First time grower. HPS or LED

[Desorty]

Hi! This is my first post and anyway.. Im ready to start growing and have it all except for lamps.

I have a 4x4 grow tent and Im not sure whether to go for a traditional 600 HPS bulb or a $300-350 1000watt LED light.

While the LED has amazing advantages I notice that every review urges you to buy the lamp using their referral link.

so my n00b question is: what kind of light would you recommend.

Not sure its relevant but Im interested in growing according to the quality > quantity rule.

[Toker1]

Hard to say. LED does great quality. Especially if you have deep pockets to buy a quality light. The cheap ones are ok if you are not interested in electrical efficiency. I use HID and get the quality along with quantity because I supplement the HID light with IR and UV spectrum T5’s. Lower start up costs, lower maintenance costs, and great efficiency.

[fallenmunk]

I dig my LED cobs. Super bright and my plants are loving it!

[TheGoodFarmer]

High-intensity discharge lights (HPS) provide better canopy penetration then any other grow light. LEDs are good, especially if pants are trained to grow a short flat canopy. I personly use LEDs for seedlings but when they reach veg I get the hps out. LEDs are new the tech will get better. Plus you need to drop at least $800 to get a good Led system that can support a plant through flowering. I would even suggest checking out ceramic Metal Halide. Also, LEDs are a better choice than fluorescent lights

[Colombo]

I use 2- 300 watt LED's in a 24x48x60 grow tent. Does everything I need it to do, grow weed LOL !

[Smokesteve]

For 4x4 LED you would need to drop a lot of money. Chinese blurple LEDs are a joke. You could get a dimmable digital HID with the capability to run a Metal halide(veg.) or Hps(flower) bulb. As long as u can control the environment you will kill it.

[Topnoevil]

Alot of money I spent 100$ on mine and it works great my footprint is 4.5 by 4.5

[Smokesteve]

Topnoevil, relative to your situation I'm sure it works fine. People come here for information and guidance.
Posting that you can buy an LED for $100 that will efficiently and effectively cover a 4.5' × 4.5' is incorrect.

[Desorty]

For 4x4 LED you would need to drop a lot of money. Chinese blurple LEDs are a joke. You could get a dimmable digital HID with the capability to run a Metal halide(veg.) or Hps(flower) bulb. As long as u can control the environment you will kill it.

thanks!

Guys thanks all, I now have my answers. I got offered a great deal on 4x400 watt hps lamps which I will accept.

My first test grow which I could easily ruin will be under one 400 watt lamp, but if I can become better then I think 4x400watt over 4x4 tent will kill it..

thanks again

[gbauto]

If you're planning on running 1600w of HPS in a 4x4, it's going to be too much.
Trying to figure out how 'much' light is needed to get the results we're looking is the right question.
Most HPS fixtures will need at least 40w/ sq ft of floor space, ideally 50w/sq ft. Running 1600w of HID in a 4x4 is 100w/sq ft-way to much light.
Adding confusion to the mix, led efficiency at converting electricity to useable light(PAR) runs from the blurple fixture range(not even as efficient as HPS) to current tech cobs and discrete diodes(50-60% more efficient than HPS).
If you're able to handle the heat load from HID, that is going to be the most economical solution. Running cheap leds introduce just as much heat watt for watt as HPS to get the same light level. More efficient leds let you use less power(heat) to get the same amount of light. Downside is they are at least $1.5/watt to build a state of the art fixture and at least $2/watt for a complete fixture.

[starramus]

If those are used lights you might check into how many hours are on the lamps. You might need to change them out if they have lots of hours. Good growin for your first time out!

[Desorty]

If those are used lights you might check into how many hours are on the lamps. You might need to change them out if they have lots of hours. Good growin for your first time out!

Thanks for pointing this out! The lamps are new and were never used.