Hydro and LED's

A friend of mine is thinking about growing and he's talking about going Hydro and using LED's and was asking me whether LED's produced the same yield than HPS.

I have not grown in a while so wasn't able to answer him but just popped on to ask a few questions.

If the setup was setup correctly, using LED's are there documented cases of good yeilds when comparing to HPS.

Should my friend use LED's for growing and HPS for flowering? Or can LED's be used throughout the whole cycle?

Any advice would be brilliant and any advice you feel you should throw into the mix regarding the issue of LED's over HPS with hydro setups.

LED isnt going to produce like an HPS is.
HPS through the whole cycle would probably be better. if you can deal with the heat.

I've used both, you're bound to get a million opinions on this issue. If you make the right investment in good led lights they can be used effectively for flowering. Anyone claiming a 90w ufo will replace a 400w hps light should be drug into the parking lot and pistol whipped. There are some pics of my first led journal in my sig. That particular grow got a little bastardized but the nugget quality, at least for my garden was better than those produced with HPS. Too many heat issues. I was able to replace two 400w hps units with 2 180w, 1 250w, and 1 90w ufo. So roughly 400w of led units replaced 800w of hid. The directional nature of the lights makes it, in my opinion easier to have several smaller units vs one monster 400-600w. If your buddy does buy some tell him to look for a warranty of at least two years these lights are supposed to go 50,000 plus hours.

hoss12781 said:

I've used both, you're bound to get a million opinions on this issue. If you make the right investment in good led lights they can be used effectively for flowering. Anyone claiming a 90w ufo will replace a 400w hps light should be drug into the parking lot and pistol whipped. There are some pics of my first led journal in my sig. That particular grow got a little bastardized but the nugget quality, at least for my garden was better than those produced with HPS. Too many heat issues. I was able to replace two 400w hps units with 2 180w, 1 250w, and 1 90w ufo. So roughly 400w of led units replaced 800w of hid. The directional nature of the lights makes it, in my opinion easier to have several smaller units vs one monster 400-600w. If your buddy does buy some tell him to look for a warranty of at least two years these lights are supposed to go 50,000 plus hours.

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He was actually looking at a few of these http://www.quantumledbloom.co.uk/servlet/the-48/led-grow-lights-600w/Detail

Electricity consumption and heat is the big issue which is why he decided HPS is the last option.

never heard of that company but the specs details look kosher and if they use bridgelux chips and have a 2 year warranty it may be a good option. The max coverage are is definitely over exaggerated. Probably more like a 4.5/4.5 sq foot coverage. I got mine from www.hydroponicshut.com and am quite happy with my purchase. If I were looking at this light I would want to contact the company and see if the light is made in the UK or just sold from the UK. A lot of people are buying bulk leds made in China and passing them off as USA or UK based. There is no substitute for research. I would say if you can't contact them and talk with a sales rep directly that can answer all of your questions look for a different company.

I actually emailed quantum the other day, re their 135w UFO and here's what he had to say:

"135w is 45 x 3w led but we only run 3w led to 2 to 2.2w, if you run 3w led to 3w they wont last 6 months.
i give 3 years warranty and this is of highest quality with bridglux and epistar led chips.
we been doing led grow lights for over 4 years now.
135w led is 30.5cm, my led units are as good as any from USA.
please don't be fooled by gimmicks from other website, they only give 3 months to one years warranty.
cant make 2th tubes with 3w led.
thanks
quantum led ltd"

so basically as he's only running the 3w LEDs @ 2w, ie 45 x 2w it's no better than a 90w UFO LED such as Prakasa (their 90w unit uses 1w but the power consumption is close quoted at 82w)

http://www.prakasa.co.uk/

from the research i've done seems to me that none of the suppliers are driving the 3w led chipsets @ 3w due to heat & longevity issues, so you are paying for expensive led's that can't achieve their maximum.

