Why are so many new growers choosing blurple/led over hps/mh??

jerry-joe

jerry-joe

Active Member
I just started a grow a little over a week ago. I did a fair amount of research, most of it on lights. I was originally leaning towards a spider farmer sf4000 which goes for around $550. I liked the idea of lower operating cost (electricity), less heat to have to exhaust, and not having to replace bulbs, like a typical HID setup. However, I ended up purchasing a 1000W HID (MH/HPS), primarily to save money. $190 vs $550 was a big difference for me considering the whole order (tent, soil, nutrients, etc) was over $1000. In all the years I have been growing, I've only used MH/HPS for lights, so there is a level of comfortability. The only way to test the attributes of the two light styles would be to have the same genetics in the same medium with identical nutrient schedules under each light (for me it'd be my 1000W HID vs a spider farmer sf4000) and see what the yield per watt difference is. But that's a lot of extra money and since I can only grow six plants here in Maine, it would be a ton of wasted light with only 3 plants under each.
 
gwheels

gwheels

Well-Known Member
I removed the HPS due to the heat....i was having constant RH problems (plant respiration increase) and it was all temp related.

IF i could get that ballast out of the room it would be a lot better. Now im back to all boards cobs and strips and a temp of 77 (from 85).

Dehuey works gentler....plants are happier....i dont sweat my balls off gardening anymore...win win.

My room can only get rid of about 1200 to 1300 watts of heat...so how i use them is up to me, The HPS would rock a tent if you have an air cooled hood and a ballast out of the tent. Fresh air intake etc.

But boards are easier... a lot easier.
 
jerry-joe

jerry-joe

Active Member
gwheels said:
I removed the HPS due to the heat....i was having constant RH problems (plant respiration increase) and it was all temp related.

IF i could get that ballast out of the room it would be a lot better. Now im back to all boards cobs and strips and a temp of 77 (from 85).

Dehuey works gentler....plants are happier....i dont sweat my balls off gardening anymore...win win.

My room can only get rid of about 1200 to 1300 watts of heat...so how i use them is up to me, The HPS would rock a tent if you have an air cooled hood and a ballast out of the tent. Fresh air intake etc.

But boards are easier... a lot easier.
Click to expand...

I'm using the 1000W HID in a 5 x 5 tent. I also have an inline duct fan pulling through the hood and exhausting through a carbon filter. It is plugged into a switch that is temperature-activated so I set it to exhaust when the temperature reads 80. And finally, I have a fan I got from Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BZQKC5M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The fan keeps the canopy around 75 so usually, the duct fan isn't necessary. However, when I checked the room this morning it was 90. WTF? you might ask. The plug for my Amazon fan had worked its way out of its socket (it's plugged into a power strip that I have zip-tied to the post of the tent). So I'm glad that happened because what that taught me is that without a fan, my inline duct fan is useless. I feel like I wasted money: fan, duct, filter, and switch cost me around $150.
 
Mullalulla

Mullalulla

Well-Known Member
Kingrow1 said:
Hps too hot my fucking ass, learn to grow.

Always some sales hype broshite being perpetuated by those who bought into the last hype.

Theres hps growers smashing it yet and if hps is too hot how is more light colder....

Years of this bs no wonder blurples get such good attention from new growers as they cant be arsed with overpriced unfriendly hyped us snake oil thats more toxic than ebola :-)
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You type like some home school kid who lived above a paint factory.

You live in a place that has terrible weather. Not everyone lives in a cold dark shit hole lol.
 
jerry-joe

jerry-joe

Active Member
I've got an interesting development on the temp of my tent with MH bulb. I read some articles on the efficiency of inline duct fans. Seems turbulence and friction are the enemies a fan efficiency. I had bought ducting to run between the hood and fan, and the fan and carbon filter. The length was 25 feet. So I eyeballed halfway, cut the hose and installed it. So the section between my hood and fan was approximately 12.5 feet. According to the article, all that extra material was causing friction; so I cut out all extra material by stretching the duct hose tight between the light hood and the fan. I cut out around 8 feet of extra hose and now the connection is super tight with no extra ducting material. Turned my fan back on and the fan is now keeping the tent around 76 degrees. Amazing.
 
curious2garden

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
gwheels said:
When was the last time Kingrow even posted?
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He was banned. But I have seen a new member who reminded me of him.

jerry-joe said:
I've got an interesting development on the temp of my tent with MH bulb. I read some articles on the efficiency of inline duct fans. Seems turbulence and friction are the enemies a fan efficiency. I had bought ducting to run between the hood and fan, and the fan and carbon filter. The length was 25 feet. So I eyeballed halfway, cut the hose and installed it. So the section between my hood and fan was approximately 12.5 feet. According to the article, all that extra material was causing friction; so I cut out all extra material by stretching the duct hose tight between the light hood and the fan. I cut out around 8 feet of extra hose and now the connection is super tight with no extra ducting material. Turned my fan back on and the fan is now keeping the tent around 76 degrees. Amazing.
Click to expand...
Make sure your fan is pulling and not pushing. They tend to be more effective that way.
 
coreywebster

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
jerry-joe said:
I've got an interesting development on the temp of my tent with MH bulb. I read some articles on the efficiency of inline duct fans. Seems turbulence and friction are the enemies a fan efficiency. I had bought ducting to run between the hood and fan, and the fan and carbon filter. The length was 25 feet. So I eyeballed halfway, cut the hose and installed it. So the section between my hood and fan was approximately 12.5 feet. According to the article, all that extra material was causing friction; so I cut out all extra material by stretching the duct hose tight between the light hood and the fan. I cut out around 8 feet of extra hose and now the connection is super tight with no extra ducting material. Turned my fan back on and the fan is now keeping the tent around 76 degrees. Amazing.
Click to expand...
Yeah makes a big difference , depends on the fan too. Some are really poor at long lengths of duct and resistance and others fair a lot better.
 
ttystikk

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
.Smoke said:
Was just wondering what made you all decide to go with your lighting choice?

I'm pretty knowledgeable about electronics (10yrs working on them in the air force). I did a TON of research before I started growing back in June. Knowing what I do, I came to the conclusion that for me to be happy with LED I would either have to DIY or spend a crap ton of money. I was never interested in the blurples once I figured out the whole "1000W=200 actual watts" deal with them. So to me the easiest choice was to go with the tried and true old school HPS/MH so I could focus more on learning about how the plant grows instead of spending most of my time trying to get the perfect vpd, or be worried about whether I needed to add this red spectrum or that blue one.

I am running 2.6kW of HPS and at my current electric rate, that's about $115 a month. Way less than what I was paying for my weed.

So again I ask,
What made you all choose blurple/led over (what seems to be the easier way) of hps/mh?

And Merry Christmas too! Hope you all got some great new presents we will all see pics of in the grow rooms soon!
Click to expand...
Did you ever get a satisfactory answer to this? If not, PM me.
 
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