Do any LED fixtures produce an HPS-like color?

Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
Prawn Connery said:
From what I recall, efficiency sucked. I'm sure they would grow plants, but there are better spectra out there.
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I believe @p
Comparator said:
I take it growers were not fans of those Meat-Chips or 22k cobs? I wouldn't imagine they performed very well.. They have the orange glow but that's about it.
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I believe @PSUAGRO (who i cant seem to tag anymore, did he get cancelled or something?)ade a few runs with those meatcobs.
I cant even search by his handle but i still got him somewhere in my pms. Managed to find the thread: https://www.rollitup.org/t/testing-timbers-b-lux-decor-vero-fixture-1750k-hello-beautiful-spd-finger-still-on-the-trigger.935965/

@sunni whats going on here? I have a forum member that isnt searchable/taggable? Is banned/gone or something?
 
sunni

sunni

Administrator
Staff member
Rocket Soul said:
I believe @p

I believe @PSUAGRO (who i cant seem to tag anymore, did he get cancelled or something?)ade a few runs with those meatcobs.
I cant even search by his handle but i still got him somewhere in my pms. Managed to find the thread: https://www.rollitup.org/t/testing-timbers-b-lux-decor-vero-fixture-1750k-hello-beautiful-spd-finger-still-on-the-trigger.935965/

@sunni whats going on here? I have a forum member that isnt searchable/taggable? Is banned/gone or something?
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sometimes very rarely a members name wont come up on the tag feature i dont know exactly why it happens i think the culprit here is the period after his username

www.rollitup.org

PSUAGRO.

www.rollitup.org

he hasnt been seen since may 2022 but hes not banned and we dont delete/cancel accounts
 
sh0wtime

sh0wtime

Well-Known Member
tstick said:
Just curious as to why I can' find an LED fixture that produces the "sick, plasma-orange" color light, similar to the color that an HPS bulb produces.

I have an HLG quantum board, a Timber COB light, an Area 51 light and a Nextlight Mini. Most all of them produce a "full spectrum" white type of light. The Area 51 is the only one that includes a separate circuit for red LEDs, but even with them switched on, the light is nowhere near the color of an HPS spectrum. If anything, most of my LED fixtures produce light that looks more the color of a metal halide bulb -that being more of a "daylight" white/blue.

This run, I have decided to break out my old school Hydropot MH fixture and magnetic ballast that I used back in the 80's. I run the MH for vegging the plants and then I switch to am HPS conversion bulb (that runs on the MH ballast), for the flowering mode. I just use the standard, cheap stadium type MH bulb -nothing specific for plants. I think I paid about $25 for the MH bulb. The HPS conversion bulb was a bit more...can't recall, exactly how much I paid.
I have found that almost all the strains I am running seem to love the HID bulbs more than they do the LEDs. I believe this is because the plants are responding to, not only the spectrum, but also that the heat is coming from the same source as the light -as opposed to running cool LEDs with a space heater in the room.

I just switched the bulbs yesterday and I started thinking abut the question of why there are no LEDs that put out light that looks like HPS light -at least as far as I've found. I know that many companies have added red LEDs, but they still don't produce light that looks like HPS light. It seems like it would be possible to recreate the HPS color with LEDs. I think I saw an ad for some lights that have a customizable spectrum, but I'm not sure what that's all about, either.

Has this been done already and I missed it? Please fill me in. Thanks.
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I had a fixture from Sylstar with CREE-LEDs some years ago.
At 75% it pretty much had that orange'ish type of light.
Wasn't too happy tho, as it used alot of power and the results were not overwhelming.
I switched to Full-Spectrum since and I would never go back.
 
tstick

tstick

Well-Known Member
I appreciate all the comments and help.

