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When comparing natural sunlight to LED grow lights, which one truly outperforms the other?
- Thread starter Maybe-123
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Rocket Soul
Well-known member
Thats a very loaded question which answer depends on you first defining what is "best".
It also depends on the climate you grow in, HID may still work well for some in colder climate while not so well for us in hotter climate. And with diy led and strips youre not bound to just using one, you can mix lighting.
Personally; from growing with leds with several different generations of diy led, we found that low K high cri white leds+ red supplement and some coverage over the near uv and uva is what guves us the best combination of yield, quality and finiahing times.
Sadly youd have to build that light yourself, the led grow light market seems stuck in building copies of the same light, only wattage and output vary a bit.
It also depends on the climate you grow in, HID may still work well for some in colder climate while not so well for us in hotter climate. And with diy led and strips youre not bound to just using one, you can mix lighting.
Personally; from growing with leds with several different generations of diy led, we found that low K high cri white leds+ red supplement and some coverage over the near uv and uva is what guves us the best combination of yield, quality and finiahing times.
Sadly youd have to build that light yourself, the led grow light market seems stuck in building copies of the same light, only wattage and output vary a bit.
Rocket Soul
Well-known member
Have you done side by sides? We did, we didn't find any extra penetration in HPS.LEDs are great for light spread, especially the bar types- but sodium is excellent for penetration of the canopy.
For me, small space + topped plants = LED
Large space + natural colas = HPS
Your mileage may vary
Imo : Penetration is mainly a product of green content in the spectrum and pruning and lolipopping the plant to concentrate growth to the budsites that are actually viable.
Only a small side by side- the led won.
Used Hps only up until a couple of years ago …
I prefer led since switching, but being on an extremely limited budget I will go back to hps when it breaks as the upfront price is so much cheaper
Orange's Greenhouse
Active member
When you say "natural sunlight" what do you mean? Winter or summer, dusk or noon, overcast or cloudless equatorial or not, which elevation?
It varies tremendously depending on time, weather and location.
It varies tremendously depending on time, weather and location.
Nothing is equal to what the sun can grow. It is the best light source period.
Your environment is key to deciding what light source to use. Sealed/unsealed room. If you are in a cold environment LED will need extra heat.. If you are in a warm climate LED works great. I use a mix of CMH/LED to help with both scenarios. IMO it produces a better spectrum, the best of both.
Your environment is key to deciding what light source to use. Sealed/unsealed room. If you are in a cold environment LED will need extra heat.. If you are in a warm climate LED works great. I use a mix of CMH/LED to help with both scenarios. IMO it produces a better spectrum, the best of both.
Tynehead Tom
Well-known member
I use the triple whammy aproach hehehe ya I just made that shit up.... I'm f-cking bitzed right now haha
But I use LED , HPS and sunshine..... just not at the same time .... LED in the tent , HPS in the big room which usually runs in the winter though i am just fiishing up a quick bud run to tide me over till the greenhouse comes down. All the greenhouse plants were vegged in the tent. Gets real cold here in the winter so if i wasn't burning HID in the cold months I would be spending just as much in power having to run electric heaters to keep the LED room in optimal range. Just spent the last 2 years testing that out..... costs me more to run the LEDs and heaters in the winter than it does to run the HID.... not by huge money but enough that I can run the HID and it serves 2 purposes, light and heat.
But ya, nothing beats the sunshine , plants grow totally different outdoors under the sun.
But I use LED , HPS and sunshine..... just not at the same time .... LED in the tent , HPS in the big room which usually runs in the winter though i am just fiishing up a quick bud run to tide me over till the greenhouse comes down. All the greenhouse plants were vegged in the tent. Gets real cold here in the winter so if i wasn't burning HID in the cold months I would be spending just as much in power having to run electric heaters to keep the LED room in optimal range. Just spent the last 2 years testing that out..... costs me more to run the LEDs and heaters in the winter than it does to run the HID.... not by huge money but enough that I can run the HID and it serves 2 purposes, light and heat.
But ya, nothing beats the sunshine , plants grow totally different outdoors under the sun.
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Thanks for the detailed explanation! It helped me understand how to DIY a grow light. Yes, that's right—the lighting market offers many types of grow lights, and often the wattage listed isn't the whole wattage.
Sounds worderfulLEDs are great for light spread, especially the bar types- but sodium is excellent for penetration of the canopy.
For me, small space + topped plants = LED
Large space + natural colas = HPS
Your mileage may vary
Yes, the sun is always beat LED, although the sun comes pests and diseases.
This is a complex question because the sun changes over time and there are many other factors to consider. I just want to know which option is better, but in reality, it's not an easy question to answer according to experienced grower information.
Yes, it is
Hiddenjems
Well-known member
You can get more photons into a plant with indoor lighting than outdoor almost anywhere in the world. Just look at some Dli charts.
The optimum would probably be a sun powered greenhouse where the sunlight is extended with leds. And ofc featuring fully controlled environment.
If costs don't matter, and you comparing simple outdoor to indoor leds, leds will probably win, because the environment is much more stable, no pests, and the light while being less powerful, it's always there without variation and always given at the needed strenght.
If costs don't matter, and you comparing simple outdoor to indoor leds, leds will probably win, because the environment is much more stable, no pests, and the light while being less powerful, it's always there without variation and always given at the needed strenght.
Hiddenjems
Well-known member
This is going to be one of my future projects. Basically indoor but with a glass roof.
Rocket Soul
Well-known member
Glass roof takes away pretty much all of the uv goodness, which is the star of the show. I like my outdoor properly sunkissed, no greenhouses. Can you link those dli charts? In spain its hard to believe that you can pull of anything that beats the sun in intensity. Also if talking about total light you need to also consider that a lot of outdoor goes on for a whole season, theres a lot of days in summer and spring...
Hiddenjems
Well-known member
It’s not the intensity, it’s that indoor lighting is peak intensity for all 12 hours of daylight. There is no dawn or dusk period of lowered intensity.
