MH vs HPS in bloom

[Rolldaddy]

I am a fan of this thread. So with my now current grow will be the first time I use mostly MH throughout the cycle. 2 sylvania mh 1 horti hps.

I've always used 1000k magnetic balasts. ATM I'm helping a friend build a new room so we decided to go with lumatek 600's which I don't have experience with but were highly recommended to me. So now I'm trying to figure out what bulbs will work the best with those digital balasts. Idealy I'd like to be 50/50 mh/hps. Any input from you folks on here with light knowledge is appreciated.

 

[Rolldaddy]

So far for hps bulbs the lumatek hps 600w look the best to me. They claim to have a high par value, lumens are ocher 90,000, color 2700k. Any advise with these?

For MH ones from what I can tell so far there aren't true digital mh. Ipower makes a digital 600w bulb they claim it as mh. Lumens are much lower around 60,000, I couldn't find info par value, color is 4700k if I remember correctly.

So far I ordered 1 of each to compare but I don't have a light meter so I don't know how much difference I will be able to tell. But so far I'm leaning more towards the lumatek bulbs since they are so much brighter. For cost both cost about the same for me. Only a few dollar difference.

So once again all input is appreciated. Thanks

 

[Stonefree69]

I have a Micromole 600w digital ballast and love it. Gettin' some more!

Here's my pick of digital 600w bulbs:

Hortilux Super HPS Lamp 600W
Hortilux Blue MH 600 watt
Plantmax Pulse Start 600 watt 7000K MH Bulb
Plantmax 600 watt HPS
Ushio 600 Watt HPS HiLux AHS Opti Red Lamp

Digilux bulbs are also supposed to be pretty bright:

Digilux 600 Watt HPS Grow Bulb
Digilux 600 Watt MH Grow Bulb

 

[bigAl25]

I run two 400 watt side by side, one is MH and the other is HPS. I do rotate the plants during flower so they all get under one or the other light for part of that 8 to 10 week flower time. I'm happy with my results and have the best of both approaches.

 

[Rolldaddy]

Thanks.

I really like how you got a whole mix going there Stone. I also think having a mix of different bulbs with varying K values gives the best end result.

I already have those 2 different kinds of bulbs and learning more before I buy more that I need to do soon. I just don't have experience with lumatek hi frequency digi balasts and there's so many choices it makes my head spin. Haha

 

[Bio boy]

so what is yeilding more mh or hps? im after maxxing my yeild

 

[hush]

In general, HPS is the better yielder, but just like everything else, there are exceptions to the rule. Some strains might be negatively impacted by the HPS making them stretch too much and therefore ruining yield. That's just one for instance.

I've been growing entirely under MH this time around, on my current garden, and the plants are SOOOO much frostier. This is no joke at all. But I haven't flowered these strains under HPS before, so I can't make a comparison for weight. All I can say is I am still going to be plenty happy with the weight I get under the MH.

Ultimately, I think I would be willing to stick with MH all the time, just for the simple fact that the light is more of a natural color, and doesn't throw up any flags like that unmistakeable orange light from HPS.

 

[vapedg13]

so has anyone tried a PlantMax Dual Arc 1000 watt bulb....

110,000 lumens has both spectrums in one bulb...600 watt HPS + a 400 watt MH... emitted from one bulb.... runs on a 1000 watt ballast

 

[BasementGrower]

ur better of fusing a 400 mh an 600hps seperate.. u need to keep it at same distance as 1000w . but u only get intesity of 400-600w .. so ur beter runnin seperate bulbs.. closer to the plants.

 

[motaloca]

First time flowering with mh as I only could get cheap Chinese hps streetlight bulbs here.
I found some phillips master HPI-T Plus 645 4500k. What I like is the 5000 hours till 5% lumen loss. Thats over a year of 12 12.
looking forward to the results.

 

[FOE20]

results so far here from the switch from standard HPS to a duel arc 1k(HPS ver)..
least a 20% overall increase in almost all aspects....worth a try indeed....
FOE20

 

[StickyHands]

Excellent thread!

