Jonus
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't recommend mixing HPS lighting with LEDs. Excessive heat will shorten the lifespan of your LEDs by like a half.
From the testing I have done as well, well according to the light meter....the most intensity or lumens per square foot of light coming from my setup is within the first foot of light. Mine is outputting a steady 4000 lumens per square foot without diminishing for the first foot from the light. So if I want the most light reaching from top to as far as it will penetrate into the plants, it pays for me to have my LED light sitting 2 inches above the tops of the leaves, just enough for the colors to mix. That way any light making it to the bottom of the plants is also 4000 lumens per square foot intensity. So that restricts me to vegging clones up to about a foot before the bottom leaves start to receive less lumens, and in the LED setup, things drop off dramatically after one foot.
This means in order to make use of your lumens from your LED you would need to have it right down at the plant canopy and the HIDs would of course be higher up than that, heating the back of your LED lamp.
Those retailers of LED lamps that tell you you can hang them 2 metres above your grow have obviously never grown weed themselves. 2 metres above may work for lettuces, but lettuces will grow sufficiently fast enough in a normal room lit situation, I know this because I have 6 lettuce growing quite nicely in my office.
If you have spare HIDs then better to veg with those. My veg closet is too small to have my 400 in it, last time I had it in there even with the extractor working its ass off it still burnt the top leaves and warped the closet doors....so my LED setup works fine in there.
Anyways I digress....weed does that to you
From the testing I have done as well, well according to the light meter....the most intensity or lumens per square foot of light coming from my setup is within the first foot of light. Mine is outputting a steady 4000 lumens per square foot without diminishing for the first foot from the light. So if I want the most light reaching from top to as far as it will penetrate into the plants, it pays for me to have my LED light sitting 2 inches above the tops of the leaves, just enough for the colors to mix. That way any light making it to the bottom of the plants is also 4000 lumens per square foot intensity. So that restricts me to vegging clones up to about a foot before the bottom leaves start to receive less lumens, and in the LED setup, things drop off dramatically after one foot.
This means in order to make use of your lumens from your LED you would need to have it right down at the plant canopy and the HIDs would of course be higher up than that, heating the back of your LED lamp.
Those retailers of LED lamps that tell you you can hang them 2 metres above your grow have obviously never grown weed themselves. 2 metres above may work for lettuces, but lettuces will grow sufficiently fast enough in a normal room lit situation, I know this because I have 6 lettuce growing quite nicely in my office.
If you have spare HIDs then better to veg with those. My veg closet is too small to have my 400 in it, last time I had it in there even with the extractor working its ass off it still burnt the top leaves and warped the closet doors....so my LED setup works fine in there.
Anyways I digress....weed does that to you
