We’re test the cmh lights and like what we’re seeing. Our plants are 2 to 3 feet Max at harvest so mostly flower. Trim is about 12 to 18 percent. We’re testing different spacing to get past the 180 g/sqft Mark.
As for LED lights it’s hard to justify in a commercial setting with our set up. I’ve gone through the numbers with several LED manufacturers and it results in mutual agreement that costs need to come down to justify it. I’m usually am early adopter but not at 7 figures. We run 40 lights vs 80 in a room which helps on the HVAC on top of halving our power bill for lights.
Thanks for the tip on growers house… We’ll take a look.
You can come up with an idea of how to implement LED lights in our set-up that makes fiscal sense I’m all ears. I would love to be able to experiment with Spectrum and intensity the way LEDs allow. I tested induction bulbs about 5 years ago and only found them useful in veg and only on smaller plants period severe lack of light penetration even in a sea of green scenario.
Have you contacted us regarding your numbers. I have to say that pushing into the 180 gram/sq ft mark is more than I have heard about and I’d like to learn more about what you are doing. Drop us a line so we can take a look to see if we can help. We have never found a situation where we couldn’t save money when looking from a multi-year perspective. But yeah, 180 grams/sq ft is something I’d like to hear more about, very impressive!
I will talk to Kirk who is the guy who put the whole system together. It was a huge challenge and I want to be sure he’s comfortable with me talking about any details if you can understand that. We have had a couple Farms talk to us about Contracting in and getting them setup but to be responsible we want to make sure we’ve ironed out most of the weeds. I’m sure Kirk will be alright talking about it especially if you can come up with a solution that saves US money.
I just want to try to explain why CMH/HID lighting will penetrat much deaper compared to LED solutions (especially if the use secondary lenses). In the end it ist all about diffuse lighting:
CMH/HID deviced emit the light in a much more diffuse way than many of the LED solutions do.
Furthermore it is allways a good idea to use a greater number of smaler devices in order to increase the number of angles the light will be emitted down to the canopy to increase the chance the light can get trough the canopy
Anonther important point is the green- and yellow area of the spectrum of the light, because it can penetrate deeper layers of the leafs and also can better get through leaf’s as well. That actually another reason why HPS and CMH are penetrating much deeper…
Based on that knowledge we have developed the HASHCROPTER!
So if you are interested in testing our technology I would be keen to get in contact.
I love the name! Hashcropter! Brilliant! I’m always down to chat and collaborate, Christoph. I’m almost always available here on GNET and by phone Mon-Thur. Let me know what you are thinking.
I have seen multiple grows in the Denver area using Sustainable Growth Technology CMH bulbs in vertical grows. They are incredibly efficient and as you state; the penetration is great. I do not know exact production numbers, but it was substantially larger than any horizontal grow.
we just switched over a small room to 100% Bios Icarus G2 leds. fixing to pull our first crop. it stinks more, it’s more colorful, the buds are smaller but denser. i’m wanting to checkerboard with LEC. can you give insight into that?
in a perfect world i’d run a single CMH on a mover between each row of LED but that’s not going to happen yet.
the way i see it, if i checkerboard i wont get spectrum coverage on all plants. i’d need to overlight and pack more into the room that what it needs. 1 light over a 4x4 would get the majority of light from what’s above it, regardless of what light it is.
i’m loving the LED’s, i’m excited about it and want to make them work, and i will make them work. just starting out though so you know, the curve…
I highly recommend supplementing your LED lighting array with LEC light. You will experience the light penetration lacking from LED lights. You may see smaller buds than you might with HIDs, however I have noticed a way better density and consistency in the finished product. I have appreciably higher terpene and cannabinoid content as well. As you have noticed already, the color is absurdly beautiful!
On the subject of the mover, I can’t say that it’s even necessary given the CMH consumes such a low wattage and possesses a very low heat profile. More moving parts equals more problems down the line, in my experience.
Again, I’ll offer some personal guidance if you want to talk about CMH/LED combinations. I’m here to help.
absolutely! when i get some time i’ll holler at you here, i assume there is a way to PM? haven’t had much time to explore these forums yet. i’ll take all the input i can get.
I agree with @cschubert regarding multiple point sources of light. A single point source is not as good as diffused. Also, the comment about secondary lenses working against this diffusion.
I would also throw out that higher energy photons such as deep blue and even UV have the ability to penetrate. So while spreading light is one solution that needs to be used, it can be even more powerful when used in conjunction with the higher energy photons found in the deep blue/UV range.
A deep blue photon can bounce off a leaf or wall or even pass right through a leaf. At that point is loses some energy in the form of heat and shifts to a lower energy photon. This lower energy photon is still usable by the plant if it hits a lower leaf. If that photon was red to begin with and bounces, losing energy, it would likely degrade to infrared or other unusable heat.
@DGFarms, thank you for sharing your results. I am very curious, if you like the Bios results in terms of smell and visual appeal, are you considering adding CMH to increase penetration, improve spectrum, or something else entirely?
Maybe you got my post wrong: “very impressive” was meant to be sarcastic
And by the way I am pretty sure that many lighting companys can outperform just ask @Heliospectra, @Fluence, @lumigrow, @GrowFlux, etc.
doubtfull, but this isnt a pissing contest. as i have stated before. everything i post is of my opinion based on use of the products. As i have never used thier lights. Im sure they would agree these lights are actually pretty good.
