Lighting What is your LED of choice

[Frenjamin Banklin]

I think the cobs and QBs have a slight edge over each other in two different places.

Assuming we are DIY fixtures with dimmers.

With Cobs I can bring the fixture within 15” and run it at very low wattages 25w per plant in the first few weeks. The focused spread of the cob is just enough for the diameter of the plant st that phase.

Of course the QBS at same wattage as Cob have much better spread over the plant in full flower for better penetration at that stage.

Currently have a cob closet and a QB closet. Going to start the next run under the cobs and then switch 4 out to the QB room. I don’t expect a ton of difference but we’ll see. I assume increased efficiency could allow me to run the QBs softer with same coverage, but I can tell you I push my Cobs at 75% and they are some intense lights and I’ve have no issues with penetrating very dense canopies

I start at 25 watts per and end with 100 per plant. Which had been intense. Had some crisp tacos past few grow so I might try max at 75 but the buds were rocks st 100

 

[918AutoGrower]

I think the cobs and QBs have a slight edge over each other in two different places.

Assuming we are DIY fixtures with dimmers.

With Cobs I can bring the fixture within 15” and run it at very low wattages 25w per plant in the first few weeks. The focused spread of the cob is just enough for the diameter of the plant st that phase.

Of course the QBS at same wattage as Cob have much better spread over the plant in full flower for better penetration at that stage.

Currently have a cob closet and a QB closet. Going to start the next run under the cobs and then switch 4 out to the QB room. I don’t expect a ton of difference but we’ll see. I assume increased efficiency could allow me to run the QBs softer with same coverage, but I can tell you I push my Cobs at 75% and they are some intense lights and I’ve have no issues with penetrating very dense canopies

I start at 25 watts per and end with 100 per plant. Which had been intense. Had some crisp tacos past few grow so I might try max at 75 but the buds were rocks st 100

I’ve been wanting to build a substrate that would incorporate some QB-132s in 3500K and some COBS in 2700K. But then HLG came out with the QB-96 and those are bad ass so I don’t think I’ll go with COBS u less I can find one that is exceptional for flowering.


“Tyranny anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere.” — someone awesome

 

[Burn victim]

Quantum boards can be ran softly without a heat sink , just hang the boards. Or put them on a 1/8 inch sheet of aluminum with an L channel frame for rigidity. Out of cobs , strips & qbs , QBs are the easiest to work with for diy. The kits are easy to build & you don’t need thermal grease or heavy ass heat sinks & you’ll save $ . Plus you can wire everything to one plug & mount the driver outside of your grow space to reduce heat . If I was gonna grow 4 untrained plants of different strains of indica & sativas , I guess running individual cobs for height differences would work well . But I like to grow similar strains with an even canopy, with my lights hung even & working together instead of separate. Just seems more logical to me ?

 

[918AutoGrower]

Quantum boards can be ran softly without a heat sink , just hang the boards. Or put them on a 1/8 inch sheet of aluminum with an L channel frame for rigidity. Out of cobs , strips & qbs , QBs are the easiest to work with for diy. The kits are easy to build & you don’t need thermal grease or heavy ass heat sinks & you’ll save $ . Plus you can wire everything to one plug & mount the driver outside of your grow space to reduce heat . If I was gonna grow 4 untrained plants of different strains of indica & sativas , I guess running individual cobs for height differences would work well . But I like to grow similar strains with an even canopy, with my lights hung even & working together instead of separate. Just seems more logical to me ?

Agreed. They are hard to beat.


“Tyranny anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere.” — someone awesome

 

[Frenjamin Banklin]

Agreed it’s nice to have an even canopy but each grower has different needs. A lot of new growers are recently legal medical state or rec state growers and are truly self growing in a perpetual style. No trim parties to jar up the poundage, more gradual perpetually manageable harvest. In that case plants will invariably be of different sizes and individual fixtures whether COB or the QBsingles work better than a huge flat canopy of light.
I try to build dual fixture and keep the plants moving in growth order so that the overlap of spread still works well even with a 6-12 inch difference in height.

I couldn’t imagine trying to trim through 4 plants that all were ready to harvest. You guys that do that are beasts.

 

[Arthur]

Agreed it’s nice to have an even canopy but each grower has different needs. A lot of new growers are recently legal medical state or rec state growers and are truly self growing in a perpetual style. No trim parties to jar up the poundage, more gradual perpetually manageable harvest. In that case plants will invariably be of different sizes and individual fixtures whether COB or the QBsingles work better than a huge flat canopy of light.
I try to build dual fixture and keep the plants moving in growth order so that the overlap of spread still works well even with a 6-12 inch difference in height.

I couldn’t imagine trying to trim through 4 plants that all were ready to harvest. You guys that do that are beasts.

Someone say trim party? I'll bring the party favor!

 

[Burn victim]

Agreed it’s nice to have an even canopy but each grower has different needs. A lot of new growers are recently legal medical state or rec state growers and are truly self growing in a perpetual style. No trim parties to jar up the poundage, more gradual perpetually manageable harvest. In that case plants will invariably be of different sizes and individual fixtures whether COB or the QBsingles work better than a huge flat canopy of light.
I try to build dual fixture and keep the plants moving in growth order so that the overlap of spread still works well even with a 6-12 inch difference in height.

I couldn’t imagine trying to trim through 4 plants that all were ready to harvest. You guys that do that are beasts.

Cobs are the shit for rocking chair growing, just sitting & watching lol ! Just kidding man, there’s no wrong way to do this if you’re happy with your results, that’s all that matters in the end

 

[m0rk]

Cobs are the shit for rocking chair growing, just sitting & watching lol ! Just kidding man, there’s no wrong way to do this if you’re happy with your results, that’s all that matters in the end

I'm newbie and these are my first lights. Optic1 54 watt 3500k
They seems to be working great but I have nothing to compare too!

Aren't they purdy?

 

[Frenjamin Banklin]

I just finished a GG4 that I thought was going to be an easy 5-6 zips. But ended up at 8 zips of nice firm nugs. Under 100 watts of Cree. Was getting 1.45 gpw under on my first few grows but super glad to see a plant over 2 gpw. Not so much worried about electricity but just goes to show the COBS can pull weight.
It was a FB in DWC

 

[Archaic]

If you're looking at COBs or QBs, you're on the right track. I have headroom issues so I run an HLG QB, but I've seen some great grows under AutoCobs.

American made white light is the way to go. Purple is so 2014