[Dinkwinkerson]

I used to grow 7 years back and i used mh/hps and got good sized buds that i and my patients were happy with...
I saw that the new thing was LED. so getting back into it i switched to LED.
I am NOT happy with the size of the buds... i know i had them maybe to low from the light...
I know have them about 14" from the light. I will see how well it does with them much closer to the light..
I didnt have this problem with hps--- I still have all my older gear that was like new when i quit...

SHOULD I GO BACK TO HPS FOR FLOWER????

when i started back up i used my old MH light... and now the growth seems very slow compared to the mh.
I have them decently far from the light though so im sure it needs to be lowered.... but if i do ill have to add another light in the veg tent.

WHOS GOT LED AND GOT BIG BUDS? CAN U SHARE TIPS AND TRIX?

 

[compostmike]

Fourteen inches by itself doesn't tell you much. One LED will bleach a canopy there while another is still under-lighting it. What fixture is it, how many actual watts does it pull, and what size area is it covering? I wouldn't lower it again just because the buds came out small. Measure the canopy if you can. Around 700-900 PPFD across most of the flower canopy is a solid range without added CO2. Coverage matters as much as the hottest reading in the middle.

The part old HPS growers usually get caught by is leaf temperature. HPS throws a lot of infrared heat at the plant. LED doesn't, so the same room temperature can leave the leaves several degrees cooler and growth noticeably slower. Under LED I generally want the room a little warmer, then set humidity from the actual leaf temp instead of reusing the old HPS numbers. A cool, wet root zone will slow it down even harder.

LED can grow big, dense buds just fine, but it needs enough real wattage for the footprint and an even canopy. If your current light is undersized and you already own good HPS gear, there is nothing wrong with flowering under HPS instead of buying more LEDs. But I wouldn't make that call until you post the LED model, tent size, day temp/RH, and a canopy picture. Right now the light may be too weak, too close, or the room may simply be tuned for HPS.

 

[Jamesff]

I used to grow 7 years back and i used mh/hps and got good sized buds that i and my patients were happy with...
I saw that the new thing was LED. so getting back into it i switched to LED.
I am NOT happy with the size of the buds... i know i had them maybe to low from the light...
I know have them about 14" from the light. I will see how well it does with them much closer to the light..
I didnt have this problem with hps--- I still have all my older gear that was like new when i quit...

SHOULD I GO BACK TO HPS FOR FLOWER????

when i started back up i used my old MH light... and now the growth seems very slow compared to the mh.
I have them decently far from the light though so im sure it needs to be lowered.... but if i do ill have to add another light in the veg

 

[Jamesff]

Sorry for that reply I'm new. But to get it dialed in you need some sort of meter to know the intensity of your light. I have a cheap lux meter and I keep it at 40000 ish lux in flowering. Higher if I have co2 about 90000 lux. They say dialed up and further away is better than dialed down and closer. But co2 is a must if you want consistant big Buds. Side lights help and put some ir drop lights in if you can. I had them set on a timer with my uv lights about 20 minutes every 2 to 3 hours. Hope this helps you get a better harvest. And the bigger container usually helps with a larger harvest. Some strains also just adapt better than others to leds.

 

[Jamesff]

Sorry for that reply I'm new. But to get it dialed in you need some sort of meter to know the intensity of your light. I have a cheap lux meter and I keep it at 40000 ish lux in flowering. Higher if I have co2 about 90000 lux. They say dialed up and further away is better than dialed down and closer. But co2 is a must if you want consistant big Buds. Side lights help and put some ir drop lights in if you can. I had them set on a timer with my uv lights about 20 minutes every 2 to 3 hours. Hope this helps you get a better harvest. And the bigger container usually helps with a larger harvest. Some strains also just adapt better than others to leds.

if you don't have a co2 system simply set your tent by your gas water tank if you have one and take advantage of the co2 there. Suck air from the top where the vent is. And another tip toward the end of flowering add some blue light or cut out your red lights and just use your veg lights and this can sometimes help with size. The plants can take about 60 to 70000 lux of this kind of light but most especially helps with resin development. Not sure the difference in doing this or keeping your red light till the end with a better yield for sure. Any specifics on this anyone? I saw a video of a guy who uses 405nm light in small busts along side 620nm and 660nm for added resin production.

 

[Week4Bytch]

I used to grow 7 years back and i used mh/hps and got good sized buds that i and my patients were happy with...
I saw that the new thing was LED. so getting back into it i switched to LED.
I am NOT happy with the size of the buds... i know i had them maybe to low from the light...
I know have them about 14" from the light. I will see how well it does with them much closer to the light..
I didnt have this problem with hps--- I still have all my older gear that was like new when i quit...

SHOULD I GO BACK TO HPS FOR FLOWER????

when i started back up i used my old MH light... and now the growth seems very slow compared to the mh.
I have them decently far from the light though so im sure it needs to be lowered.... but if i do ill have to add another light in the veg tent.

WHOS GOT LED AND GOT BIG BUDS? CAN U SHARE TIPS AND TRIX?

Are you growing the same flower from 7 years ago? Genetics plays a big part on bud size. If you are growing the same flower, quality LED fixtures are worth their weight in money spent on them. But if your strapped for cash, break out the HPS for shits and giggles and lets see what they can do today.

 

[Justlovetogrow]

People like to shit on hps because Led have the best spectrum they shiny they bright less electric bill which is debatable to me 600watt is 600 watt but the old DE hps still pumps I live in the coldest part of Aus so the hps helps bigtime with heat different strokes for different folks I suppose il have to run LED in summer one day see what the fuss is but for now ima crank out some big ol hps nugs

 

[Coconutz]

There's a direct correlation between light intensity and bud size 40k lux isn't a huge amount I'd be aiming for around 70k lux peak flower that's getting on for 1000 ppfd

625w at this height

 

[Dinkwinkerson]

I put a garlic jam in the flowering tent... and this 1 has huge colas and nice big buds on them...
I am gonna go back to hps as soon as summer is over

 

[Jamesff]

if you don't have a co2 system simply set your tent by your gas water tank if you have one and take advantage of the co2 there. Suck air from the top where the vent is. And another tip toward the end of flowering add some blue light or cut out your red lights and just use your veg lights and this can sometimes help with size. The plants can take about 60 to 70000 lux of this kind of light but most especially helps with resin development. Not sure the difference in doing this or keeping your red light till the end with a better yield for sure. Any specifics on this anyone? I saw a video of a guy who uses 405nm light in small busts along side 620nm and 660nm for added resin production.

I think I may be wrong about having to use additional co2 for continuous good harvest. I think I may overfertalize some of my dry amendments, the ones that don't get depleted as fast and need to do some more ai studies for my fine tunning. Having proper ratio soil is a big part and I think I may defoliate a little excessively especially in flowering. I'm looking at some of the grow diaries where people hardly pull off any leaves which I think helps with unstunted growth so that is something I'm learning I need to lessen. So I think with the proper techniques accustomed to your procces and style good harvests with good genetics is more than likely possible. Have some techniques I need to work on when i start back growing again. Had to move to a restricted state so for now I have to hold off and dream of grows gone past.