Are leds comparable to hps and cmh nowadays? I know the main drawback is cost but when I was still plugged in it seemed most commercial grows were still using sodium bulbs and led commercial grows we're very niche.
Can someone give me a breakdown of the major cons of led. It seems the biggest thing is light penetration, thus yield suffers unless you are heavily lollipopped.
What are the market leaders in leds right now or are cobs outperforming anything you can buy ready made?
Also is density comparable to that of a hps light?
Sorry if this has been asked a million times, feel free to disregard I just could find hard facts in the search bar but I spose this subject is filled with confusing stats and alot of pseudoscience.
Thanks
Hopefully an actual LED grow can answer your question.
I have a grow using 2 Viparspectra 600W Reflector Full Spectrum LED's in a 2' x 4' x 6' grow tent. Cost for both - about $600 CDN.
Viparspectra are not the best in the business but they build a good quality and relatively inexpensive light for producing a healthy crop in a small footprint. These lights are rated for 75,000 to 100,000 hours use and since I flower with them I anticipate about 13 years. So in the long range picture, these lights are not expensive as time marches on.
The plant canopy is about 18" below the lights and I have good looking frosty buds about 10" down into the canopy. The lights shouldn't be much lower than 18" for the more powerful LED's.
Once you get below that 10", it's the tiny and larfy growth that I do lollipop in around weeks 4 and 5. Defoliation a little at a time during flower helps to increase penetration later in their lives.
I found that the biggest drawback - perhaps the word is "marketing ploy" - is the advertised footprint for good canopy coverage. These particular Viparspectra 600W models are 15" L x 13.5" W and will provide good 2' x 2' coverage - at best. Viparspectra claim this light can provide 2.5' x 2.5' coverage but I am not quite in agreement with that one. So if you have a 4' x 4' tent, you would need 4 of these particular units to produce good quality bud. For that same $1200, you might want to look at another manufacturer.
LED manufacturers claim an "equivalent wattage" to HPS/HID lighting but the true wall wattage is about 1/2 of the equivalency rating. The LED's I use now draw 280 wall watts each. With 2 of them, I am pulling 560 wall watts. If what I read about 3/4 g per wall watt for LED's is true, I hope to reap 420 g when dried and cured. (I could live with 420 g of good quality herb.)
LED's will still generate a little bit of heat and that heat will need to be ventilated out of your grow space, especially in the smaller ones. The cooling fans will cool the unit itself but not the ambient surroundings. Exhaust fans will need to pull that heat out. However, LED's are still significantly cooler that the HID lights.
Determine the size of your grow space and see if something along the lines of a Mars Hydro or Viparspectra LED will work for you. LED's can help you to grow stinky and sticky fruits.
