Lighting Grow led, HLG, Autocob, what else?

[bakedpwn]

So finally getting my 630w CMH tent running at good temps and the farthest from ballast bulb socket stops working. Solistek, tried spare bulb i knew was working. Still nothing so im amazon returning this thing and getting my 350$ back.

Looking around it seems the best options would be HLG or COBshop.net.
Is there any other budget friendly LEDs, no blurples.

One thought i had was to buy this unassembled.
https://growerslights.com/products/horticulture-lighting-group-260-watt-quantum-board-led-kit

then later i can add a second one or surround it with these
https://cobshop.net/shop?olsPage=products/autocob-55


I have seen these two brands used on instagram by many many growers and get dank results. Ive never ran LED.
Can you still get good hard nugs on an LED?

 

[Trichome farmer]

So finally getting my 630w CMH tent running at good temps and the farthest from ballast bulb socket stops working. Solistek, tried spare bulb i knew was working. Still nothing so im amazon returning this thing and getting my 350$ back.

Looking around it seems the best options would be HLG or COBshop.net.
Is there any other budget friendly LEDs, no blurples.

One thought i had was to buy this unassembled.
https://growerslights.com/products/horticulture-lighting-group-260-watt-quantum-board-led-kit

then later i can add a second one or surround it with these
https://cobshop.net/shop?olsPage=products/autocob-55


I have seen these two brands used on instagram by many many growers and get dank results. Ive never ran LED.
Can you still get good hard nugs on an LED?

id get two of those hlg boreds they will out preform thm cmh for sure and depending on the spectrum leds give you super dense buds

 

[STILLSMOKIN]

I'm loving my cobs, I don't have a qb but am running something of the sorts and hands down the cob is double the light my boards are. My board side is a mixed spec from 4000k to 6500k and the cobs go from 3500k to 6500k. The boards do keep up alright but watt for watt cobs win.


Cob side 280w 4x6 area.

Board side 600w 4x6

 

[bakedpwn]

Yea the HLG seems most simple to me. The cobs are nice cause i could move and spread them out base on what i growing at the time. I also forgot about rapid LED.

Also keep in mind my 630w is a bit much for my 4x4. Im winning the heat battle but i do have to run my ac all day pretty much. I ovrshot and should have got a single 315w cmh but now Amazon refunds me i can upgrade to led

 

[STILLSMOKIN]

Yea the HLG seems most simple to me. The cobs are nice cause i could move and spread them out base on what i growing at the time. I also forgot about rapid LED.

Also keep in mind my 630w is a bit much for my 4x4. Im winning the heat battle but i do have to run my ac all day pretty much. I ovrshot and should have got a single 315w cmh but now Amazon refunds me i can upgrade to led

You have to look at that also, you save enough money in one years electric to outfit a whole new room. Pennys add up and those pennys are watts. I'd love to test a hlg board against my current setup. But a few here have switched to cobs from boards and loved them.

 

[bakEQuatorial]

Ive used COBs for my very first grow. Then, I switched to boards. I love both of them.

With cobs, I get a good concentrated light source, which means good things for my rather open area (Not tent). Less light loss. Best part it, there are lenses to help you focus from 120 to 90 to even 80 degrees. Must be more that I don't know. My 90 degree lenses gives me excellent results. Large dense buds. I use 6×65W 3500K plus 2×50W Blurple full spectrum during flower. Yes, there are good full spectrum cobs out there and they work great as red/blue supplement during flower. Or, you can spend more to get CREE red/blue supplement cobs to supplement your white light.

Cons of cobs imo are that most of them are not dimmable. I find that dimming them is rather useful but not as important as boards. I won't buy an undimmable board but will buy an undimmable cob. With cobs, i find it less easy to get an even spread of light. Since they are concentrated as hell, center gets higher ppfd. Two cobs sharing center beam can burn plants. I prefer the more even spread of boards in this case. Watt for watt, lumen for lumen, boards still kinda makes more sense.

