Do LED Grow Lights Yield More Than HPS Grow Lights?

HPS Grow lights and LED grow lights have been in debate for many years now. Though, with new developments taking place in the technology used in grow lights, LED grow lights have become increasingly popular. They still offer higher efficiency than the ordinary MH or HPS grow lights and it is a fact that they produce the highest yielding led grow light than before. A grow light is a light source that is used artificially to increase the plant growth rate as it emits out an electromagnetic light ray that can promote the photosynthesis process in plants. 

Photosynthesis is a process that allows plants to change light energy, derived from the sun to chemical energy. In simple words, it can be said that a grow light is an artificially used light to provide plants the amount of light required for their growth. Some cultivators use together both HPS grow lights and LED grow lights for combining the extra benefits derived from both sources of light. 

What is HPS Grow Light?

HPS stands for High-Pressure Sodium lamps which comprise added elements like Mercury to generate a dark pinkish flow at the initial strike. With its intensification, the pink-orange coloured light gradually warms down to become an orange glow. HPS Lamps are more widely preferred by those who are indoor cultivators for conventional cultivators because of the broad spectrum of colour and temperature that is generated. Not just that, but it has been considered as the best grow light over so many decades mainly because of their potential that leads to flower growth and effective flowering of the plants. 

These lights generate red coloured light and little amounts of all physical lights. They are mainly used in the flowering or reproductive phase of the plants. In case, you use sodium lights of very high pressure in the vegetative phase of the plants, they will become taller before time which is not ideal for the plants growing and smaller areas. High-pressure sodium lights can oh improve the flowering and fruiting process in the plants.

Comparison of LED Grow Lights & HPS Grow Lights 

The basic concepts of HPS and LES lamps might get you a bit confused about which one to choose. Horticultural lighting undeniably helps to make better comparisons. That’s the reason why so many cultivators talk about their not-so-good experience of using LEDs over the years. 

LEDs have different efficiency and quality ratings based on product type and that can create an impact on the about of light that is produced. It is more or less sane with using HPS. Talking about HPS techniques usually, important components of design such as fixture wattage, along with other factors like the lamp being single-ended or double-ended and what if the ballast can become magnetic. For example, an HPS lighting fixture might accomplish a higher efficiency rating if the lamp has two ends. The one showing 400 watts usually can achieve an efficiency rating in ab entirely different range. The one that shows 400 watts will be scoring a lower rate of efficiency. 

FLEDs are quite similar though, in terms of efficiency, they are better than HPS. Some LEDs have lesser efficiency in comparison to HPS fixtures of high quality and they also give out lesser light. You can also get LED fixtures that differ in terms of efficiency based on a few factors like diodes type, colour combination of the spectrum, overall quality of the product, and the rest of the factors related to engineering. There are more factors like the high efficiency of the LED fixture that might not be having the spectrum to give the required morphology to your plants. 

You can also discover other unrevealed inefficiencies that lurk in the HD fixtures. Also, very often one can find a rating on the HPS products which state the efficiency of the lamp and not the actual product. The lamp might not function properly in the setup of a laboratory setting depending on the offered wattage, but whenever the electrical loss of ballast gets factored in, the numbers of efficiency start appearing quite different. There is a reflector hood that can decrease the mentioned efficiency of the HPS fixture. 

Efficiency can go beyond electrical consumption. Well-designed lighting products can offer you good outcomes for different reasons. For example, if a plant gets fine-tuned, the balanced spectrum it can be expected that there will be a rise in the secondary metabolism promoters and bigger crops consisting of dense crops. Electrical efficiency refers to the low heat that can develop a series of cost reductions because of the reduced use of HVAC, few circulation fans, and easy ways of pest management. 

You must be wondering which one out of HPS or LED grow lights are better. Home growers and professional growers have been wondering which one is better because LED grow lights were the first to come into the market. The answer to this depends on what your goals are. To know which one is more suitable, it also helps to check the technologies user in the LED lights and HPS grow lights respectively. The most reliable comparative study of both HPS and LED lights must be inclusive of other types also. 

Facts to know about higher yield with LED vs HPS Grow lights 

HPS lights are usually associated with higher yields for a long time now. However, there are reasons why a handful of the biggest commercial grow processes have switched to LED grow lights. An HPS grow light is 6002w can generate 150-300 gms in a basic growing atmosphere which sums to nearly 0.6 gms per wattage or even low. On the other hand, LEDs can generate 1-1.5 gms per wattage. 

All this while, LEDs have been using lesser energy for producing the wattage equal to that of HPS. In the previous decade, technical developments have created a huge improvement in the LED lighting mechanism. These lights are using lenses of high-quality that focus on lights from different spectrums on the canopy of your plant. This only means that the photons beam to the plants directly. LED lights of low quality don’t always have this kind of focused effect. This is just one reason to choose the enhanced design and reliable materials before investing in high-cost lighting systems. 

Several cultivators consider wattage to be the main factor for an excellent grow light. But, indeed, just wattage is not enough. If you want your plant to get benefitted from the light majorly, light waves should be in the proper spectrum and have the perfect quality to get absorbed by the plants. While searching for lights, you should check the PAR value. The PAR stands for photosynthetically active radiation. This is a term for the light that is made available to be used by plants. 

HPS stands for High-Pressure Sodium Lights which have the potential to produce a Maddie amount of light. You should know that several farmers used to prefer HPS lights for many years due to this reason. Light is important at the flowering stage of the plant and can also help in increasing the yield amount when harvest takes place. HPS grow lights are so intense that they can develop a suitable environment for the flowering of cannabis plants. On the other hand, the very intense output of the HPS lights can produce a large amount of heat. In several cases, making use of HPS grow lights needs added ventilation for enough airflow. This can also cause a significant increase in costs. Additionally, the light with higher intensity can consume a massive energy amount, increasing the costs and leading to environmental damage too. 

What are the advantages of HPS grow lights?

Following are the advantages of HPS grow lights: 

• These lights can produce a very high amount of light, leading to a flowering of the cannabis plants.
• One may find a huge variety of HPS grow lights so there are more options to choose from. 
• The basic start-up costs us low using the HPS grow lights in comparison t LED lights. 

What are the disadvantages of HPS Grow Lights?

• They need more amount of power and offer lesser efficiency in terms of energy consumption.
• Have short durability than LED lights.
• It requires ventilation and sufficient airflow to give out intense lighting.
• It can be difficult to set the optimal temperature specifically in nit so open areas.
• These lights can also increase the long-term costs.

Conclusion

So, this is everything to know about LED lights vs HPS lights for cannabis plants. Though you can use both of them as grow lights for your home grow setup but, it is recommended to use LED lights because of the several benefits that it offers in comparison to the HPS grow lights. You can find a wide variety in terms of both these grow lights so make your decision carefully.