Why are growers looking for new lights?
Any high school science class will tell you that light is necessary for photosynthesis. Plants convert light from the sun (or grow lights in indoor facilities) into the energy needed to produce fruits, vegetables or, in this case, flowers rich in the cannabinoids responsible for marijuana's medicinal and psychoactive properties.
But to get photosynthesis just right for sensitive marijuana plants, traditional grow lights can and will burn through a lot of energy. This can quickly rack up the monthly electricity bill of any grow operation. On average, growers are likely to spend $1500 per year on a single grow light, and they're replacing lights after every four yields. That's why the industry is turning to CMH and LED lighting to relieve the overhead costs.
CMH and LED lights both offer a more efficient and cost-effective way to grow marijuana indoors. More importantly, these grow lights create the kind of light spectrum plants like to absorb. For the marijuana plant, the light spectrum these grow lights emit is a very sensitive matter.
So which is better?
Both types of lighting provide their own positives and negatives. CMH grow lights will provide a lot of output and a true full spectrum. They will also cover a larger area. The largest benefit to an LED is a decrease in heat created. Choosing can be a tough decision but examining a few factors can make this decision much easier. You must take into account the size of your grow, how long you will be growing, and your upfront cost. The industry standard for propagation has always been T5 CFL. It is not worth the investment to use LEDs for clones and vegetative growth. Seedlings or clones require minimal light output so we recommend sticking to the standard and cheaper option. If you feel that you still need a boost
CMH/LEC
Ceramic metal halides (CMH), or Light emitting ceramic (LEC). These two lights feature the same bulb and technology, just under different names. CMH fixtures pull low watts (315 Watts), but its output can be compared to a 600-watt HPS. A CMH can cover larger areas, making them the most energy-efficient choice when compared to other gorw lights.
Replacing outdated (SE) HPS, CMH took the market as the new innovative technology. CMH fixtures and bulbs offer a lifespan greater than traditional HPS and a higher color rendering index (CRI). This means that it is closely mimicking the natural spectrum of the sun. The eco farm Flower Power LEC 315 packs a whopping 92.6 CRI rating. The sun has a CRI of 100, a Gavita 1000 Watt at 34.7 CRI, and ViparSpectra LED at 60 CRI. LEC 315 fixtures are available in two different spectrums, a 3100-kelvin heavy red lamp for flowering, and a 4200-kelvin heavy blue lamp for vegetative growth.
What About LEDs?
Light emitting diodes (LEDs) work a lot differently than CMH fixtures. Instead of one long bulb, like the LEC uses, LED grow lights are made up of hundreds of little lights called diodes. Each of those diodes is a set specific spectrum of light. LEDs come in panels that combine hundreds of different diodes spectrums with others to create a large panel of full spectrum light.
Some LEDs come in strips and are great for growing things in rows, like for growing produce in a greenhouse. For grows looking for more even light distribution and larger coverage, there are many different sized panels to choose from. There are also many different LEDs on the market that combine their diodes differently to provide different spectrum heavy panels. Creating the perfect balance of spectrum for your precious budding babies is important in giving them the ideal environment in which to grow.
One of the differentiating factors about LEDs is that they are dimmable and micro adjustable. This means you can dim your lights from a higher blue to a more red spectrum with the turn of a dial. It allows you to cater to your plants and their stage of growth without having to change out bulbs or move your plants into a finishing room. This is such a cool breakthrough in grow light technology! This is very handy when your plants may be experiencing a large amount of heat and you need to bring it down a notch, literally. For its consistent, superior lighting technology, our personal favorite LED on the market right now is NextLight.
Which One Do I Need?
Both types of lighting provide their own positives and negatives. CMH grow lights will provide a lot of output and a true full spectrum. They will also cover a larger area. The largest benefit to an LED is a decrease in heat created. Choosing can be a tough decision but examining a few factors can make this decision much easier. You must take into account the size of your grow, how long you will be growing, and your upfront cost. The industry standard for propagation has always been T5 CFL. It is not worth the investment to use LEDs for clones and vegetative growth. Seedlings or clones require minimal light output so we recommend sticking to the standard and cheaper option. If you feel that you still need a boost
One CMH fixture can cover a 4×4 or 5×5 grow area during the vegetative stage and a 3×3 to 4×4 in the flowering stage. The ECO FARM 315 grow light has a high 1.95 PPF (photosynthetic photon flux) per second light source. This equates to an extremely effective penetration of the canopy, providing light to the whole plant.
Both CMH and LED fixtures are great for growing a high-quality product but they do have their differences. Being informed will allow you to make the best decision for your style of growing.
CMHs
- Lower initial cost.
- Most bulbs last 20,000 hours.
- Ballast ratings at 50,000 hours.
- 3000K and 4100K bulbs for flowering and veg.