With boards, I love the DIY aspect of it where you can cater to your own conditions. Even spread, best efficiency at the moment. Add more boards, strips, bars whatever in different color temps or even add mono color diodes to complete the spectrum much easier and cheaper than cobs. If you already have a main light and wish to add a certain spectrum to your setup, a big concern is spread. Say you wanna add Royal Blue. With cobs, you may need quite a few to spread it evenly throughout your area. With strips, bars, boards, its much easier and cheaper. Dimming helps me save power the first month which is quite significant as I use as little as 25% only. Each board, strip, bar can be controlled individually to create the spectrum you want. They also look brighter to the human eye.

CMH has spectrum that is lacking in LEDs. Of particular mention is the Blue and UV spectrum. These help grow buds that are both potent and resinous. I am currently supplementing short periods of MH lights daily to my flowering girls. Plan is to give a more complete spectrum along with UVB to increase potency.

So as you can see, they are all great in their own way. Just see which one suits you best! Budget, goals etc.

 

[STILLSMOKIN]

Ive used COBs for my very first grow. Then, I switched to boards. I love both of them.

With cobs, I get a good concentrated light source, which means good things for my rather open area (Not tent). Less light loss. Best part it, there are lenses to help you focus from 120 to 90 to even 80 degrees. Must be more that I don't know. My 90 degree lenses gives me excellent results. Large dense buds. I use 6×65W 3500K plus 2×50W Blurple full spectrum during flower. Yes, there are good full spectrum cobs out there and they work great as red/blue supplement during flower. Or, you can spend more to get CREE red/blue supplement cobs to supplement your white light.

Cons of cobs imo are that most of them are not dimmable. I find that dimming them is rather useful but not as important as boards. I won't buy an undimmable board but will buy an undimmable cob. With cobs, i find it less easy to get an even spread of light. Since they are concentrated as hell, center gets higher ppfd. Two cobs sharing center beam can burn plants. I prefer the more even spread of boards in this case. Watt for watt, lumen for lumen, boards still kinda makes more sense.

With boards, I love the DIY aspect of it where you can cater to your own conditions. Even spread, best efficiency at the moment. Add more boards, strips, bars whatever in different color temps or even add mono color diodes to complete the spectrum much easier and cheaper than cobs. If you already have a main light and wish to add a certain spectrum to your setup, a big concern is spread. Say you wanna add Royal Blue. With cobs, you may need quite a few to spread it evenly throughout your area. With strips, bars, boards, its much easier and cheaper. Dimming helps me save power the first month which is quite significant as I use as little as 25% only. Each board, strip, bar can be controlled individually to create the spectrum you want. They also look brighter to the human eye.

CMH has spectrum that is lacking in LEDs. Of particular mention is the Blue and UV spectrum. These help grow buds that are both potent and resinous. I am currently supplementing short periods of MH lights daily to my flowering girls. Plan is to give a more complete spectrum along with UVB to increase potency.

So as you can see, they are all great in their own way. Just see which one suits you best! Budget, goals etc.

Have you tried the 6500k cob?

 

[bakEQuatorial]

Have you tried the 6500k cob?

Can't say I have bro! And I was just giving my own personal experience. I'd be crazy to knock on anything autocob knowing the following it has on AFN. Just wanna make it clear before I get flamed lol

Btw, anything special that the 6500K cob do?

 

[STILLSMOKIN]

Can't say I have bro! And I was just giving my own personal experience. I'd be crazy to knock on anything autocob knowing the following it has on AFN. Just wanna make it clear before I get flamed lol

Btw, anything special that the 6500K cob do?

The 6500k for one is so insanely bright that I think it's damaging my eyes for one. But the frost it brings on is crazy. These aren't even halfway through and already covered. Not bashing or anything, I've never owned the QB so I can't say anything.

 

[Son of Hobbes]

@pop22 seems to know quite a bit about the HLG quantum boards, he'd be a good source to ask on that one.