HPS vs CFL ??? Which is TRULY better??

[Sunbiz1]

Your trying to outdo a 600,I don't know if I could outdo the right grower with a 600.
I've heard that a cmh the last few weeks really boost trichomes/terpine development....but then again using one the whole grow could be better.I'm not against hid's I just think anything below a 600,cfls can equal or do better for a skilled grower...and thats the truth.I'll take any equivalent 400 DOWN!!!!

My CFL's are all hung in pairs, and individually adjustable to any level. This allows me to surround plants and use white walls/corners to reflect better. You take those same 20 bulbs or whatever CFL amount would equal a 600W HPS and place them into a fixture...they won't work very well. HPS units penetrate further, which is why they are hung 18" above canopy while my CFL's are only at 6".

 

[Sunbiz1]

Exactly! I would use cfls to clone or for small box grows.

Lemme dig, I have some pics from last year of plants in 5 gals grown only under CFL's. I supplement most of my plants in a sun room now, barring winter.

Trust me, you use enough CFL's and U can grow trees.

 

[wyteberrywidow]

Lemme dig, I have some pics from last year of plants in 5 gals grown only under CFL's. I supplement most of my plants in a sun room now, barring winter.

Trust me, you use enough CFL's and U can grow trees.

yes indeed no arguments there mine come in on the cfl out performing a hps.

 

[Lurkdewitt]

Is this a challenge????
400 equivalent watts of cfl will absolutely outdo a 400w hps,in the right hands.With that being said a 1000w hps has no equal,40 26w cfls or led's wont have the coverage or penetration.

I'm running a 400 watt hps now, maybe my next grow ill run 2 tents, same medium, same pheno, same pots, same air circulation and same water/feed regiment and mixed spectrum cfls and see which one does better.

 

[B166ER420]

I'm running a 400 watt hps now, maybe my next grow ill run 2 tents, same medium, same pheno, same pots, same air circulation and same water/feed regiment and mixed spectrum cfls and see which one does better.

Pm me when your ready....I like 5g,organic soil and it would be under 12 cfls with t5 side lighting...
...from an older grow.peace


Edit....sorry man I see you meant you yourself will do a side by side.....well pm me the results

 

[wyteberrywidow]

Big buds but the 2nd pic looks like a early cut. Alot of leafy growth or just the pic quality.

 

[B166ER420]

Yeah ....pic quality and lazy trimmer....

 

[DRiggins]

Good luck on which ever type of lighting you choose. I'd go with the HPS or better yet, MH for veg then HPS for flower. I'm not a very experienced grower but very handy when it comes to "do it yourself" projects and I can tell you one thing, that rig http://www.ebay.com/itm/Grow-with-P...r-Max-Grow-Light-Flowering-Unit-/170853520544 is a complete ripoff.

You can build a cfl unit with even more light sockets by wiring two vanity lights (about $12.00 each) buying a case of CFL bulbs and some Y splitters to get 2 lights per socket. The reflector can be made in 10 minutes with a 4.00 piece of duct pipe (home depot also) and some threaded rod. I've made a similar unit with two power strips for about 10.00 less bulbs.

I would strongly recommend looking up "DIY cfl vanity grow light" before wasting your money. You're looking at about 50.00 and an hour of your time (probably less) for the entire setup.

 

[333maxwell]

"[h=1]HPS vs CFL ??? Which is TRULY better??"[/h]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]What's better, cake or pie? A Bicycle or an airplane? Bridget or Pam?[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]If I am shy on space or want to be covert or it is summer and I need to trim not cook the place but still have something to harvest, CFL is the greatest invention in the world (well, one of them). Also for the casual hobbyist the are just real perfect.

If I have space and it is winter, the HID makes for a dandy, no CFL is going to replace a 600 watt HID, BUT, if I had to choose between a 150 watt HID and a 150 watt of CFL it would be a very very tough call (and ya, I do and have used comparatives) and would ultimately depend on my environment I was putting them in.

Those are just the rambling of someone who really adores both .. they each have their place. [/FONT]

 

[jondamon]

Your trying to outdo a 600,I don't know if I could outdo the right grower with a 600.
I've heard that a cmh the last few weeks really boost trichomes/terpine development....but then again using one the whole grow could be better.I'm not against hid's I just think anything below a 600,cfls can equal or do better for a skilled grower...and thats the truth.I'll take any equivalent 400 DOWN!!!!

My last 2 journals on here I harvested 439g dry of cheese.
Then 427g of a mix of critical+ and fruity chronic juice.

Using 400w. That's 1.06gpw and 1.09gpw.


Didn't you say you got 138g from 400w of cfl???


How is that better or outdoing an hps grower?


Not trying to be a dick cfls have their place IMO.

I love them for veg especially t5HO.




