Im giving in

[LanesHortiMax]

First off...I write this humbley....very much so.
Ive been using HID lighting since Married with Children came on prime time tv (for you younger cultivators...thats the 90s)....Old HPS magnetic ballast buzzing....hortilux pumping hard as it can trying to drain every tick it can on that poor ass meter.
Ive always stood by HID....not because I owed some brand loyalty or was cultish....because back in the day...something would come along..some lighting concept...and MH and HPS would crush it.

I remember when your LEDS hit the scene...hahaha....I was hanging vertical 1ks with no reflector and moving them around a bit every couple weeks and busting 1g/watt.....the LED guys would show me their light fluffy premature air sacks and Id just laugh......well....here as of late..things are different...a very competent and knowledgable grower I know showed me the strain we both prefer for our personal....it was dense...dense beyond dense...the tightest compact flower Id ever seen...I immediately asked...how did you get so close with that hortilux to get it like that....he looked and said...no that was done with LED. I knew he was telling me straight. I nodded and parted ways.....

A friend of mine who works for one of the premiere LED companys out in Cali...started sending me pics of these custom builds he would make off the clock....Everything done down to the last diode...custom....then the ability to select a singular spectrum and place it anywhere.....he told me he had gotten up too 1.9g on a watt with some sog with these "pucks" and "strips" .....Sounds too good...but I think he may been serious....he offered to sale me a ton of lumatek and cmh gear for dirt cheap....i politely declined.

Ive always wanted "phantom" vertical hoods for cmh with remote ballast....i seen a setup where the lighting footprint was being "overlaced" and thought it was the coolest thing ever. I have my phantoms....

Was getting ready to launch a small 4 x 8 tent grow...i noticed a seam of soft smoke come out the hood of the phantom around the socket (btw...the PGZX is the aggravating-ist piece of shit socket design ever). I cut power....restarted after 15 minutes...while plugged into a kill a watt.....zap...surge...flicker....dead.....5 minutes later...ignite...flicker...dead.....i took the ballast to my gettin place....they traded out....i drive many miles back to replace it.....same thing....it wasnt the ballast....it the actual hood....loose connection..idk...dont care...you see hydrofarm...really had a great design....but your phantom hoods are flimsy as hell....ive seen chinaman topolites built better.....and phillips..with your 100 bulb...how bout somehow making the glass more secure to the base....i mean...i am paying a good lick for your product.....hortilux....your bulbs dont put out as long....i dont need a par meter to know...ive used your overpriced flame breathers longer than your new marketing director has been able to piss in a toilet and "explain" how your new flourescents work...(floros...ha!) ....and your ceramic hps is nothing to great....not for what you want....and upkeep.....
Then guy at the shop tells me his friends house burnt down week back....i said..shit what from? He said his lights....holy makrel! What kind of light went? ....."i believe it was a quantum" ......fucking-A.

You see....Im done with ballast....bulbs...having near same amount of money in ventilation as I do in fixtures....
I really think the HID realm overall is scratching and getting sloppy. And Im tired of paying for it. You cant even get a hydrofarm rep to call you back after you bought 2300 dollers worth of their overpowered "efficient" fans that you just want to know the right godamn speed controller to use because the instructions and box contradict each other....

I talked to young fella from....Rapid other day....guy told me whatever was in my shopping cart he would help me do techs and build....and was normal...i bet he didnt even have on a name tag....name tags are really sad and pathetic...if I want to know your name Ill ask...dont force your employees to advertise it. Its all about commercial accounts now....oh yeah...fuck a 100 bulb and fuck a 75 doller bulb.

You see ALL you cant be lying.....freaking guy pulled nearly 210 gr off a 240watt 3000k and little 660 red mix? People grabbing 1200 gr off 900 watt strip builds? Oh how you can do so many things....boards...strips...pucks...
Alot of the foot print does notnadd up to me....but Im already in process of building my first frankenstien....its going to consist of 3 diff drivers..because Im so excited I wanted strips and pucks and exotic crees....and...its nice...its freedom....no major heat issues...bulbs...ballast...fucking crazy controllers and temp cutoff switches in case annexhaust goes out and you fry your crop/resovoir...(i actually had this happen recently...came home it was 116 degrees inside) ....my...temp timer seemed to have missed the 87 degree cutoff mark.