Just finished reading through the whole thing, and ive learnt more than i could have imagined.

Hats of to the thread starter, and to all those helping to increase the knowledge.

 

[JakubAK48]

Im happy to see this thread gained such interest

I just ignited bt56, i had two of them they were threated badly in transport, previous grow i did launch 1kw bt56 bare bulb, withhout outer envelope...Skin was comming of my face for next two weeks lol
Plants had bad time too, they got burned and they have CHEMICAL STENCH after one day of absorbing this radiation, they got literaly rostedconclusion: extreme RIPE BOOSTER

This time i did vegged on cmh and hsi-tsx, now bt56 flo i did cool tube for this lamp, its 4 inch of the plant tops and i managed to keep optimal temp.
so far about spectrum i can say it seems to be stronger that hsi-tsx whitch is something i did not expected, buds from sticky, got super wet and smell remind me of turpentine? i bet thats due to terpenes emission, couple more weks to go and i will know how final product compares to previous cmh hsi tsx flowering, whitch was best in my growlife so far.. even lower buds whitch normaly are getting moldy or unusable, got solid trich cover and reasonable density.
LOVE MH!

 

[Northstar22]

i want that #5..... where do you get that bulb? i want a 600w...

It's the. HHortilux super blue mh pm me I can get ten percent above wholesale... only 1k and 400 though the 600 is coming soon

 

[W89]

Ive just got some CMH bulbs today they seem to have a good spectrum of light

here are the bulbs I got

1 x http://catalog.gelighting.com/lamp/...mps/f=constantcolor-cmh-tubular-clear/p=10589

2 x http://catalog.gelighting.com/lamp/...ubular-clear-streetwise/c=e40/d=false/p=77402

 

[CecilGreenLeaf]

It's the. HHortilux super blue mh pm me I can get ten percent above wholesale... only 1k and 400 though the 600 is coming soon

Any idea on a date? My hydro guy is strarting to get annoyed with me asking, lol. The add came out in November I mean come on. I have wanted that bulb forever now thanks.

 

[the gnome]

Excellent thread!

Just finished reading through the whole thing, and ive learnt more than i could have imagined.

Hats of to the thread starter, and to all those helping to increase the knowledge.

I wish more peeps would read this thread from the beginning.
so much excellent info in it.

and you said it sticky... knowledge!

 

[Binarylogic]

Northstar22 - Tried to PM you but no dice. I'm interested in the Super Blue 400W. Please get in touch with me please.

Thanks!

 

[BadMojo]

Seems kind of odd purchasing different light bulbs and swapping/Stressing the plants with the changes. All so you can grow one variety. Wouldn't it just be easier to select a variety that grows well under MH or HPS. Its not like we do not have literally thousands of grows on the net to get an idea how the varieties and clone plants perform.

Also I saw people stating that the MH bulbs have "evolved" over time. Well so have the HPS. The Phillips GreenPower double ended EL proves that.

As for Fall sun disproving hps use by saying the tropics don't have a Fall well that is just a faulty argument. Why you ask? Simple because most of these varieties that we use today have been bred and selected for non tropical conditions. We pick and choose the traits we want. The best plants that grow in our Controlled, developmental stage light levels are the ones we use to pass the genes to the next generation. This also rules out the evolutionary standpoint that the plants are adapted to the sun. Hate to break this to you but most plants are adapted to artificial suns that we have in our grow rooms.

Evolution is survival of the fittest. What we are doing is Not evolution.

 

[FOE20]

I actually use the room as a simulation...so my Hawaiians grow like Hawaiians...and I feel the genetic integrity of it is as based on the genetics in use as it is the enviro and user that are growing them...so claims are only that till your smokin it...and if yo use a high powered super forced room...you might get that type of herb...but I like a moderately relaxed room thats far from over powered..and I cater to each variety and Im a minimalist in all aspects...so maybe were not all as small roomed or mined as assumed...
I consider it all evolution...but what Im doing personally I feel is more working forward progressively, rather than evolving into something on its own...
FOE20