J

 

[wyteberrywidow]

Thats killer yield a # a 400 and from this thread i think the op ios haviong a prob gettiong 1# with a 1k

 

[WeeGogs]

I am about to set up my 3rd different grow room and have some ?'s that need answers from some ppl that have first hand experience. My first grow was using the 26w CFL's, I had 9 plants with only 6 of those lil 26 watters. Needless to say that grow only gave me about a half O all together. My last grow I upgraded to a 1000w HPS, cool tube, big ac unit, carbon filter, 6in fan, the works. The room was 4'x5' and I had 2 bigger plants in seperate 5gal dwc and 3 clones in a dwc setup for them. I got about 6 oz all together which I am completely happy with for it being my 2nd grow but here's my ?. I seen a listinng on ebay when i was looking at dif stuff for my next grow and seen a listing for a "hps killer 2000w cfl". All it is is 20 of the 26w cfl's wired together. The listing said that it puts out more usable lumens than the 1000w hps. I know its a cooler and more energy efficient system ''if it works''!!!! Has anyone on here used cfl's to this magnitude before and had better results than with the hps? The setup im going for is a 5'x5' grow room with a 4'x4' flood table using 16 clones in 3gal grow bags with hydroton. I am going to use 24 of the 26w cfl's and my nutes will be sensi grow/bloom A/B with big bud bud candy and voodoo juice. I will be running Barneys Farm's Critical Kush which has a yield of 750+ per sq/mt and have my hopes set on 1 to 2 lbs out of every harvest. Is this even a remotely obtainable goal using the cfl's?

neither.

with hps you will end up with tall spindly, skinny plants as there is nothing to feed the veg.

with dual spectrum hps red and blue light you have the blue to feed the veg and the red to feed the flowers.

keep the temps around 18-20c at night to stop them stretching for the light in the dark, and you will end up with short, bushy healthy plants and get around 10 ounce of the best highest thc weed on earth from each 600w light with a load of small plants underneath the dual spectrum.
i prefer quality to quantity.

 

[B166ER420]

My last 2 journals on here I harvested 439g dry of cheese.
Then 427g of a mix of critical+ and fruity chronic juice.

Using 400w. That's 1.06gpw and 1.09gpw.


Didn't you say you got 138g from 400w of cfl???


How is that better or outdoing an hps grower?


Not trying to be a dick cfls have their place IMO.

I love them for veg especially t5HO.




J

Thanks for being civil because you can definatly rub it in with those numbers
The best i've done is a little over 6.5z with 16-23w(368w),of course I run a perpetual and i've always got more than one plant growing/sharing light.Thats her above in post #45.I've since "upgraded" my setup to two 12 bulb aircooled diy fixtures and know i can get the same or better weight under each light.I've been growing good ol' mexi-scwag seeds that I saved from the good bags,for whatever that's worth,im sure I could do better with good genetics?I think i've seen your thread before the results,i'll go check it out.congrats & enjoy!
I have been growing solo cup plants lately....
...if you wanna see more,im in the solo cup contest

 

[hydrogreen65]

I used to run 756w of t5s, recently switched to a 600 hps/mh and still running same strains.
There's no comparison in the 2. The hid blows the T5's away. The bud density is way tighter, now I'm not knocking the t5s or cfl's I've had good results with both.
But the hids win hands down.

 

[Flaming Pie]

The problem I see with alot of cfl growers is improper reflection. Some have no reflectors and some use those clamp lamps. Neither maximizes the light from each bulb.

What generally happens is their gram per watt goes down due half the light of the bulbs not getting to the plant.

Then there are the people that point the end of the bulbs at the plant. The side of the bulbs produce 3-4x as much light as the ends.

So they add MORE bulbs and end up with 4-500watts around the plant are only getting about 200 watts of light to the plant.

 

[Sand4x105]

Well, actually, I just stared at the CFL in the light above my head, and I must say, it looks like a CFL gives most light at a 45 degree angle... straight down isn't bad...side view looks to be equal to down... I vote 45 degree for cfl is the best... I have 1200 watts of HPS/MH in bud room, and I have 1290 watts of Fluorescent... [32 x 23 watt//5 x 65 watt//2 x 32 watt//4 x 40 watt] in Veg room… I like to keep the plants short and bushy, and CFL’s allow me to keep plants surrounded by light…and, I didn’t plan on going with 1200+ watts of CFL… it just happened…I am very satisfied with how both rooms lights work…

To answer OP’s question, stay with the lights you have, and if ya like add a few CFL’s around the tree….

 

[trichome 1]

I use 600w mh for veg then hps for flowering and if it ain't broke...........

 

[smokinafatty]

lmao I can't even read a thread about such a silly question.

 

[Mad Hamish]

with hps you will end up with tall spindly, skinny plants as there is nothing to feed the veg.

.

Total and utter bull right there.

 

[CCCmints]

and im sure you yield ALOT less.... and if you use a mix of mh and hps you get that extra resin production anyways..... and smell better??? thats what a cure is for..

hmmm, i've got 2x 400 watters. i have 2 hps bulbs and 1 mh bulb. i'm gonna veg in a separate tent with an 8bulb t5 (mixed spectrum).

when i throw my girls into the flowering closet, do you think i should use 2x hps or 1x mh and 1x hps?? wonder what the effect on yield and quality would be..getting excited about this now lol i didn't really know what i was going to do with that mh bulb.