So here I am...Im done....Im gonna give it a try and try and give you young bucks a run for your money ....soon as I figure out what color wago connectors I want and a good "potentiator"....you know badass shit.

A member on here recently posted his 2600 watt QB replacement for his 3600 HID. Thank you for that post.

I just wrote an opinionated article...with the set out to ask a community question....I have enjoyed some skywalker OG recently...so forgive the authorship...oh...the bud was super frosty and... LED grown.


Please share some of your favirote builds and most memorable harvest !

 

[LanesHortiMax]

Questions..concerns

Questions..concerns

A few things I dont like about SOME of the LED market...... 1500watt full spectrum...ect ect....but actual draw is 340.....I really appreciate the higher end and solid.companies that dont do that shit. I wanna know what Im pulling.....one...conpany in particular that just recently listed this POS bar fixture (looks like sam strips but really just big diodes in a glass lense) was involved with some conversation on a private board Im on....and they claimed that this 1500 watt (340 actual) was without a doubt a 1500 HID replacement.. ...i hate bullshit...So i politely and publicly offered to help his company....lets show em! Ill do side by side.....your 1500 beast against ....a DE gavita....1200...im giving you a 300 watt handicap....same pheno..same strain....BUT....ill do the gavita in soil...basic soil....and your beast will get the finest top fed/dwc placement with all the bells and whistles.....
When you win Ill buy the fixture....post the journal anywhere you want....and....AND.... Ill personally buy 12 of the fixtures for a commercial (hemp) greenhouse I help manage.....

You made your claim...i dont need to see your mole and par graphs...lets do it. Raw product...andnIll the gavita bulb will be well used with fingernsmudges all on it. Should be an easy win.

If you claim or say something...mean it. He declined the challenge stating...at this point our product has nothing to prove...its proven.....i guess by all the colorful graphs squared equations. That raggy gavita would have crushed that half watt fake diode toy 4 times over.....but I wanted prove a point. This is a business...do good business....

I really like the way growmau i think said it.....we arent saying that x amount of this light will replace your HID setup....We arent saving you electricity...we are increasing yields and profits....If you run 2000bwatt HID....run 2000nwatt of our LED....garuntee your yields be bigger faster...and perhaps terpier. Now your talking my language! Shit if 600bwatt of sammy F's can nearly 50 orn75 percent out do my 600 HID....with no bulb changes or 8 inch vortex running wide open to suck the btus down....HELL YES ....matter of fact lets use even more electeicity!

But.....here are some questions and concerns I have coming into this realm....and the guys with LED know how.....I DO APPRECIATE YOUR TIME AND RESPONSE.

1. My breeder, I noticed had "LED Optimized" on some strains....what the hells that mean? Are my old classic strains not going to respond well to LEDs? Say I had some original 93' OG seedstock...itngoing to wilt under LED?

2.If I had say....4- 4ft gen3 samsung strips running on a 480 driver. So heres my 4 bars @480watt....but I wanted more efficiency in terms of coverage...so I added a strip (now 5) and still pushing 480 watts...is this going to dramatically reduce intensity/penetration? What if I added 2 more and had 6 bars....the strips are say running at 60% . At what point does coverage sacrifice light intensity. (I know it depends on indivodual light performance@ given current but what do you guys generally do in a watt/coverage conundrum).

3. How in the hell does a 23 x 18 (roughly domension of 4 qbs on a heatsink) get 4 x 4 area coverage? I mean...not saying it doesnt...just looks to me that the footprint is not much bigger than light (in terms of canopy penetration)

4. Holyshit...seen a 100nwatt timber cob turn....wow...thats like star trek beam me up scotty...but how the hell you get any coverage with it...very narrow beam....

5. Ok ok....lets be honest your personal pref.....
You get 240 watts of WHATEVER led you choose to directly compete with a SE 315Cmh in a 3x3 area....whats your weapon

6. You can get 480 watts to flower....against a fresh 600 watt hortilux..4x4 footprint..how will you defeat the dragon

7. And finally...theres a DE 1k...fucking booming a SCROG in 4x4......The LED master grants you up too 750 watts to match or slay...any shape size combo..ect..but you only got 750....DE ....not a 1200 boosted...straight 1k...badass bulb.

