Need some opinions on Metal Halide bulbs

[jcj77d]

im looking to buy a 400w MH bulb, but dont want the standard 4100k MH bulbs.
im looking for a "blue/daylight" MH bulb, but there are so many, even up to 20,000k.
so im asking what MH bulbs do yall use or would use to veg with that is a "blue/daylight" color, or one yall find that has the best effect on growth rate.

thanks

 

[watson540]

have you ever used mh at all?? the one i have is already a blue/daylight spectrum man..thats the whole reason its used for veg

dont believe the hype..go to a hardware store and pick up a standard mh lamp

 

[jcj77d]

have you ever used mh at all?? the one i have is already a blue/daylight spectrum man..thats the whole reason its used for veg

dont believe the hype..go to a hardware store and pick up a standard mh lamp

yes i have, & standard mh bulbs are 4100k, a color not used well by plants, vs colors like 6500k-5500k.
its not hype, its facts, & can prove it

 

[Phedrosbenny]

Hps bulbs have a helluva lot more lumens.And if I wanted a better spectrum I think I would get a CMH.

 

[jcj77d]

Hps bulbs have a helluva lot more lumens.And if I wanted a better spectrum I think I would get a CMH.

yes they do, but lumens dont mean crap to plants & growing, its just a measure for humans.
its the kelvins, CRI, & PAR rating that matters to plants.

cant use a CMH, i have a electronic ballast

 

[B. Friendly]

http://www.eyehortilux.com/blue.html this is my favorite veg bulb of all time. Not a good flowering bulb though
check this out it's dual mh/hps http://www.eyehortilux.com/superblue.html

I use both these in veg and a typical mh.
But for flower i am all hps, but do use 1 mh for the first 2 or 3 weeks, then all hps

 

[junior_grower]

Hortilux makes a couple nice bulbs check them out.

 

[jcj77d]

thanks guys, & im very aware of the hortilux, but was trying to stay away from spending 100$ on a bulb, thats why i was asking for opinions on dif mh bulbs.

what do yall think of the 400w sunmaster cool delux mh bulb (110 PAR watts), yall think the eye hortilux is better, same, or worse, as far as Growth rate, & PAR watts

 

[watson540]

well spend a hundred on 1 bulb, or spend the 20 bucks for a ahrdware brand and suplement with t5's or cfls

i grew out 3 grows with a mh ballast made in 1988 and a lamp that I had no idea how old it was..They all turned out great..thats the hype man..plants CAN adapt to their susrroundings.

 

[jcj77d]

well spend a hundred on 1 bulb, or spend the 20 bucks for a ahrdware brand and suplement with t5's or cfls

i grew out 3 grows with a mh ballast made in 1988 and a lamp that I had no idea how old it was..They all turned out great..thats the hype man..plants CAN adapt to their susrroundings.

i understand, ive grown w/ an old hps ballast & standard mh bulbs w/ decient results, & i cant sup w/ t5 or cfl, b/c my hood (radiant ac 8) takes up 90% of the head space in my tent, there are only like 4-6" on each side of hood, & i have clip fans in the way too, + i use my t5 in my closet for vegging/clones.
BTW the kelvins does matter, ive done a side by side "test" persay, what i did was took both my 2ft T5 lights, 1 w/ all 6500k bulbs, & the other w/ 4100k bulbs w/ both lights @ same height, the only dif was the 4100k setup put out 1000 more lumens than the 6500k, put seedlings inbetween both lights, & all seedlings grew/leaned towards the 6500k bulbs, even though the other had more lumens.

so yes they will grow under standard mh bulbs fine, but not as good as if they were under a light w/ the correct kelvins

 

[Tony Aroma]

I've been using 10,000 K MH bulbs for veg. They are left over from an aquarium I tore down. IMO, these are great for vegging. I believe that more blue light during the first 3-4 weeks results in more females. These Ushio bulbs are the ones I've been using. They don't "look" blue, but appear a crisp, white. If you want to use MH bulbs for veg, I'd recommend something high in the blue end of the spectrum to take advantage of MH's strength.

 

[meds4GF]

Have been looking for hrs for a MH in the 6500K range myself. Have some 10,000K-20,000K my friend gave me the other day from his aquarium, (400W pulse start) but figured they were too far out of the range. Figured being pulse start it would be easy to find bulbs around 6000K atleast.

 

[Tony Aroma]

Have some 10,000K-20,000K my friend gave me the other day from his aquarium, (400W pulse start) but figured they were too far out of the range.

Actually, most 10,000 K bulbs are pretty broad spectrum (see here). That's why they appear white. They've just got a little extra at the blue end. At higher Kelvin ratings though (14,000 or 20,000), they output mostly blue light and are not very useful for growing plants.

 

[meds4GF]

Interesting info Tony. After seeing MH bulbs as low as 3200K, I have to wonder how that would compare to a HPS bulb at 2700K, for flowering.... in theory.

 

[joe fresh]

i have a hps ballast and got the ushio7500k conversion bulb, used it a while back when i needed it and must say it works great

 

[Andyo]

osram powerstar HQI-T 1000W/D 7200k

osram powerstar HQI-T 1000W/D 7200k

I used to use sylvania ms 1000 but as you said these are 4k lamps
I now use the osram HQI powerstar the daylight version is 7200k
there is a 400w version
And are availble from electrical wholesalers.even in thailand lol
looking at the spectrum theres a lot of par watts
Somthing i noticed the sativa strains i have do vastly better than under a 7200k MH indicas and crosses do verywell also but my sativas are stocky and strong.
Ive used the osram 400w version vertical between to 1k hps big difference again not tall ,dont need to be held up .

 

[skunktoker]

I have used many bulbs IMO the best veg bulb for digital ballasts is the sunmaster cool deluxe....thats what I have used in my 400w and my new 600w) right behind the cool-deluxe
IMO is Ushio..........now in terms of cheap bulbs that work awesome the growbright by HTG
are the best cheap bulbs I have used..........but for the money cant beat the Sunaster-cool deluxe short stocky plants with very little if any stretching...............ST

 

[bipotato]

I just got this cheap PlantMax 7200K MH (1000w) in a package deal, and so far pretty unhappy with it. I think it's a bit too blue for optimal vegetative growth. Might be the slowest growth I've seen from clones to date, I'm not sure. I faintly remember vegging with a 250w 10000K MH way back in the day, so I don't think it's too blue for any growth, but just not real optimal so far. Been under it for about 3 days now, but no real sign of growth foliage wise. Roots are doing well, though, and hopefully I'm wrong and they'll catch up soon.

Anyone else wanna chime in with experience on 7200K MH, what brand, wattage, etc?

Edit - Just noticed they make a 4000K version, rated @ 120,000 initial lumens vs. the 90,000 initial lumens of the 7200K. Hope it has higher PAR wattage than the 4000K to make up for that.