Recommended Setup

I will be doing a shed grow with 6 ft by 10 ft by 7 feet tall.
I am not sure if I want to do LED or HID, and there is constant arguing about this in all the threads I have looked at. I want to do probably 2000w, can you recommend a light setup? (bulb ballast hood) or a brand of LED for 1K lights.

Im interested in this too. Someone asked my advice on this only the other day but I told them I knew nothing about current tech LEDs. I went with CMH recently after years of HPS and saw improvement but interested to hear what people have to say about the latest LEDs. I tried them in their infancy and found them usable only for keeping mothers and clones under but that was then.

Depends on your budget. If you can afford it I would preorder 3 of the chilled LED 500w kits (or just buy the commercial light if youre built like that) then fill in the gaps with some cobs. vero29, luminus cxm-22. There is no debate, LEDs produce MORE ppf than HPS watt for watt (the leds im talking i know some blow).

The only reason any debate exists is because people make shit up on the internet. Look as sphere tests, there is no debate.

Anyway, IF you cant afford leds and you must go with hid I would go with growers choice CMH lights with the 3kr bulb. The 3kr has a spectrum nearly identical to the phillips agro 315 that i believe is discontinued and you can only get the normal 3k and 4k from phillips. (edit) my first grow with 630w cmh in a 3x3 flood table I just pulled 1# on the nose. I didn't realize id have almost zero stretch with the cmh so I should have vegged an extra week or two or added 2-3 plants to really optimize the space. Not bad i dont think for a not perfect first run with these lights.

Hit LED gardner forums if you need help with LED setup, feel free to PM me also. I just built 3 728w lights out of luminus cxm-22 chips. Im using them to replace 1k single ended HPS. Im getting wayyy better growth. Ive not flowered yet but the math puts me at well above my old hps in ppf. RIght at the max without c02. They cost me about 600 bucks a light. The heat in my 4x8 tent with two of my lights is far less than 1khps, it even puts off less heat than my 630cmh.

I know a watt is a watt but something makes LED less of a hassle. Put it this way with all 1k lights i needed my AC on all day, even now in fall. With the leds I have a 6 inch fan blowing cool outside air into the room and my room sits at the perfect LED grow temp of 80-85f

(edit two) if you dont want to DIY cob leds look at timber grow lights, pacific light concepts, or rapid LEDs new cob lights. Rapid I think has the best prices right now. All three of those companies will guide you to exactly what you need with no bullshit. Just ask them what you need to max out your space without c02 (i assume)

Spectrum King LEDs do a great job. I switched from HPS to LEDs last year and the nugs are frostier; probably due to less heat from the lamps. LEDs have let me avoid getting an air conditioner, saving money and power. I don't have to worry about a bulb going out (they last at least 6 yrs, per Spectrum King). I don't even have to have bulbs around anymore. No more hot ballasts or light burns on plants that get too tall.

LEDs give me peace of mind and better product.

I'm on the other side of the tracks.

Got with HPS for best results!

Nothing beats HPS ....yet

XXX_710 said:

Spectrum King LEDs do a great job. I switched from HPS to LEDs last year and the nugs are frostier; probably due to less heat from the lamps. LEDs have let me avoid getting an air conditioner, saving money and power. I don't have to worry about a bulb going out (they last at least 6 yrs, per Spectrum King). I don't even have to have bulbs around anymore. No more hot ballasts or light burns on plants that get too tall.

LEDs give me peace of mind and better product.

Click to expand...

I had the same experience with CMH - temps came down and frostiness went through the roof. I had put it down to that and your observation only makes me more certain of it.

Heat is a silent, invisible destroyer! I always consoled myself about hitting 30 during the summer by thinking "Its only 2 degrees over 28 and 28 is ok, kinda" but now Ive run grows with CMH and controller running the fans, I keep a maximum variation of 7 degrees from dark to light and never exceed 27. The quality is in my album for anyone who cares what CMH does to a plant.

I would go with 6 CMH 315w lights in 2 rows.

i got 400 + spectrum kings on a real deal recently and decided to try them in flower, I had run hps for years and gavitas de and I don't find the led producing a better product as far as resin and they seemed to be less effective in flowering than the de but I liked the spectrum better for veg and over all

since i have 7 foot ceilings and the de on a controller where i can dial in the wattage a but it was a bit intense

I am not experimenting with mixed lighting in different configurations

i ran 2 400 + over a 12 x 6 on a light rail, this is the garden after vegging a week


here are 2 400 + on the ends and a de set to 600 in the middle on the mover a week after

lights on



lights off



day 17 under two de at 800 watts each

i really feel the LED helped keep the initial stretch to a minimum

bestothebest said:

I will be doing a shed grow with 6 ft by 10 ft by 7 feet tall.
I am not sure if I want to do LED or HID, and there is constant arguing about this in all the threads I have looked at. I want to do probably 2000w, can you recommend a light setup? (bulb ballast hood) or a brand of LED for 1K lights.

Click to expand...

Budget ? How much of the space is for seedlings/clones?

Horticulture lighting group leds are awesome but tough to get your hands on them right now

When I get my next build all squared away I’m going to combine cmh & HLG’s leds