LED and HPS are both lighting methods that are used in growing marijuana crops indoors. So, what makes them different and why the discussion?
Let’s start with the basics – HPS culture has been in the marijuana cultivation business for decades whilst LED culture is comparatively new. That said, these are just the basic differences between the two. The entire codebook to the differences between LED culture and HPS culture is compiled in the guide below.
HPS and LED Culture: Details And Uses
HPS and LED culture serve the same purpose: working for indoor marijuana crops as the sun.
HPS (High-Pressure Sodium) light has the spectrum that’s best suited to sustain flowering crops where light is scanty. Besides, HPS glow bulbs are inexpensive and consistent. Since they are capable of producing an enormous amount of light, they are able to fulfill the light requirement of large crops like the marijuana crops for one.
LED (Light Emitting Diode) light bulbs focus on releasing the growth-targeted spectrum only. It’s more beneficial in a number of ways, like, there’s no to very less energy wastage.
Now comes the turn of the most significant differences between the two.
- HPS is affordable and LED is expensive. That said, LED is much more economical than HPS in the long-run.
- HPS has a high maintenance cost on a comparison with the LED set up.
- HPS uses twice the energy that of LED. This is yet another reason that HPS setup proves to be more expensive than LED setup despite its low installation cost.
- HPS, however, radiates inane light that’s closest to the light by the sun. That said, it also leads to enormous heating that requires equivalent cooldown. LED does not have any such overheating problem.
- HPS requires reinstallation at least once a year but LED has a longer life. It makes up for the expensive first-time installation cost.
- HPS bulbs are more readily available than LED for cannabis growth. This is one clear disadvantage.
- The LED light is not sufficient for harvesting marijuana in a cold environment. HPS is more preferable in such conditions since it ensures that the crops get enough light that’s required for proper growth.
To sum up, about the entire debate of what’s better, it’s best to say that LED wins the race in most cases but HPS has its own significance. As long as the LED culture doesn’t get as standardized as HPS, it cannot be adopted as the only setup. Also, it eventually comes to whether or not the cultivators have enough money in hand to pay for the initial first-time LED setup that’s ridiculously expensive, but most economical in the long run