- Stronger PPF and better canopy penetration.
- Better single light option.
- A true full spectrum, closely mimicking natural sunlight.
LEDs
- Initial costs are steep.
- Bulb lifespan is 50,000 hours.
- Numerous narrow bands of spectrum to create a full spectrum /or
- A stronger focused spectrum: red and blue.
- Dimmable (sometimes).
- Better used as supplemental lighting.
Finally, everyone's favorite factor to consider, BUDGET! The initial cost of an LED is 2 to 4 times the cost of a comparable CMH fixture. LED fixtures, especially the ones that include the UV spectrum, are very expensive in terms of up-front cost. When it comes to power consumption and the power bill, LED's only save the grower about 15% on the power bill compared to CMH fixtures. However, the LED grower will use less power for cooling, but that savings depends on other factors in the grow space. The additional cost a CMH grower will realize is replacing bulbs. You will be buying replacement CMH bulbs after 12-18 months of use. In addition, it is recommended that you change between the 4100K CMH bulbs in the vegetative phase to the 3100K CMH bulbs for flowering. Therefore, you will incur the cost of more bulbs utilizing CMH technology, but you will optimize your light cycles and extend the timeframe to replace bulbs.
In conclusion, each technology, CMH and LED, are viable to successful grows however they speak to different methodologies and business initiatives.
Choose CMH if:
- You need to maximize ROI in within 1-2 years
- You need greater canopy penetration for the strains you are growing
- Need the beneficial UV spectrum for maximum terpene resin production
- Need to maximize your gram per watt and flower quality
- Qualify for state rebates
Choose LED if:
- Have a long-term plan with current LED technology
- Need an exact spectrum wavelength to grow a specific strain
- Qualify for state rebates
- Yield quality and quantity are not paramount
We know that both CMH and LED's have their advantages and disadvantages, yet they'll give you awesome harvests. Through it all, though, there's still one factor that seems to stand out from them all: cost.
LED's are great at getting your plants where they need to be (and then some), but the problem is they're expensive. Add to that the number of LED's on the market, and it can be hard to tell which LED's you need, what spectrums will work for your plants, and most importantly, what's the best value for your money.
CMH's, on the other hand, is far more cost-effective than LED's. Sure, you may have to combat heat eventually, but compared to the output of an HPS or MH grow light, you'll still be saving money on in the long run compared to other lights on the market.
At the end of the day, you're going to have to spend money on a grow light. CMH's are better priced for personal grows as well as warehouses, and everything in between. Given their even spectrum and their relatively low price, they're worth getting.
Now, that's not to say LED's aren't worth their costs. Though LED's are the most expensive lights around, LED's are more intense than HID grow light which can give them a performance advantage. However, if you're not familiar with how strong or different they can be versus HID's, you might be in for a rude awakening when plants don't grow like they used to.
That's why we recommend CMH's for nearly any grow out there: they're cost-efficient, give you a great spectrum, and are pretty easy to use. We recommend LED's for seasoned growers who want to take their skills even further, who also have the space to grow with LED's (you'll need to hang them higher than CMH's, so make sure you've got the room).
If you plant indoors, you need grow light.
They must capable of providing the type of light your crop needs to promote healthy development and yielde incredible flowers.You may have noticed that in recent years, indoor grow lights have become increasingly popular among growers.
When growing plants indoor, the lack of environmental feedback means that plants rely on you to tell them what the season is and how they should behave.
This is equivalent to almost 10 years of use (at 50,000 hours) or almost 20 years of use (at 100,000 hours), repsectively.
Compare this to MH bulbs which last an average of 10,000 hours or HPS grow lights which have a lifespan of 16,000 hours or so.When it comes to longevity, there’s really no competition.Due to most LED panel’s modular build, if a grower still had the LED light at the end if its lifespan, they may be able to swap out the old LEDs for new ones and keep on growing.Energy EfficiencyLED lights produce the same amount of light as HPS and HID lights with lower watts.
The results showed that LED lights decrease energy consumption up to 50%.Fewer Heat, More Light.LED lights convert the electricity to light directly.
So, before proceeding further, take a look at the most possible reasons for it-Improper VentilationTake a look at the outdoor garden or the local park.
Which is termed as Ventilation in case of indoor growing.
Examples- Light Ballasts, Large Pumps, etc.Not-so-Insulated Location of the Grow TentI’ve been a grower for past 2 years.
Growing in such an insulated area helped me to get at least 5°F less temperature than the same setup planted anywhere in the house.And when the plants get overheated from one or many of these reasons, that begin to show signs of stress.
Which results in a low yield of flower or fruit.
Go through the next sections of the article, if you’ve to know some real-time ways to beat the heat in your grow spaceHow keep my grow tent cool in the summer?
