Led lights???
Without a lot of information on what you plan to do and your grow specifics, it is hard to make a recommendation.
I personally love LED lights ! The trade off is that LED lights are coming down in price but still expensive. HPS and MH lights are much less expensive and do use more electricity. The price difference in HPS and LED is the deciding factor for a lot of us. It will take several grows to recover the cost of the LED vs the extra electric used on HPS/MH. Kind of a “pay me now or pay me later” situation. I’m sure you will get several other thoughts on this subject. There is no right answer, it is a matter of choice on what you want to do.
If cost is a big problem (as with me) you can also start out with high wattage CFL and they will work throughout the grow all the way to harvest. Good luck on your decision and future grow. Jerry
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Thanks for the feedback
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id wait on the tech for a year or two then look again ,HID works and it come in many wattages to fit most needs …just my opinion ,
Ive been researching a marshydro 24 reflector led true 270w i heard tons of great reviews. I know from personal expereince that hps and hid lights work great.I just need to lower my power bill
i have had my marshydro2 700 watt for 8 months no problems good results
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Thanks. I like to hear first hand results. I think that is what im going to try. What strain of bud have u had best results with with that light
I have purchased and used two 600w LEDs. In my first use, I over-watered with a high pH tap water and destroyed like six plants. Under-educated as I was, I thought it was me.
Now, I’m growing under 1000w dual core and see the difference.
If you decide to use LEDs, be careful not to water with high pH tap water and don’t overdo it. That’s my advice so far. I’m not wasting the money spent and using the LEDs to veg and for cloning while flowering HID. Not a cost effective technique, but just thought I’d add it.
Good luck in choosing.
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Don’t fall into the trap of purchasing 600 dollar “full specrum” LED grow lights. I made fine with 4 100 watt and two 300 watt equivalent LED bulbs from a home improvement store.
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Totally agree. I had a homemade light bar with 3 sockets drilled through a board and put a “Y” splitter on each and hung 6 100 watt CFL’s (actual wattage 23 x 6 = 135 watts actual) in my grow box. Worked Great and I still use it for seedlings. During flowering, I took out the 100watt 5K bulbs and put in 1 300 watt (68 watt actual) in the middle and four 100 watt 27k bulbs (68 + 92 = 160 watts actual). Really worked fine and you could keep it close to allow more growing space in your smaller grow areas.
How much watts does a 300w led light actually use?
That is variable between manufacturers. The best way is look at the specs and it will tell you the actual watts drawn by the light. Most manufacturers have a web site that can help you.
I saved some money starting off just using a LED light for the first half of the grow cycle.
On my first grow indoors, using a Vipar 600 watt along side a HPS 400W.
I used the LED during most of the veg cycle, then started off 1/2 power on the HPS on the last 2 weeks of veg.
I then went 100% HPS, plus switched on the “flower only” switch along with the veg switch on the 600 LED for the rest of the cycle.
My main problem with the LED was lack of heat, it was a cold spring, so I ended up going from 16 hours of light to 24 hours until I turned on the HPS light. Problem was solved using more hours, plus the Hps heat.
Benefits of LED are saving money and keeping the grow cool if in a hot climate.
I’m now in the flowering cycle 12 on, 12 off and keeping my fingers crossed.
This is a white widow, 4 weeks in flower
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setup in 48 x 48 x 80 hydro indoor tent
4 happy plants so far
In 5 gal pots - soil
For anybody that is in the position to do it, get solar on your house. I put up a 10x10 with LED for veg, MH to flower, as well as mini-split AC to handle the heat. My first electric bills topped $800/month. My last electric bill was negative $80. I put on a 40 panel system. The panels cover the grow in my garage and my household needs completely. Monthly bill for solar is $500. I would rather give it to them than the greedy electric co in SOCAL. I have been flipping up to 24 pots hydroponic. I still consider myself new with the growing, but have done OK with a perpetual grow method of clone and grow. Now that the “factory” is not an electrical burden, I am sure I will eventually get a return on my investment 