What do you think is best, LED/HPS/MH/CLF or a combo???

[Big Eggy]

After a bad summer and having to chop my plants even before they had set flower i have decided that i'm gonna go back to growing indoors (In my coal shed outside). firstly i need to get a power supply fitted to my outhouse and then i can start thinking about constrcting my new box.

In the past i have grown with a 70w hps in a 1x1 sq ft box.. i grew four clones at a time and went for the Bud on a stick approach.. i was alway happy with my results and near the end of my time with that box felt that i had really dailed it in. check my gallary for some examples.

Now since then there has been big improvments with LED and CFL have gained more aceptance as a micro growers tool.

I want to see what you guy think will be the best format to use on my new project.

My box floor plan will be around 40cm x 40cm to fit in four 6.5litre pots which are 18x18x21cm.

So do i go LED/HPS/MH/CLF or a combo? i would like to keep wattage around the 70-90w area.

Thanks in advance

Eggy

 

[Bobby Stainless]

I like to mix in some CMH.

 

[Big Eggy]

Hey Bobby.. Whats the main difference from a standard mh other than the bulb? What I would like to build is a box that will give me the best possible results. I'm thinking about adding 30cm strip floro's or led strips down the corners of the box.. But can't decide on what main lamp to use.. I like the look of the ufo but just a bit unsure of performance vs cost compared to traditional lamps.

 

[Zonker]

Loving the move to LED from HPS, if only for the heat reduction seen thus far. Plants are without a doubt the squattest I have ever seen, so might be good for limited spaces. Other than no internodal stretching to speak of, the plants seem to be quite healthy and thriving. Going to be interesting to see how they finish. In researching LEDs, I found that Lumatek is about the only company that is actually driving their diodes at full rated power, tier 5W diodes are going just a tad over 5W; avg for 1W diodes was about 0.7W, 3W diodes were being driven at about 1.7W.

 

[ItGrows]

I have only used cfl's. I have all of my parts ordered to build my own array of LED's. I hope to have it completed by the end of the month. It will share my box with CFL's until im sure it will out preform or fail to out preform my current set up.

 

[TexMex McDirt]

I only grow w CFLs. I am not knocking any other lights, not at all. Just for me, CFLs are cheap, stealth and can grow me some weed, just for personal use.

 

[hempfield]

LEDs are very good for long time use ( more than 50.000 hours - which means a lot of growing cycles).

 

[bonsai]

I'm about to fire up a micro box with a vertical 70W HPS and 3x 18W DIY LED bars. Currently vegging under two of the LED bars, crazy amount of light, zero stretch and zero heat (serious overkill on heatsinks is the key here).

Personally I'd recommend a horizontal 70W HPS in the middle (hood? Cool tube? whatever you prefer), with a mini LED bar mounted off each long side -- each with 2x royal blue 3W LEDs and one cool white. Both would run in series off one LED driver. This would give you a single light unit that you can raise/lower as needed, and would give a square light footprint to match your square space.
I made a thread in the Australia forum regarding suppliers, but you could use the same suppliers if you like as you're on 230V mains (right?) https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=214820. The blue from the LEDs with the red from the HPS should give a good spectral spread IMO.
70W HPS seem to be very cheap in the UK, that's where I got my ballast and bulbs from.


Here are two of the LED bars I made running at 750mA (due to including deep red instead of warm white, red maxes out at 750mA), conveniently running in a 40cm square veg space

 

[Bionic]

I'd be interested in seeing your 70 watt bulb/ballast and vertical set up.

 

[bonsai]

I'd be interested in seeing your 70 watt bulb/ballast and vertical set up.

CBF'd going to take a more current pic, here's an earlier one of work in progress - https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=21146&pictureid=677607 HPS hangs in the middle, LED bar over each of the three sides of the U shaped floor area. Active intake fans under the vertical HPS. Would be doing final wiring right now if I hadn't fried the microcontroller last night. Fail.

 

[Sgt.Stedenko]

I agree with Bobby. The 70-100w CMH is a no brainer.

 

[Big Eggy]

Okey i'm interested.. But what are the main advantages of useing a CMH?

Do they use a Standard Ballast (have read they cant handle digi)

Do they have an improved red spectrum?

Is the operating Temps lower than the same size MH/HPS?

Longer Life?

Will i have to make it myself out of bit and bobs? or can i buy a pre made unit?

 

[Sgt.Stedenko]

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=72215&highlight=cmh

Digi ballast will not work. You need a mag ballast to run one.
CMH bulbs at 70w, 100w and 150w operate on a pulse start metal halide ballast. 250w and 400w need a hps ballast.

 

[Oregongrow]

led for micro grows

 

[habeeb]

LED man

I believe they have a micro lumigrow which might suit you. not sure if you can tune that one down to whatever watt you want

there is also other companies I cannot mention that have smaller watts


I would do LED, there powerful enough now to grow in flower, and would say they will produce a little more then if using CFL. and will be less heat then a HPS so..

here is a pic from a grow led hydro unit, and one from a lumigrow, these are autos mind you, and were growing in space lighting I had to fill the tents.. I was growing some normal plants in flower to test the lumigrow, but put a 250 MH on them half way through so I cannot say, but they were growing just fine under the lumigrow for 4 weeks in




the autos stayed short from the intense blue, but "normal" strains grow up so they will fill in more.. or if autos are your thing, I would just lift the LED higher till stretch is over, or tone down the lumigrow if you get one..

 

[Anti]

Will i have to make it myself out of bit and bobs? or can i buy a pre made unit?

Philips sells the only (that I know of) open rated 400w CMH bulbs.

They use a standard (non digi) HPS ballast and a standard mogul socket.

They are said to "throw" less light toward the plants than HPS.

They are not available in 600w or 1000w.

(Some say they are unavailable in Europe, so it may require added shipping.)

 

[Big Eggy]

Thanks for all the input guys! Very helpfull staff..

I'm still abit unsure what approach will take.. I like the sound of the CMH but need to do some further reading, at the same time i'm also liking the LED option as i can buy a premade unit and everything will look tidy rather than a ballast and capasitor all over the place... But then theres the trusty 70w HPS.. served me well in the past and very cheap to make just the bit about the mess of wires puts me off.

Decisions decisions decisions.

 

[trem0lo]

LEDs work well in small spaces but you generally have to spend a lot of money unless you do the research and make your own array. The made in China cheapo lamps on Ebay contain very weak LEDs and won't grow much. Generally look for the ones that run 1 watt per LED bulb or more... i.e. if a lamp contains dozens of LEDs and only runs at 20 watts that's a red flag. At 20 watts it should contain 20 LEDs

In addition many LED lamps don't get the cooling right and heat affects an LED's output power and longevity. A quality lamp will have a nice heatsink and some sort of fan (depending on the size) to dissipate that heat.

As I've found it's a jungle out there in the LED market. Unless you do a lot of research it's easy to get taken in and spend too much.

 

[gilgahash]

I'd vote for a 90 watt DIY LED panel of top binned leds. It would give you the performance of 150hps and almost none of the heat, but would cost hundreds of dollars to assemble. On the other hand one of those Chinese ufos would make a pretty cool frisbee if you plugged it into an extension cord and threw it from a high enough window...

 

[Anti]

But then theres the trusty 70w HPS.. served me well in the past and very cheap to make just the bit about the mess of wires puts me off.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by mess of wires.

I have two 400w bulbs and ballasts. There's a power cord (standard PC type power cable) that plugs into the wall and then there's a cord that goes to the mogul socket that the light plugs into.

The ballasts sit in a space outside the grow area (reducing heat) and one cable (for each light) goes into it.