From DEs to LEDs

drgreentm said:

No, running at 1k I have never run my ballasts on super or anything like that, never heard of any manufacturer recommending the 1150 setting. As far as I knew they are bulb rated at 2100 Umol on the 1k setting, seen them tested at 24” at 1900 umol.

Day 10 flower today.

I’m interested as hell in led and I feel like they where really edging the market for a while and the the de’s hit the market hard. I still see led companies comparing there lights to 1k se lamps but what about de’s? Hence the reason for rolling through this thread because op said he was making the switch but then saw he was covering a 4x4 with a 1k and realistically he could have used a 600 which would have edged him right up to his cob fixture in gram per watt.

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drgreentm said:

First off I would like to say beautiful grows , very impressive. Looks like those qb’s are kicking some ass!!

On a side note your g/w with hps is super low!! I believe you went way overboard using 1k de fixtures to light a 4x4 area. I feel like you could have used 600w de’s with no loss in quality or quantity which would have likely put you in the 1 g/w range right next to your cob fixture. I’m definitely no led hater nor am I a hps lover but I’m using 4 1k de’s to light a 12’x12’ room and it is stupid bright in there.

I have been looking into the qb’s and trying to figure if it would be worth the switch from current de’s I have but I’m feeling like I would need like 6 of your qb rigs to cover the same space my de’s cover which would only save me a few hundred watts and cost 3 x what my fixtures did.

Any thoughts or insight would be appreciated.

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greengrassgrower1 said:

Thanks for the kind words Dr.

I agree my G per w was low for HPS.. A couple plants didnt hit as well as they should have.. As far as turning them down i did to 750w and saw same to less results so i put them back to 1k.. Out of the 12 to 15 runs i did with the best was .86 per w. and they looked like this x 16..
View attachment 4053547 Now thats with a bigger yielding strain then i am running now..


Back to the light source.. dollar for dollar if i were lighting up a big area i would go SE HPS.. HElla cheap and gives great results.. But for me in my 8x8 its about being efficient.. That means 2 things to me...

Maximizing photons per Watts: QBs have the best output for the price IMO. 600ws of QBs = 1k SE.. = Savings on lighting and cooling cost.
Maximizing photon delivery: looking at 1 HPS to 1 QB rig.. One light source vs. 4 boards.. The spread on the boards is ideal for an even coverage eliminating Hot spots..

One other thing to note about the QBs and HPS is the head room that is needed. DE, i like them 3' to 4 ' away from the canopy and QBs i like 18" allowing you to grow much lager plants.

All and all i am very impressed and excited as to what i can achieve with 2.4k vs 4k..

Cheers,

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OneHitDone said:

You seem to be a straight shooter
Qb's at 18" to canopy vs DE at 3-4' - how is the development of the lower flowers under those two situations for you and how far total from the light source for each are your lowest down bag quality nugs?

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greengrassgrower1 said:

Thanks for the kind words Dr.

I agree my G per w was low for HPS.. A couple plants didnt hit as well as they should have.. As far as turning them down i did to 750w and saw same to less results so i put them back to 1k.. Out of the 12 to 15 runs i did with the best was .86 per w. and they looked like this x 16..
View attachment 4053547 Now thats with a bigger yielding strain then i am running now..


Back to the light source.. dollar for dollar if i were lighting up a big area i would go SE HPS.. HElla cheap and gives great results.. But for me in my 8x8 its about being efficient.. That means 2 things to me...

Maximizing photons per Watts: QBs have the best output for the price IMO. 600ws of QBs = 1k SE.. = Savings on lighting and cooling cost.
Maximizing photon delivery: looking at 1 HPS to 1 QB rig.. One light source vs. 4 boards.. The spread on the boards is ideal for an even coverage eliminating Hot spots..

One other thing to note about the QBs and HPS is the head room that is needed. DE, i like them 3' to 4 ' away from the canopy and QBs i like 18" allowing you to grow much lager plants.

All and all i am very impressed and excited as to what i can achieve with 2.4k vs 4k..

Cheers,

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greengrassgrower1 said:

Thanks OneHit - The only person i battle with over garden performance is myself.. Always trying to improve..

I would say close to the same.. I mean if the lowers are getting light they will produce in both applications, and if they are being covered by the above canopy they wont harden up kinda fluffy..

Here are some pics, keep in mind these plants are around 4'ish tall and i cleaned up the bottom 2'ish in week 2 or 3 of flower so the remaining canopy was thick and not much lowers..

View attachment 4053586 View attachment 4053587

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Yodaweed said:

California Lightworks is the ONLY LED

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rkymtnman said:

i think black dog up in Boulder also has some uv in their led fixtures. but their prices are outrageous per watt

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Roger A. Shrubber said:

its just as easy to add uv to leds as it is to add it to hid....buy a reptile light, put it on its own timer...problem solved

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Yodaweed said:

Yea i just copy and pasted this off their website, if you search UV for cannabis you come up with lots of results supporting UV increases cannabinoid production, here's some more

https://hightimes.com/grow/grow-hack-how-to-use-a-uv-lamp-to-increase-thc/

https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/blog-could-uv-light-boost-thc-production-in-cannabis-plants-n314

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rkymtnman said:

i use the htg supply uv t5's. they will melt your leaves if used too much. i'd never do a run without supplemental uv

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Yodaweed said:

Those are the type gpw numbers that can be achieved with SE HID technology, also you never tried CMH lights? Problem with LEDs is they contain zero UV and nearly zero far red, so when it comes to producing resin they aren't really the best lighting solution compared to full spectrum lighting.

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lukio said:

lovely looking plants, man. dont listen to Yodaweed, most people have him on ignore.

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greengrassgrower1 said:

Hi Yoda,

I have never used CMH lights before.. What i have seen though from the Jungle boys and others is they kickass.. BUT for me im pushing for efficiency and QBs put out more photons per watt then CMH or HPS..

From growing i cant see the loss in quality from the lack of UV from LEDs.. I do have some far reds in the room as a flower initiator not sure if they helped or not.. If anything i would say the LEDs produce the same or more resin.. Same goes for the terps.. I would also say the density is greater with LEDs..

Now everything i just stated was off just 2 different runs containing 3 different strains.. So not alot of data just what i have experienced thus far so take it for what its worth..

This Shurb cut is not the frostiest strain but what she lacks in frost she makes up for with loud gasy terps and rock hard flowers..

Cheers,

View attachment 4053611

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Humple said:

I see the village idiot is back and up to the same old bullshit. Going on about resin, when many growers have seen for themselves that they get MORE overall resin (and terps) under COBs and QBs.

As Lukio said, OP, pay no attention to Yodaweed. Easily the least respected member on this forum. He's always trying to school people on QBs, despite never having run them. Only reason I haven't put him on ignore is that I get a laugh out of his persistent ignorance.

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Humple said:

I see the village idiot is back and up to the same old bullshit. Going on about resin, when many growers have seen for themselves that they get MORE overall resin (and terps) under COBs and QBs.

As Lukio said, OP, pay no attention to Yodaweed. Easily the least respected member on this forum. He's always trying to school people on QBs, despite never having run them. Only reason I haven't put him on ignore is that I get a laugh out of his persistent ignorance.

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greengrassgrower1 said:

Thanks Humple - I dont care either way. I just like showing my experiences with others.. Growing is a fun hobby with many ways for it to be done successfully.. No wrong way as long as produce the fire i guess..

Cheers,

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