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HPS is HID. So HID lights would be too powerful and would drown out the CFL. Some people do use LED as supplemental lighting for the sides to increase bud growth on the lower parts of the plants. But most serious growers are switching over to DE lights now. We're getting better yields with less lights, they're fantastic.
-------------------- Dude she isn't as young as she use to be.
Different light sources add different wavelengths of light that the plant uses. HPS has a lot of less useful green, yellow and orange, whereas metal halids have more blue to them.
The above graph shows an HPS output vs the ideal PAR curve. What you can see is that its not very good in terms of spectral output, but uses intensity to deliver the spectrum of lower % in the amount the plant can start using. 80-90% of the light they shine is not used by the plant.
Ideally you will want to provide every wavelength of light that the plant uses, in the ratio that it responds best. There are a bunch of different things the plant produces that responds to the different parts of light, such as multiple types of chlorophyll, carotenoids, etc.
Showing the reaction spectrum of different constituents.
Some things are dependent on light cycle at specific times. Such as the amount of stretch the plant goes through depends on the amount of red to infra-red. This is because plants next to them are in competition for light and when they sense more infra-red they assume there is another plant next to it absorbing the red and emitting the infra-red.
People are building LEDs now that they can control the entire spectrum and intensity. You can program them to mimic the sunrise, sunset, add UV for a few minutes, etc. all from your smart phone. Things are getting much more complicated than just turning the lights on for 12 hours a day.
Light is additive, so as soon as you add one you will benefit from it. CFL's might not do much in comparison to the HID but will add some light. If your going to add more light the trick is usually to add it to where the plant can benefit from it the most, such as side lighting to the under parts of the plant.
Some people swear by mixing their light sources, like HPS and MH, whereas others will tell you pure HPS is better. I prefer LED but only when its a decent one, as a crappy one will grow slower, smaller plants. Its hard to say if its because of lack of intensity or lack of proper spectrum. Probably a factor of both. Find what your plants like.
-------------------- Any help given is for educational purposes only. Its your responsibility not to break any applicable laws
Bamboo Bongs I make | Perfect Dry and Cure | Grapegod under LED “Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune intoned in the distance by an invisible player.” ~ Albert Einstein
DE lighting, Damn it this stuff changes so fast any more. How is one supposed to keep up? I take two years off and come back and my HID and LED are old hat. this is very sad news. OP I am running 2 600W HID One is MH the other is HPS, I am also running 4 600w LED 11 band lights in the same room. It works pretty well.
from what ive read on DE, its just an upgrade from MH and HPS. Your lighting is definitely *not* obsolete, just DE is the most efficient light available.
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