Newbie here with a question for SME...

I just ordered a SS400 that I am planning to place in between a pair of 357 Mags to light a hydro space that is about 32" x 54"....
From what I have read so far you seem to know LED and Hydro. I would appreciate your thoughts/advise??

Thanx!

Well, thanks for the vote of confidence but, really, I just enjoy helping people get the best results that they can...if I can.

Are you talking about the 357 mag or the 357 mag plus?

Are you talking about the 357 mag or the 357 mag plus?

Not the plus..couple of years old. 1W per...?

Yeah, those are pretty old tech now. They were designed to compete with the old 90-180w UFO lights that were popular but they're only 180w actual draw. They used 3w diodes but they were horribly inefficient. Every light they made was supposed to work in a 4x4 area but that's highly exaggerated, imho, even for their more powerful lights.

Now for the math:
32"x54" = 12 sqft.
180w x 2 + 310w = 670w
670w / 12 sqft = 55.8w/sqft

While 56w/sqft should be really good I'm more concerned about the 32" depth than the 54" width so you might end up with weaker corners due to the magnums (on the ends) not being strong enough to cover the 32" part. Where there is overlap from the SS400w you should have good growth. Remember, the SS400w also uses 5w diodes to it'll penetrate better than the other lights too so you'll still want to keep your plants short.


Hope that helps...

While 56w/sqft should be really good I'm more concerned about the 32" depth than the 54" width so you might end up with weaker corners due to the magnums (on the ends) not being strong enough to cover the 32" part. Where there is overlap from the SS400w you should have good growth. Remember, the SS400w also uses 5w diodes to it'll penetrate better than the other lights too so you'll still want to keep your plants short.


Hope that helps...

Yes, it brings a little comfort. If the SS works like their hype says, I will most likely retire the Mags before too long.

Being a newbie, I am sure I will be looking for a lot of help and answers.

Thanx!

Unfortunately, every manufacturer seems to perpetuate some common LED myths, some worse than others. Some outright lie, some exaggerate and some may just be relying on flawed data. One of the biggest myths is that much smaller LED lights can replace and/or yield as much as much bigger HID lights and so far I've seen no evidence, based on results, to back that up. They all seem to rely on PAR measurements which may be nothing more than marketing propaganda since results don't match claims. The zero heat myth is also very common. Coverage is also commonly exaggerated for marketing reasons and I think that's also based on PAR, not on real world cannabis tests.

That said, CLW has the least amount of questionable claims compared to any other manufacturer that I've seen so far and they have an excellent customer service reputation. CLW suggests 40w/sqft coverage for their SS series lights during flower and others make ridiculous claims under 15w/sqft. Personally, I'd put that number over 50w/sqft if people want top-shelf results. That's not to say that growers can't get decent results at 40w/sqft, I'm talking about the higher end results.

I'm nearly convinced that LED could be superior to HID during veg but I'd still want to see more testing before going that far.