With the help of another legal Colorado medical marijuana patient that wishes to remain anonymous, we will be comparing the performance of a 400 watt HPS system to that of the RhinoGrow 400, a 172 watt LED grow light.

The grower has set up two 32″ x 32″ spaces divided by thick reflective insulation. Two genetically identical clones will be grown to harvest, and then compared. We will obviously be looking to determine whether the HPS or LED grow light grows the biggest plant, but we will also be looking for differences in growth patterns, colors, bud size/shape, potency, smell and flavor.

Pictured below is the RhinoGrow 400 LED grow light. It is very thin, fairly light and quite bright to look at. It has two heat sinks across the entire top of the light, which allows your ventilation to cool the light, rather than having its own internal fan.

Identical plants will be grown in separate areas, one under each light. The lights are both connected to the same timer, so they will receive the same duration of light each day. The HPS is hung 1 foot higher than the LED grow light because of the heat produced. The plants have the same containers, the same soil, and will be receiving the same organic fertilizers. The grower has selected two identical Fruity Juice clones as the test plants. Fruity Juice is a Sensi Seeds strain that used to go by the name Juicy Fruit due to the remarkable flavor similarity. However, the name was changed to avoid any problems with the popular chewing gum’s company.

At the time these pictures were taken, both plants had just been transplanted into their two gallon containers (Air Pots) and fed (with Age Old Organics – Grow) for the first time since cloning. Over the next few days, to a week, they should turn a deeper green and begin rapid vegetative growth. The grower will induce flowering as soon as the plants grow large enough to make this grow worth his time and energy.

Here’s to hoping the RhinoGrow 400 can outperform the 400 watt HPS. At only about 45% of the required energy of the HPS, LED grow lights like the RhinoGrow 400 can save huge amounts of energy over time, which would save both money and natural resources.