8. At what wattage per sqaure ft would you consider incorporating C02? 40? 50? 60?

9. WHY is it recommwnded I run my enviro temps in low/mid 80s with all LED? I run mid high 70s with HID... My strains like 77-78...

10. UV/IR make a big diff?

11. I personally dont like the idea of 4k for veg...5k-7k been my area for tight node and thick leaves...all the diodes I see for veg is mainly 4k....I remember these old school MH bulbs....Blue Saber...prolly a sunmaster was 7k....best veg bulb ever...hell 7k in MH is 7K in LED....same color....just kinda dont get that. See alot of diodes for "flower" at 3 and 3 5k. Why not 2700? Or a 2600 or a 2800......i know these are prettt autistic questions....and I probably do have a learning disability....be easy on me...Im new to the arena....Im just wetting my beak a bit...Ill be ready to swim soon

 

[PetFlora]

ONE OF THE huge DIFFERENCES BETWEEN hps/hid and LEDs is 100% of the led light is directed directly to the canopy. This is where lower wattage is equal to, or better


Personally, I prefer bars to flat panels as there is ample space between for hot air, moisture to escape


See Highbridways long lrd thread on IC



hth

 

[TychoMonolyth]

Here's an honest review. He touches on claims and tells you what to look for.

[Iframe1]99lL68N20Bc[/Iframe1]

 

[Sunshineinabag]

shit dude give me a decent electrician ......bout a pallet of feit leds 100 w replacement bulbs.........i can out perform any hid. Ive spent double what you did in hazard pay on mag tech ...kooltubes....and an electric bill i dont miss.....plus these plants seem to love those 5000k leds ....this is from 3 yrs of using them....not trolling

 

[944s2]

shit dude give me a decent electrician ......bout a pallet of feit leds 100 w replacement bulbs.........i can out perform any hid. Ive spent double what you did in hazard pay on mag tech ...kooltubes....and an electric bill i dont miss.....plus these plants seem to love those 5000k leds ....this is from 3 yrs of using them....not trolling

Sunshine,,,,would you mind telling me what space you use for 5000k leds and how’s the depth penetration?
Cheers,,,s2

 

[Sunshineinabag]

im gonna be using both of the 5000k bulbs and these spider farmer panels because for 300.00 you CANNOT BEAT those numbers imho! I adore aldo pepper and hi non biased fact finding missions.........i actually have 6 plants on 18/6 under a 5 headed lamp (yeah like youd see in a interior dec stores lol) each lamp head has a 5000k feit led screw in with the plastic diffuser cut off ......theres a thread here made by blynx that has more pert info in these regards then any publication or book ive ever read......this site.....its members and the knowledgebase shared here??? something to fuken behold my friend, and i mean that from the bottom of my heart!

so in my current space is just the corner of my kitchen because the gas heater i have SUCKS at keeping my condo warm in every room.Im trying really hard to wait for a cash infusion so i can just use my spare two bedrooms for veg and flower, but right now id have a hell of a time keeping them warm during lights off because its regularly 20 f here until april...its prob 3 x 3 x6 for now. the lights are 18 inches from the plants atm...

 

[944s2]

Thanks Sunshine,,,,
Very interested in the new stuff after HPs for decades,,,
So I imagine you would need a shitload to cover a 15x12 ft room,,,
Cheers again mate,,,,s2

 

[GOT_BUD?]

But.....here are some questions and concerns I have coming into this realm....and the guys with LED know how.....I DO APPRECIATE YOUR TIME AND RESPONSE.

1. My breeder, I noticed had "LED Optimized" on some strains....what the hells that mean? Are my old classic strains not going to respond well to LEDs? Say I had some original 93' OG seedstock...itngoing to wilt under LED? My guess is he is selecting these strains and breeding them under LED specifically. Where as most of the older strains out there were grown and selected under HPS. That doesn't mean the HPS plants won't do well under LED. But if you're used to growing a particular plant a particular way under HPS, that will change under LED. I've experienced it first hand when I started under LED and had several grows kick my ass until I started understanding the needs of the plant under LED can be radically different than under HPS.

