Can LED compete with Gavitas yet?

[macdiesel]

I've run gavitas for the past 5 years. At that point in time, LED couldn't even come close. Has technology caught up yet? I see Remo pushing Spectrum King, but I know led doesn't throw the width of par that gavitas/hoods do.

I love the idea of lights that don't put off much heat, but are leds good enough to be equal to gavitas yet?

 

[Cantharellus]

Gavita has had an LED out for awhile now. What do they say ?

 

[Frosty Nuggets]

Anything by HLG will grow good weed.

 

[TheDarkStorm]

Like cantharellus says gavita themselves have a led which last year was one of the best out there an could match ther other lighting using higher wattage no problem. Some of the stuff out now is so powerful it can literally shred your plants if not used properly.

 

[Boyd Crowder]

ive never grown under a gavitas

ive grown under hps, sodium and leds

from what my research uncovered

not only will they beat the gavitas ,

they are cheaper than gavitas & (almost) even hps now

 

[Mars Hydro Led]

The latest quantum board design LED might be closed to gavita on yield.
But when we see the power saving or heat or lifespan, any LED can beat Gavita.

 

[DrLongbottom]

gavita will tell you themselves that their 1700e fixture will outperform their 1000de hps. It will outperform it in every measurable metric.

 

[Sunshineinabag]

Like cantharellus says gavita themselves have a led which last year was one of the best out there an could match ther other lighting using higher wattage no problem. Some of the stuff out now is so powerful it can literally shred your plants if not used properly.

or light up your winter neighborhood hockey rink lmaop!!!!!true story
but that 1700e in 5 x 5 area oh my ohhhh-faaaa

 

[macdiesel]

Thanks for all of the input you guys! The Gavita 1700e looks amazing but $1300 each???? Wow.

 

[welldone]

Can LED compete with Gavitas yet? at that price yes

 

[prune]

Well, I've grown under both Gavita's, DE and the 1700 and I most definitely prefer the HPS for trophy bud. Let me list the reasons that I prefer the DE setup;

1. Much greater penetration. Tree's don't work with LED.
2. Larger buds. Like I said, trophy weed.
3. They also provide heat. For all we complain about the infrared and bulb scorch of HPS, it's easier to factor into a productive cycle than what the LED characteristics present.
4. HPS doesn't f/k with your eyes the way LED's do... After 6 months of LED my eyes got so bad I was afraid I had glaucoma or a brain tumor.

I realize LED's are seductive and a lot of numbers seem in their favor, especially for factory and tent growers, but for specialty and boutique applications I'll take the DE all day long.

 

[Fitzera]

Well, I've grown under both Gavita's, DE and the 1700 and I most definitely prefer the HPS for trophy bud. Let me list the reasons that I prefer the DE setup;

1. Much greater penetration. Tree's don't work with LED.
2. Larger buds. Like I said, trophy weed.
3. They also provide heat. For all we complain about the infrared and bulb scorch of HPS, it's easier to factor into a productive cycle than what the LED characteristics present.
4. HPS doesn't f/k with your eyes the way LED's do... After 6 months of LED my eyes got so bad I was afraid I had glaucoma or a brain tumor.

I realize LED's are seductive and a lot of numbers seem in their favor, especially for factory and tent growers, but for specialty and boutique applications I'll take the DE all day long.

If you're not wearing shades while working under leds you're being silly. Proper ppe always!
For the rest, I'm with you 50/50...get the best of both worlds with a 600hps (or whatever de) and a quantum board or two. Done.

 

[prune]

If you're not wearing shades while working under leds you're being silly. Proper ppe always!

Except, that's not how it works with LED's.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191017101253.htm

 

[THC123]

I would say in the quality department, YES, they beat HPS because of much less IR heat, much more retention of terpenes and research shows it can also increase cannabinoid and terpene content due to the fully usable spectrum. Yields are also good for the watts that they consume.

I have no choice but to go for LEDs because without an AC unit, I cannot produce good quality weed in a growtent, even with good temps and max ventilation. If I did not have this issue, I would probably still use HPS.

That being said, there is one thing I hate about LED's, and this problem seems more common with the new white light LED's and that is how easyily they can cause bleaching.

Under HPS I could put them at full power from the start at a much higher ppfd. If you try to do that with LED they will bleach and be stunted.

They always say that the reason is the high ppfd output of LED's but I am not convinced. I think it has more to do with the spectrum which still needs to be optimalized to solve these issues.

Under a 600 watt I can get close to 1000 PPFD, Under the sun I get 1500-2000 micromoles and no issues. But with LED it is another story. I have had light bleaching at a mere 100-200 micromoles....

Plus all these LED fixtures are all so different. For example under the last generation 12 band blurple leds I never ever had light bleaching (but they have awful coverage).

Also what many people forget is they buy LED to save on electricity. But if you live in a cold region, these new LED's run so cool that you have to add some form of additional heating. In the end you are spending just the same or even more in the colder months. They should make 2 versions of each lamp IMO, one for the warmer months and one for the colder (with some heat output).

For me the ideal LED system still needs to be built. But in the meantime I will have to learn how to work with these new LED's. Doing my first white light grow now with Fluence Spydryx and have had MAJOR issues (especially when following the instructions from Fluence).

I may be mistaking, but I feel the spydrx 330 watts was a mistake. It cost a lot and many issues. I bought that one because it ran so cool. But my plants up to now really don't like the light. It is so bad that I have taken down the spydryx yesterday and replaced it with 4 old viparspetra units(blurple). I am also preparing a second grow, so now I will have to buy a new LED light again (because I don't have the time to figure out how to make plants happy under that light and the grow needs to start asap. I'll keep fucking around with it, maybe I'll find something that works. It's a real shame of the money, I paid 950 euros for it!!!!

 

[Fitzera]

Except, that's not how it works with LED's.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191017101253.htm

How do you figure? When I say shades, I mean an eye glass meant to protect your eyes from the damaging wavelengths...

 

[TheGrandmaGrows]

I'm doing my first HLG qb grow and Ican say you won't understand how efficient these boards are until you fire one up and get blinded