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Best 400mh bulb?

I

its.always.420

Member
Obviously Hortilux blue. Next best, budget friendly? Not trying to spend $60 on a bulb for a fixture that was basically free. Came with a westinghouse bulb and I just know it's shit. Looking for something better and need asap cuz i think the westie is gonna blow soon.

What spectrum am I looking for to get nice bushy plants? Planning on vegging 2 weeks and flowering 4 plants in 5X5 tent. I need bushes, baby!
 
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I

its.always.420

Member
Buckeyebandit said:
5x5 I would use more than 400 w for that area.sunmaster is a good bulb tho
Click to expand...
5x5 flower tent has 1000w horti hps :dance013: Veg tent is 2x2x5. one or two veg at a time and perpetual harvest.

maryjane481 said:
I use Genesis 400w MH. Check it out.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions guys! Wasn't looking to spend that much right now though, have dropped over $800 setting up in the last 2 weeks. Trying to make the tax return last as long as possible!

I went ahead and ordered one of the cheapies on amazon, 4300k. My reading tells me it's a fuller spectrum than most 6500k. I'll spring for the horti blue in a few months.
 
J

Jhhnn

Active member
Veteran
The first thing to understand is whether the ballast is probe or pulse start. Probe start ballasts have only a transformer & capacitor while pulse start ballasts also have an ignitor. Pulse start lamps will not fire on probe start ballasts.

That's in contrast to HPS ballasts which are all pulse start.

This is an excellent lamp for veg-

Philips 232595 cdm330/u/o/4k ea

They're open fixture rated, universal burn & universal start. They put out as much light as 400w quartz MH lamps using less power & last basically twice as long. They're often available on ebay for less.
 
KONY

KONY

Active member
Veteran
Mastercolor retrofit 400 cmh. Works on a magnetic HPS ballast.

They havent been made for a few years now, but there seems to be a fair number of them still kicking around being sold on ebay. Or was about 2 months ago when I last checked.
 
I

its.always.420

Member
Jhhnn said:
At least 5-6 weeks from seed.
Click to expand...
If clones save you a month over seed, that puts me right on schedule.

KONY said:
Mastercolor retrofit 400 cmh. Works on a magnetic HPS ballast.

They havent been made for a few years now, but there seems to be a fair number of them still kicking around being sold on ebay. Or was about 2 months ago when I last checked.
Click to expand...
Do these work with digital ballasts?

Jhhnn said:
The first thing to understand is whether the ballast is probe or pulse start. Probe start ballasts have only a transformer & capacitor while pulse start ballasts also have an ignitor. Pulse start lamps will not fire on probe start ballasts.

That's in contrast to HPS ballasts which are all pulse start.

This is an excellent lamp for veg-

Philips 232595 cdm330/u/o/4k ea

They're open fixture rated, universal burn & universal start. They put out as much light as 400w quartz MH lamps using less power & last basically twice as long. They're often available on ebay for less.
Click to expand...
Does pulse/probe start matter if I'm running a digital ballast?

Bud Green Sr. said:
your gonna need to veg a lot longer than 2 weeks if you want bushes...
Click to expand...
How long, from rooted clone? I'm an old closet grower so I always ended up overvegging. I want to cut one plant every 2 weeks, and need to stay under my 12 plant legal limit. Suggested schedule?
 
J

Jhhnn

Active member
Veteran
its.always.420 said:
If clones save you a month over seed, that puts me right on schedule.

Do these work with digital ballasts?


Does pulse/probe start matter if I'm running a digital ballast?


How long, from rooted clone? I'm an old closet grower so I always ended up overvegging. I want to cut one plant every 2 weeks, and need to stay under my 12 plant legal limit. Suggested schedule?
Click to expand...

I misunderstood your original post. Digital ballasts are pulse start. The Philips lamp I mentioned is not suitable for high freq digital ballasts. My mistake.

Be aware that the Hortilux blue & most other quartz MH lamps require enclosed fixtures for safety reasons-

https://www.topbulb.com/hortilux-blue-400w-metal-halide-grow-lamp
 
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