2.If I had say....4- 4ft gen3 samsung strips running on a 480 driver. So heres my 4 bars @480watt....but I wanted more efficiency in terms of coverage...so I added a strip (now 5) and still pushing 480 watts...is this going to dramatically reduce intensity/penetration? What if I added 2 more and had 6 bars....the strips are say running at 60% . At what point does coverage sacrifice light intensity. (I know it depends on indivodual light performance@ given current but what do you guys generally do in a watt/coverage conundrum). I'll let someone with more technical experience handle this one. But from my simple understanding of it it's a bit of a trade off.

3. How in the hell does a 23 x 18 (roughly domension of 4 qbs on a heatsink) get 4 x 4 area coverage? I mean...not saying it doesnt...just looks to me that the footprint is not much bigger than light (in terms of canopy penetration) It's kind of an unspoken truth about LED that there is a 12-18" "Goldilocks" zone. Anything above that is a sure way too stress your plants. Below it is all larfy garbage. Canopy management is critical. Personal opinion is LED panel and strips are perfect for SOG grows.

4. Holyshit...seen a 100nwatt timber cob turn....wow...thats like star trek beam me up scotty...but how the hell you get any coverage with it...very narrow beam....I own two of what they now call the Fatty VS - 900 watts of COB. I never turn them up over 600 watts (measured on a killawatt) because anything more stress the plants too much, and I keep them as high as I can in my room. I don't use the reflectors at all so there is a 120 degree spread. I get multiple points of lights and the plants absolutely love it.

5. Ok ok....lets be honest your personal pref.....
You get 240 watts of WHATEVER led you choose to directly compete with a SE 315Cmh in a 3x3 area....whats your weapon
A little more power than you spec'd. I own the big brother to this light in my 5x5 tent. My only complaint with it is I wish it were a bit more spread out. That's why I bought two of their 3 foot heatsinks and will be putting those boards on the bigger heatsinks when this grow is finished

6. You can get 480 watts to flower....against a fresh 600 watt hortilux..4x4 footprint..how will you defeat the dragon I don't know if I would use just 480 watts of light in a 4x4. I'd rather have too much light and need to turn the fixture down so the diodes in theory will last longer and be more efficient at generating light vs. heat.

7. And finally...theres a DE 1k...fucking booming a SCROG in 4x4......The LED master grants you up too 750 watts to match or slay...any shape size combo..ect..but you only got 750....DE ....not a 1200 boosted...straight 1k...badass bulb. That one is easy. I've been lusting after these for about a year now. But this is what I have in my 5x5 tent over my 4x4 soil bed.The grow log is in my signature, which I need to update soon.

8. At what wattage per sqaure ft would you consider incorporating C02? 40? 50? 60? Don't know. I've only dabled with it in my youth.

9. WHY is it recommwnded I run my enviro temps in low/mid 80s with all LED? I run mid high 70s with HID... My strains like 77-78... If I remember correctly, it has to do with transpiration rates and how they feed due to the plants seeming to use LED more efficiently. I think.

10. UV/IR make a big diff? I'm finding out now. And preliminary reports kind of all over the place.

11. I personally dont like the idea of 4k for veg...5k-7k been my area for tight node and thick leaves...all the diodes I see for veg is mainly 4k....I remember these old school MH bulbs....Blue Saber...prolly a sunmaster was 7k....best veg bulb ever...hell 7k in MH is 7K in LED....same color....just kinda dont get that. See alot of diodes for "flower" at 3 and 3 5k. Why not 2700? Or a 2600 or a 2800......i know these are prettt autistic questions....and I probably do have a learning disability....be easy on me...Im new to the arena....Im just wetting my beak a bit...Ill be ready to swim soon I'll let someone with a better understanding of it answer that one.

Welcome to the darkside. We have cookies and super frosty flower.

 

[LanesHortiMax]

GOT_BUD....the big brother to what light? what are you reffering to as fat boys?

 

[GOT_BUD?]

GOT_BUD....the big brother to what light? what are you reffering to as fat boys?

The underlined text is a link. Click on it to reveal what you seek.

 

[Sunshineinabag]

parabolics for cmh?

parabolics for cmh?

Welcome to the darkside. We have cookies and super frosty flower.

could we put a paraboloic reflector on a cmh?