Im new to indoor all together but I really think my cheap ass setup is doing very well. Only 9 days into flower n no room at all. They just starting to stretch. I noticed a hieght difference without measuring in the last 24 hrs.
if u go dwc n a 4×4 watch veg time/plant count.i cud easily fill that 1 plant w/3wk veg.
1 plant fill 4x4 in 3 weeks. Yeah I def got to try it. I want to anyways just to learn it all. I should have chopped a branch or 2 off my current plants cause I want to try cloning too. Seeds hard to get here.
This is my 3 plants that were dead. In 4x4 with cheap light. Day 9 of 12/12.
jump ship u will do well
well, the downside of jumping from dirt to water is you need to be on top of everything. Shit can go wrong real fast in water... For me, it's a twice-a-day chore to check water numbers or at least check pH. I've had pH drop from 6.0 when I went to bed to 4.5 the next day... This usually doesn't happen a lot.
once u kno yur numbers u dnt hav to check everyday.creep up to numbers,dont assume n u will b good.shit i check my ph once every 3days.the worst thing u can do is assume more nutes=bigger plants...i do agree things can go wrong quickly but best thing bout dwc,if u do hav an issue,empty tote,wash n re-fill.no bullshit flushing....
so to replace 8×1000hps were talking 8racks...hmm.im gonna build one myself,it will hav to prove itself n my garden first.$8k isnt the issue but im not a window licker so i wanna c a side by side cob/hid.ive been using hid for 15yrs.
i only bring to 5.8 n veg,once flippd i ride 6-6.2 to catch more p&k.just the way i do it tho,no right or wrong answer as long as yur in thats swing(5.8-6.2)
Build one and see how you like it. That's what I did. I'm pulling 1.1-1.5 grams/watt with the cobs in organic soil. Way better than .7-.9 G/W with the Gavita 750 de. Just saying...
Not to be an ass but that's what this thread seems to be about is the actual comparison. The lack of proof to validate the extra money involved for " better panels ". I , on my first grow, with cheap panels am going to do what the expensive panels do. There's always the possibility of failure but I'm pretty confident now that I got the health back which wasn't light related. They love their cheap sunlight. And they tell me that daily now. And like I said for the price I can replace my entire room ( lights fans shelving and even the walls ) 3 times for the same cost as a "real" led light.
So, by my calcs, your first grow generated .64g per watt. That's not a bad start, and is comparable to stats I see for HID (for beginners). I'd be curious to see what your g/watt will be for the COB's. However, your yields are probably going to go up just because you've got some miles under the belt now, so it won't be apples to apples.
