Need to be brought up to date. LED vs HID

[Jericho]

Hi All.

I am looking at getting back into growing now that the country I live in has made it legal to do so at home. I think I will be sticking to Autos at the start just for convenience and familiarity. I was looking at a 120x120x200 cm tent which should be an ok size, My previous grow was done in a 100x100x200 and I could just about get 3 in there.

I grew using a 600w HPS cool tube which worked out pretty good, luckily our electricity here is not so expensive.

When it comes to set up, I am starting from scratch. I think the tent size I want will work fine for me so now I am looking into the lights and vents. I will be growing in soil not hydro because again, its what I am familiar with at the moment, need to relearn everything I knew 10 years ago and get updated.

With the light and venting set up I had previously I could get the lights pretty close (my ventilation was well over what I needed).

So I guess my question is, have LED progressed enough from where they were when I used to grow to where the price is now justifiable for the reduction in running cost and production? Should I be looking into LEDs or stick to the HID lamps considering the cheaper electricity here.

 

[Bubba]

Yes. But HPS are still usable, I still use a 600 watt HPS, but my newer setups are LED.

Bubba

 

[bigsur51]

Jericho , good questions for me too , I am so far behind in all the new lighting technologies

my flower room was 4 cool tubes with 600 HPS

I see other growers rocking it with leds which are cooler and use less electricity

hopefully some of the lighting experts here will chime in

 

[Jericho]

Yes. But HPS are still usable, I still use a 600 watt HPS, but my newer setups are LED.

Bubba

Have you any links to your current set up I could check out? I think I will need to do a fair amount of reading to catch up on all the new specs and tech.

 

[Bubba]

Look at Cocoforcannabis.com. Tremendous amount of info on lights there, along with reviews and measurements and comparisons of various lights.

Bubba

 

[boo]

I bought the photontek 600 for 1 tent and the rest are using CMH...the halides are far different that the old fat buggers, kills the spectrum if you have the right lamp...

 

[bigsur51]

I bought the photontek 600 for 1 tent and the rest are using CMH...the halides are far different that the old fat buggers, kills the spectrum if you have the right lamp...

hows the heat on the CMH in the tent?

 

[kevinn]

Boo
How do you like the photontek 600 ?? It is a little pricey. What size tent are you using it in. Thanks !!!

 

[boo]

hey kev, so far I love it...I'm at the tail end of a full 12 week growing session using it and the plants are blowing up, it does seem to take longer to bulk up the trichs but that's not as important as the smoke...they seem to blow up faster at the end of the growing term and they get frosty overnight...I've tried to load a video of my garden but the site wont allow me to, says file is too large...yeah, it twern't cheap but if it does it's job I'm fine with that...

 

[Bubba]

The Photontek light is a Cadillac of lights. Extremely high end, so a little more expensive.

Bubba

 

[WeedHopper]

I like this one.

Photontek X 465 Watt Pro LED Grow Grow Light 400 Watt LED Grow Lights LED Grow Lights Indoor Plant Grow Lights (hydrobuilder.com)

 

[Jericho]

I like this one.

Photontek X 465 Watt Pro LED Grow Grow Light 400 Watt LED Grow Lights LED Grow Lights Indoor Plant Grow Lights (hydrobuilder.com)

What size tent do you think that would work well in? It says it should cover a 1mx1m so 3.3x3.3 to 4x4. Would you say thats accurate?

 

[WeedHopper]

4x4

 

[WeedHopper]

VIVOSUN 4x4 Grow Tents | Perfect Grow Tent for your Indoor Growing

 

[RonnieB]

Hi All.

I am looking at getting back into growing now that the country I live in has made it legal to do so at home. I think I will be sticking to Autos at the start just for convenience and familiarity. I was looking at a 120x120x200 cm tent which should be an ok size, My previous grow was done in a 100x100x200 and I could just about get 3 in there.

I grew using a 600w HPS cool tube which worked out pretty good, luckily our electricity here is not so expensive.

When it comes to set up, I am starting from scratch. I think the tent size I want will work fine for me so now I am looking into the lights and vents. I will be growing in soil not hydro because again, its what I am familiar with at the moment, need to relearn everything I knew 10 years ago and get updated.

With the light and venting set up I had previously I could get the lights pretty close (my ventilation was well over what I needed).

So I guess my question is, have LED progressed enough from where they were when I used to grow to where the price is now justifiable for the reduction in running cost and production? Should I be looking into LEDs or stick to the HID lamps considering the cheaper electricity here.

I've shopped and bought almost all the big name lighting manufacturers. Black Dog, California lightworks, gavita, Mars. HLG, Valpa parspectra. And others. I found Growraft ChilLED Tech out of Washington state. They're hand made. 3 years warranty America made customers service is amazing and the lights are the best I've seen. They have independent tests to prove it as well they only heat up to 1200 btu in full power of 500 watts. My Mars hydro are 160 and get 10 times hotter. If you're serious contact Leland at ChilLEDtech.

 

[WeedHopper]

ChilLED Growcraft - Commercial & DIY LED Grow Lights (chilledgrowlights.com)

I like this one.
Growcraft X3 - 500 Watt DIY LED Grow Light Kit - Chilled Tech - LED Grow Lights & Spectrum Control (chilledgrowlights.com)

 

[WeedHopper]

Only thing im confused about is it ask you to choose an option for Spectrum for Flower or Vegg. Does that mean i have to buy both? If so that could get real expensive.

 

[bigsur51]

ChilLED Growcraft - Commercial & DIY LED Grow Lights (chilledgrowlights.com)

I like this one.
Growcraft X3 - 500 Watt DIY LED Grow Light Kit - Chilled Tech - LED Grow Lights & Spectrum Control (chilledgrowlights.com)

$1020 bucks for a 600 watt 4x4 , kinda pricey eh

a 600w quantum digital adjustable ballast and a horticultural HPS bulb for $190 , I could pay a lot of electrical bills before I got to a thousand dollars

Quantum 600w Digital Dimmable Ballast + Hortilux Super HPS 600W Bulb direct from Growers House

Package that includes both the Quantum 600w dimable digital ballast, able to run MH and HPS, and the Eye Hortilux Super Enhanced 600w HPS flowering bulb. Only guaranteed with hortilux and agrosun lamps/bulbs.

growershouse.com

 

[RonnieB]

ChilLED Growcraft - Commercial & DIY LED Grow Lights (chilledgrowlights.com)

I like this one.
Growcraft X3 - 500 Watt DIY LED Grow Light Kit - Chilled Tech - LED Grow Lights & Spectrum Control (chilledgrowlights.com)

I have 4 of those BRother the commercial versions They are awesome

 

[RonnieB]

Only thing im confused about is it ask you to choose an option for Spectrum for Flower or Vegg. Does that mean i have to buy both? If so that could get real expensive.

I use the X3-500 for veg and flower and never had any problems...I grow monsters