Yup, my most recent profession has been tree trimming and property maintenance so I use a lot of their products. I bought a very expensive electric tree saw last year and I didn’t realize the old saw case I put it in wasn’t water proof and it flooded and popped a $400 battery. They replaced it no questions asked with an apology that their tool failed.
I’m pretty sure HLG has a 5 year warranty against defects like most LED manufacturers.
They also are very efficient and produce a very even par map compared to everyone else. It’s a premium company, but generally you get what you pay for.
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I am now a stay at home person (except for the rest of this month).
I have waited 40 years to grow, again. Legal now.
I have three HLG lights (350R, 260D-Kit, and UVA-30).
These were purchased to upgrade the Vipar Spectras (300, 600, 900, and 1200, all cheap but well-advertised space heaters). TBT they will grow weed.
I wanted to up my game, so I bought the HLG350R. Purchased the IR-gun, UT383-BT (lux meter), and the Kil-a-watt device. Mapping my tent with the HLG350 (at @200watts) had the same output as the VS1200 (535watts).
Can’t answer for more detailed mapping because both lights were in the 4x4 when measurements were taken at 25 inches above the canopy.
Always buy bigger than currently needed.
I liked the HLG-350R, so I bought the 260D-Kit.
USN taught me electronics, soldering, and more (nightmares still).
Kit was better than most and HLG support was fantastic.
PSE METER MATH confirms HLG’s use less electricity. I was/am happy.
UVA-30 because further readings supported idea, try it.
I have a system designed to grow indoors from Oct to May, reasonably well or Sept thru June if managed well.
Difficult to rate my weed growing efforts for quality because
I follow rule #1 (Don’t tell anyone).
Share with only few and always await their judging for quality.
Each grow has encountered problems presenting more opportunities to learn, share, and overcome. Forum sharing exponentially accelerated my grow experiences (forum friends helped make me better at this pursuit).
HLG designs quality lighting for specific grows or light applications.
Two smaller lights allow for canopy variations or more wattage control.
630 watts 11.5/12.5 (ON/OFF) DLI 65+ and 25 inch height (HLG recommends 15-20) will foxtail my ladies. Light can go higher in tent, but summer cooking always trouble.
Winter grow 350R will share the 4x4 with VS1200 (grow light and heater, for winter lung room unheated garage).
The 260 and VS 900 will run second 4x4.
2x2 tent is for clones or seedlings.
Your best choice is HLG 350R (and one of yours in a 5x5 when you up-scale).
Up-scaling before qualification of "can I Grow good weed " is difficult to afford.
Lighting applications tuned for growing style is important.
Without AC-I Cloudline Controllers, growing was too much work and too many errors with manual control of grow parameters.
Expensive Lighting Price should get offset with better/less expensive grows after a few cycles. Again, repeat PSE METER MATH confirms HLG’s use less electricity. I was/am happy. Same for AC-Infinity T6/T8 DC pulse controlled
inline fans.
Videos and applications shown well at ACI or HLG.
Without more expensive equipment which is no longer needed, I would trust HLG and ACI totally.
All documented as my journey at
A cheap PH pen can crash a grow Apera 20 or 60 are dependable, too.
Calibration kit keeps them confirmed working well.
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HLG new has 5- year, IME.
HLG customer service when I was stupid, priceless.
HLG customer service when I wanted electrical engineering specs, replied with what I needed to build my 260 differently than one application advertised, worked great.
HLG Military service discount was appreciated.
HLG formulas and conversions, assist my learning.
HLG videos, quality entertainment (same with AC-I).
Sleep better with them on my team.
I did just just notice they are running 25% discount for Oct. and they have refurb scorpion diablos in stock. Too bad I blew the grow fund. Ive been waiting for that to happen for over a year now.
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Looks like HLG is my next big buy(hopefully my last) but so far these lights are hanging in there decent. Training seems to be paying off with the node spacing.
Also am going to flush with refresh after this because she’s definitely getting burned a little
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Day 41-
Starting to finally look like cannabis with the flowers filling out. Did a couple of adjustments to the fans to help the heat, now maxing at about 81 which I read is good for LED. I can see why people who don’t even smoke grow this plant it’s neat to watch it develop over a couple of hours.
