobs at 225 now drawing 620w at the wall. The extension seems to lose abit for some reason and limited by my drivers. Could do with upgrading but not sure if I need 75w from each board yet.

Thanks again

That was an old grow this is the last and not bad but could have been better

Im really Stretching my light

This is my first run with a gavita 750 and i want to see what this light can do all by itself

It replaced a 1000w single ended digi ballast
Abd about 430w of t5s

Ive only had it turned on 600 so far and will turn it up to 750 in a week then 825 after a few more weeks

This was yesterday right after i was done putting the net in and they just got a hair cut
So far so good. Will know in 8 to 10 weeks how it does

Cold$moke said:

This is my first run with a gavita 750 and i want to see what this light can do all by itself

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what bulb does that use? a 600 turned up or a 1000 turned down?

HIDs, unlike LEDs, are *less* efficient when dimmed

Not interested in hid anymore, only kit that has my eye is the helios de but I keep telling myself I don’t need it and will stick with LED lol

CobKits said:

what bulb does that use? a 600 turned up or a 1000 turned down?

HIDs, unlike LEDs, are *less* efficient when dimmed

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Its a 750 dimmed to 600

I had it on 400 for the first month

This thing is impressing me so far but we will have to see how she blooms

Heres a pic of how they looked before i gave them another haircut and netted

Cold$moke said:

Its a 750 dimmed to 600

I had it on 400 for the first month

This thing is impressing me so far but we will have to see how she blooms

Heres a pic of how they looked before i gave them another haircut and netted

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Sweet but shouldn’t you make your own post mate? Your light has nothing to do with my question lol

everything looks great but can you push em together and lose that space in the middle? just about every light throws down maximum ppf right underneath the bulb