Yeah, generally when we describe a grow area we calculate the space actually used by the plants. For example, in my new flower room I have 2x1000w HPS over 4x9 but that's inside a 9x12 room so my actual grow area is 36sqft or 56w/sqft. If I used the dimensions of the whole room people would think that I was only running 18w/sqft which is not nearly enough.

I still can't figure out how you saved so much with just a few watts less but I'm not saying that your bill wasn't less. Here, a 1000w light would only cost 100-150/mo and we know that you're not running 500w less than you were so I just can't figure it out. Perhaps the cooler weather means less electricity use overall or maybe electricity is cheaper in the winter? *shrug*

Yes, stigmas would be botanically correct although most people use the term pistils when talking about cannabis. Both are technically correct. Trichome maturity is the best way to determine harvest time although when people grow the same genetics long enough they can typically figure out when they'll be ready based on a calendar too. I use the microscope to verify the calendar.

Typically the stretching is due to dropping to 12 hours of light and the plants stretch trying to find more. Many people veg and flower under high red light (like HPS) and the stretching still happens when switching to 12/12 so it's really not so much the increased red, it's the increased dark period. Some people gradually increase the dark period to try to minimize the stretch but that may be six of one/half dozen of another.

I do appreciate the added detail on your grow system; the more data that other growers have, the better they can decide what they want to do. What kid of yield do you typically get with your current flower system?

Remember the SS400w isn't actually 400w, it's 310w, so when you replace your flower lights be sure you don't end up hurting your yield with not enough light.

The plants in Veg are looking great. Nice growth and lateral branching is occuring in the plants that are mature enough. I also replaced all the lighting in the flower room with two 400watt SolarStorm units and so far, the flowers look amazing. I did install a 125 watt Flourescent drop down light that helps with penetration problems. Still love the performance and I have Much more room now that I was able to get rid of a lot of duct work and two huge hoods (one being a Magnum XXXL). I love the world of l.e.d. growing so far, thanks to the Solarstorm line, and will continue to keep you updated.

I'll definitely experiment with the light spectrum vs. light cycle as far as stretching goes. I currently run a a veg cycle that's 24 hours on and stretching is minimal but that may be just the strains I'm working with. I've read in multiple books that increased red spectrum may cause stretching, one book I believe I read this was in was the Oaksterdam University text book, however I may be confused. Also, the reason I refer to the room size is because that is the space in which the light occupies but I completely understand where you coming from as far as refering to canopy size when it comes to optimal watt per sq foot calculations. A 400 watt light in a 2 foot by 2 foot closet with one plant, I imagine, would recieve more useable light than a 400 watt light in an open auditorium over one plant, but the canopy space is still based off one plant so the numbers would be somewhat similar. I'm still learning as I grow tho, my opinion my change in time. As far as yield goes, I only average around 60-70 grams per plant. Thank You for the information, I love learning new things when it comes to cannabis.

Yes , vegging on a 24/0 cycle will also decrease stretch due the missing dark period. There's no doubt that plants vegging under more red will stretch a little more than if they were under more blue but most (not all) of the stretch we see when switching to 12/12 is about the dark period instead of the red.

Remember, you're down to 1/2 the light that you had in the flower room now.

60/70 grams per plant doesn't tell the whole story; how many plants and under what size/kind of light? Grams per watt (g/w) might tell us more in this case...

I am still very pleased with the SolarStorm performance. I have recently replaced flower room lights with two 400watt L.E.D. SolarStorm units but I continue to run a 400 watt HPS light in the middle of the two. I am amazed with the results. In veg I had a plant out grow it's 5 gallon pot under one 400watt Solarstorm with about 30-50 watts of flourescent lighting on the sides. The biggest technique change I have had to change was to begin agressive "lollipop" techniques so I wasn't wasting energy in the lower canopy where the L.E.D. lights cannot reach.I know "lollipopping" is usually referred to in sea of green setups but for those who don't know what I am referring to, I am cutting away any lower canopy foliage that doesn't recieve any usable light, the energy being used to grow those lower branches can now be focused on the upper half where light is easily reached (be care ful when doing this, cutting too much can and will stunt growth, could cause extreme stress, and in severe cases even kill your plant. If done correctly, the results are worth it.) I've also began trellising much more agressive to avoid cutting branches that could be useful if the plant is spread open and it allows more light to reach the plant overall. My electric bill this month was extremely low, I wont mention numbers as this causes confusion due to so many variables.

As far as gram per plant, gram per watt, gram per light, etc.
--I run a Perpetual Harvest so Number of plants in rotation is contantly changing, all plants are in different stages, I never have 2 plants ready at once (all are a week apart from when they enter the flower room, depending on strain, things do bunch up at times.) If you are interested in the lights I was using Before I switched to a majority led grow. Here it is:
Flower Room:
Sun Sytem Magnum XXXL Hood
Sun System Block Buster Hood
Dual 600watt Lumatek Digital Ballast (240v)
All HPS
**Side notes: Ballast was set on "super-lumens" at most times. So that was over 1,200 watts of HPS in Flower. Now I'm at about 1,100watts total because I switched to two 400watt Solarstorm units And I added a 400watt HPS in the middle of the two L.E.D. lights. The 400watt light is ran by a Lumatek digital ballast. Sunsytem Hood.

Veg Room
I use to run a 400watt MH light powered by a 400watt Lumatek digital Ballast.

It's shame that you never posted any pictures here to give everyone a better idea of how your system works. I've heard others suggest that a combination of HPS and LED works *very* well and it seems that your reported results are backing that up but, still, grams per plant doesn't tell us much. Perhaps if you averaged out a years worth of yield (after you've been using the new system for a while) we could get a better number but as long as you're happy it really doesn't matter. There are people that never even weigh their harvests so YMMV...

Some people lollipop SOG/SCROG and regular plants, some people don't. I can see where that could help in some growing styles, especially with taller plants under LED. With high density SOG it really wouldn't be needed but it still could improve under canopy airflow. As I've often said, there are advantages and disadvantages to every growing decision we make. For example, SOG has less veg time but you need more plants. It's a trade-off.

FYI: The SS400w isn't really 400w, it's actually about 310w of LED actual draw, so you're really at about 1020w including your 400w HPS. Not much that much less than the 2 x 600w HPS so I still can't see how there's be much electrical savings. 200w would be about 30 bucks/mo which some people think is a lot but it's really about 1 or 2 grams of yield.

Do you think you'll stay with your new 1020W LED+HPS system or will you add even more lights, later, to get even more yield? I can easily see me going from 2kw to 4kw or 8kw in the future...