When I made this thread, I was just thinking about the color. Now, what I have noticed, this run, is that there IS something about the HPS bulbs that goes beyond the actual color that the human eye can perceive. It's something that the plants like. They might not yield s well as they would under LED, though.
For one thing, the trichomes are turning milkier all over the plant -high and low buds. A second thing is that the plants are more fragrant. But, yeah, the yield isn't as heavy -maybe even significantly. I can't argue that.
In veg., the leaves were shiny and green under the metal halide bulb. However, when I switched to flower and changed to the HPS bulb, the leaves didn't like it nearly as much.....But the buds love it! Maybe it's the infrared...maybe the UV....maybe it's something else. It might be that the plants can sense the light and heat coming from a single source, overhead. Maybe only the trichomes, themselves, are responding to the HPS in a different way than they do under LED...?
This run is coming to an end within the coming week. Then, 2 weeks hang dry at 60F/60%RH....Then 2 months in a heat-sealed Grove bag....hoping for big tastes and smells....maybe even catch a buzz. ;)
 
tstick

tstick

Well-Known Member
Prawn Connery said:
Catch a buzz alright mate. Nothing wrong with HPS bud. Maybe next time throw the MH in there together with the HPS to see if it improves the quality. HPS doesn't have much UV.
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I just have one, old magnetic ballast from the 1980's. I do run a 400W MH bulb in veg. In flower, I have to switch to a 360W HPS conversion bulb that runs on the same ballast. It was top of the line in its day! No lens -completely unshielded and dangerous! heh heh

I just recently bought a new HLG RS fixture because it was on a crazy sale I found over the holidays....couldn't resist. It's not the big one. It's like half a Diabolo. I only took it out to make sure it turned on. It's in the box now.

I've been seriously considering getting a 315W ceramic MH fixture, too, though because that might be the best of all. It (and plasma) are the only two types of lights I haven't tried. Lots of people rave about the CMH lights.
 
PJ Diaz

PJ Diaz

Well-Known Member
tstick said:
I just have one, old magnetic ballast from the 1980's. I do run a 400W MH bulb in veg. In flower, I have to switch to a 360W HPS conversion bulb that runs on the same ballast. It was top of the line in its day! No lens -completely unshielded and dangerous! heh heh

I just recently bought a new HLG RS fixture because it was on a crazy sale I found over the holidays....couldn't resist. It's not the big one. It's like half a Diabolo. I only took it out to make sure it turned on. It's in the box now.

I've been seriously considering getting a 315W ceramic MH fixture, too, though because that might be the best of all. It (and plasma) are the only two types of lights I haven't tried. Lots of people rave about the CMH lights.
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I bought a 315cmh a couple of years ago, and love it. I run it in combo with LEDs in the cooler months, and straight led in the warm months.
 
sh0wtime

sh0wtime

Well-Known Member
"The key feature of the HPS color LED is that the HPS color LED maintains the nostalgic atmosphere."

I'd rather smoke a blunt and watch Half Baked or something, but whatever works for you, not judging here.
 
Prawn Connery

Prawn Connery

Well-Known Member
sh0wtime said:
"The key feature of the HPS color LED is that the HPS color LED maintains the nostalgic atmosphere."

I'd rather smoke a blunt and watch Half Baked or something, but whatever works for you, not judging here.
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LOL! Don't worry – I don't consider those LEDs "HPS like". I just thought it was funny that the largest LED company in the world had thought of it already. When I think of HPS nostalgia, I think of all the lovely plants I grew :bigjoint:
 
OneHitDone

OneHitDone

Well-Known Member
HippieDudeRon said:
Follow the money.
Lines up with municipalities recent push for low blue light content lighting in their cities.

New 1800K CCT: replicates the warm yellow glow of high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps with higher CRI at half the power – now available on XLamp XP-G3 White Standard LEDs!

When it comes to grower concerns and nostalgia, and what some want.... a lot of the story is past 700nm, not just the low CCT goal.
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:hug: Nice to see another grower on here who "See's the light" :peace:
 
Prawn Connery

Prawn Connery

Well-Known Member
HippieDudeRon said:
Follow the money.
Lines up with municipalities recent push for low blue light content lighting in their cities.

New 1800K CCT: replicates the warm yellow glow of high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps with higher CRI at half the power – now available on XLamp XP-G3 White Standard LEDs!

When it comes to grower concerns and nostalgia, and what some want.... a lot of the story is past 700nm, not just the low CCT goal.
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For the record, no-one is actually suggesting that these LEDs are "HPS-like" except in name. I thought I made that clear when I said "They are just a typical white phosphor LED made in a lower CCT".

That is all they are.