Would be really happy with two ounces .
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I like it a little cooler for mid to late flower. I have seen quite a few well educated Botanists and horticulturalists suggest that slowly lowering the temp throughout the grow is the best practice and that finishing around 70 can preserve terps without slowing the plant enough to make a noticeable difference. It can also help coax the purple hues out of some strains, but I personally feel that if it didn’t turn purple genetically on its own then you shouldn’t force it just to have a purple plant.
Stay the course and I think that’s a very realistic reachable goal with that plant. Likely more, but guessing yield is often like guessing the number of stars in the galaxy. It might be a good idea to water just a little more, but some people like to see the painted nails, I personally don’t.
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I wish I could get even close to that but right now I have ac at 75 so there’s about a 6 degree difference. The Florida electric bill is really high to run it much cooler so it’s one part of the grow I try to ignore so I don’t get frustrated lol.
Oh yeah she’s taking up about a gallon every 2 days now especially with these fans blowing on it. The painted nails was operator error, was just nitrogen toxicity until recently. Tried being cheap using my own soil mix and I’m sure it tapped into a nutrient rich part of the soil and got that way. I won’t give this anymore nutes though that’s for sure.
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Looking good. You’ve got your 2 zips there.
75° Oh I wish I could afford to do this. I’m stuck with A/C set on 78° during FL summers. Lights out the tents are 76-75° and operating temps are 81-85°.
Personally I like a tiny lil bit of painted nails on my gals. I water with enzymes to get a bit going.
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Don’t get my hopes up 
First I’ve heard of these, it’s all been microbes
From 18 until now I would never dreamed of going lower than 78 during the summer but this girl has me doing crazy shit, the things we do for love lol. Honestly I’ve read a couple of places you want the ambient air to be in that range for LED due to the way the IR hits the leaves making them cooler. But it’s the internet and I could find big foot proof websites so who knows anymore.
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@budbrother Leaf Surface Temperature with HPS, MH, CFL and LED Grow Lights – Black Dog LED.
But @glitch said the study didn’t prove anything so I’m not certain.
Even in the dead of summer it still gets cool at night here so as long as I manage my on off hours well I can maintain 70 but it isn’t cheap.
So is it enzymatic action that causes the painted nails? I thought it was changes in osmotic pressure in the roots.
A lot of enzymes are created by microbes. They are just proteins that speed up a particular chemical reaction.
More to the point it’s not a guide to ideal leaf surface temp
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Hahaha “study” was from 2016. That was back when blurple was a thing. The LED advancements from then to now…
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I didn’t even catch that part, not sure how I missed it
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I don’t think it was on there somewhere, but I know I posted it back in 2016 when it came out
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Yes it’s for their lights I’m assuming but either way it’s evidence for what I stated I would assume. Not sure how saying you need to run ambient temps higher is a selling point for the lights. Also
https://www.thriveagritech.com/avoid-this-common-mistake-when-comparing-leds-to-hps/
Makes sense to me with means of transmitting IR but maybe all of them are just trying to sell a light saying to run higher ambient temps??? Maybe but not likely @Budbrother
You guys are more experienced I just read randomness
Many things can cause the tip burn. Osmotic pressure causing excessive water intake causes nutrient uptake burns.
Similarly, I use enzymes to biodegrade organics into more easily digested forms for the microbes. Sometimes, I use corn enzymes, to reduce stretching.
I can’t post a link but I can post pic info from a competitor.
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I use Barley & Corn SST. I get the triacontanol from alfalfa. Hort Cnut can be used to replace the Barley or you can also use Hygrozyme or BaS sells enzyme elixir. I like the enzyme elixir and Cnut for simple, these days. Then I’ll run the corn during transition if Sativa.
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Thanks for the clarification. I think that fills in some bits I was missing. So you would add these enzymes in the form of a sprout tea?
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BTW outta likes
Sprout teas are the cheapest, best, and most active. Bottled works if wanna go that route. 2nd row malted barley can be fresh ground and top dressed with amendments. Hort Cnut is harvested at peak enzymatic count. You can go almost the entire grow with it. Do not use past week five flower. It will confuse the plants.
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