This whole industry needs a shake up some suppliers are blatenty quoting wattage based number of LEDs not true power consumption, buyer beware and do your research

I've actually decided to go with Blackstars but their little 100w UFO 2w units as their 3w units draw only 2/3rds of the quoted power. The 100w UFOs are £85.00 each + shipping

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/gothamhydroponics

I think they will be good for stealth grow with supplemental CFLS, btw check out greenlamps 4 in 1 CFL ES adaptor you could run max 4 x 85w (blue or red) in these http://www.amazon.co.uk/E27-adapter-light-lamp-holder/dp/B0057X94MU/

Kippers said:

He was actually looking at a few of these http://www.quantumledbloom.co.uk/servlet/the-48/led-grow-lights-600w/Detail

Electricity consumption and heat is the big issue which is why he decided HPS is the last option.

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I've spoken to this guy and was disappointed by his responses, he refused to clarify the component lists which screamed dishonesty. Also they are assembled in India which could mean a ghetto building with 9 yr olds on the production line, who wants that when you are spending this sort of money..

you are correct no one sells 3w chipsets driven to full capacity. No one who wants their leds to run long sells any led grow light regardless of diode wattage at chip capacity so any two watt is going to run at 1 to 1.5, any one watt at .5 to .75, any 3w at 2 to 2.5 max. If you only want a one year warranty on your light go ahead and buy a blackstar. I emailed them and spoke with a rep when considering lights to purchase. They're 100w only runs at 65w, which includes the power necessary to drive to cooling fan. That light is probably enough to grow one nice autoflowering plant. For me it was all about company reliability and warranty warranty warranty. I wanted to know they lights I bought are going to be around or replaced for free for the next three years. If you're going to drop some $$$ on an expensive light it makes sense.

Blackstars are inexpensive, given the price I have been considering picking up a two of those "100w" or "50w" ufos, but just to use a supplimental side lighting.

dude i swear dont fucking use the 90w led ufo! check my posts and see what will happen i did the same thing!

I checked spencer. You can't expect to have three healthy plants under a 90w ufo, especially if it wasn't a high end brand (what was your brand?, some are way better/worse than others). The most I'd ever put under a 180w unit is two plants. A Chinese 90w can grow one plant and it probably won't be all that. The only thing any cheap 90 or 50 watt ufo is good for is side lighting. You can grow excellent nuggets with leds and in the long run pay about the same as comparable HID set ups. You just have to find the right kind and make the appropriate investment based on the size of your garden. If you're looking for cheap leds for side lighting check this out - its where most of the shit on ebay comes from http://www.dhgate.com/wholesale/led+grow+light.html

If you want real results pay more for an american made product with a warranty and a live person who can answer your q's on the other end of the line. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. As I said above anyone claiming a 90w ufo replaces a 400w hid should be cock smacked.

check out blackstar with additional enlux added for side-lighting / spectrum modification as needed
http://www.gothamhydroponics.com/
http://www.enluxled.com/files/upload/pages/file/R30F%20Color_Floodlight.pdf
Don't buy Chinese!
USA...USA...USA

livengrow said:

check out blackstar with additional enlux added for side-lighting / spectrum modification as needed
http://www.gothamhydroponics.com/
http://www.enluxled.com/files/upload/pages/file/R30F Color_Floodlight.pdf
Don't buy Chinese!
USA...USA...USA

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Every One says dont buy chinese I have a chinese light and I have great results(288pc 3wchip 864w leds draw 600w), I use cfls for side lighting tho. The advantage of Chinese is they can customize to your specs so if you do you own research you can make a superior light, isolate the peak wavelength like i did and make sure you use LEDs that Are 60degree optics that is they key to leds is a narrow viewing angle my plants are 2wks in flowering just started crystallizing and the smell is fucking wonderful. this is my 3rd grow and have never had these signs this early on

blackstars are made in china do some research. They also have many trolls on boards pimping their lights and bashing other brands. Seriously this guys only post is to come in here and proclaim to the world how wonderful blackstars are? Gimme a break. Wanna see a "240" taken apart?

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/432283-blackstar-240w-led-dissected-upgraded.html

this was a great read for me when I was researching which light to buy