The desire to reduce blue light in street lamps reflects concerns over elevated blue in typical blue-pump, white phosphor LEDs interfering with circadian rhythms at night.
 
grotbags

grotbags

Well-Known Member
Prawn Connery said:
For the record, no-one is actually suggesting that these LEDs are "HPS-like" except in name. I thought I made that clear when I said "They are just a typical white phosphor LED made in a lower CCT".

That is all they are.

The desire to reduce blue light in street lamps reflects concerns over elevated blue in typical blue-pump, white phosphor LEDs interfering with circadian rhythms at night.
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you made it clear enough, some people just like to be obtuse...

any more info on the new spectrum with the new nichia diodes you are working on that you mentioned in the now deleted "blurple" thread?.
 
Prawn Connery

Prawn Connery

Well-Known Member
grotbags said:
you made it clear enough, some people just like to be obtuse...

any more info on the new spectrum with the new nichia diodes you are working on that you mentioned in the now deleted "blurple" thread?.
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Nichia have released a lot of new narrow-band phosphor LEDs, one of which we will likely be adopting. We already use a custom narrow band phosphor in our spectrum from a Chinese supplier, but the Nichias look to be more efficient for the same price. We're also thinking of tweaking the UVA end of the spectrum as the Nichia 405s are very efficient and powerful and I want to reduce it a little. While quality has increased (we saw an increase in THC when we tested the spectrum) there was a trade-off in yield. It's only small: more refining than revolution.
 
B

Bud man 43

Well-Known Member
Prawn Connery said:
Catch a buzz alright mate. Nothing wrong with HPS bud. Maybe next time throw the MH in there together with the HPS to see if it improves the quality. HPS doesn't have much UV.
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HPS uv spectrum degrades quickly. Great when bulbs are new- 6 months to a year in use and the spectrum changes. LED spectrum degrades much much slower.
 
Drop That Sound

Drop That Sound

Well-Known Member
LED doesn't output UV that is worth anything. If it did, you could buy LED UVB lights for reptiles to bask under, but you can't.. because it doesn't work and the reptile will become metobaolically diseased.

All your guys LED fixtures basically have a cheap Chinese led blacklight integrated, and you think it grows better. My kids new $30 LED blacklight off amazon has more watts and the same diodes as on your new LED fixtures, or even the supplemental bars. Your spending 3 times as much as the same kids blacklights because its considered "grow" equipment now", lol!
 
Hollatchaboy

Hollatchaboy

Well-Known Member
Drop That Sound said:
LED doesn't output UV that is worth anything. If it did, you could buy LED UVB lights for reptiles to bask under, but you can't.. because it doesn't work and the reptile will become metobaolically diseased.















All your guys LED fixtures basically have a cheap Chinese led blacklight integrated, and you think it grows better. My kids new $30 LED blacklight off amazon has more watts and the same diodes as on your new LED fixtures, or even the supplemental bars. Your spending 3 times as much as the same kids blacklights because its considered "grow" equipment now", lol!
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Huh?
 
tstick

tstick

Well-Known Member
Well, I always believe it's best to actually try out some of these theories about how light works. I did that on this last run. What I found was there is an indication that, while the plants are vegging, they will grow shorter and stalkier under a strong blue/white spectrum -like MH HID or 5000K LEDs.

In flower, they will stretch under a more reddish spectrum -like HPS or a full-spectrum white LED with added red enhancement.

But, more importantly (to me) is that the flowers are more fragrant and the trichomes are milkier under HID light at the later stages of flowering. I believe this is because the plants can sense that the heat and light are coming from a single, directional source, whereas, with LED, they don't sense the heat and light source the same way. LEDs just don't put out enough heat. Everyone is fighting for efficiency ratings, but, in reality, the plants need that inefficient heat, too.

My biggest yields were grown under LED light. My best tasting yields have consistently been under old school HID lights. I think a good deal of it has to do with LEDs providing a greater and more even spread of light that allows the plants to develop more mass. But, there is something in HID light that seems to be better for the later stages of flowering/ripening.

This is what I have observed growing only a few plants at a time in my small tent.

I would like to try a 315watt CMH next. I just need to do some research on which hood and ballast are the best ones. I like to "buy once/cry once."
 
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