Metal Halide

[TsarBomba]

Hey all, im a noob, tho I have trolled for years and have half-assed tried to grow a few times with little avail. I seem to have a nice bagseed plant that is likely to show sex soon, my main question is: I am using a 400 watt metal halide (which kills the rinky-dink cfl's I had)... What will be the difference, when flowering, when compared to an HPS of the same wattage?

I dont have a switchable ballast, so its not an option... tho I have seen some conversion bulbs, are they worthwhile?

heres pics of the 'hopeful' candidate lol

thanks

[newb101]

yea mh is great for veg and the hps is best for flowering if using for both veg and flower the hps is recommended.. def hps is better more bluer and helps promote bigger buds! u could try the mh the whole way though and see what you come out with im sure youll still get decent results.

[KillerBudG]

I have heard both sides of this but have no exp.

Some people say a Hps will pull more yield and have denser buds.

Some say the Mh will pull almost the same/some say they tested with same strain an all and seen no difference.

Some say that a Mh will produce more crystals. I believe that the only true way is to try it and see what works for you.

Use the Mh your first go round than get a hps and use that the second time with the same strain.

But the hps lets out the reddish orange spectrum and that is what the plants are after in the flowing stage.

But you still can get a decent yield from a Mh also.
You decide if it is worth it, if its your first grow I say use the mh for now and upgrade next time round with all the info you gain.:thumbsup:


I am gonna use a Mh for flower as that is what I got right now, and I can't afford a $100 conversion bulb. But you will get bout 8k-12k more lumen from the hps conversion bulb.

I am planning on getting a 70whps security light from HD an throw it in with my 400 Mh to add light to the side my cab thats not getting the most. And to add a few more lumen wont hurt as i am at 4000/sq. foot wish i was at 5.5/sq. ft.

Hopefully you will get someone with more grow exp. than me to chime in on this. Maybe Dutch Pimp will come threw and pimp your thread with advise. Good luck tho:thumbsup::jointsmile:


~One~:rastasmoke:
~BudG~:rastasmoke::rastasmoke:

[KillerBudG]

yea mh is great for veg and the hps is best for flowering if using for both veg and flower the hps is recommended.. def hps is better more bluer and helps promote bigger buds! u could try the mh the whole way though and see what you come out with im sure youll still get decent results.

Lol No!!!:wtf: Hps is not more blue,:wtf: It is more orange and red which is why you get a lot of stretching between inter-nodes if you use it during veg.:smokin: Go read more And using the Mh the first week or two during flower will help keep stretch down more also.


~One~:rastasmoke:
~BudG~:rastasmoke::rastasmoke:

[Dutch Pimp]

Welcome to CannaCom...TsarBomba...:thumbsup:

Do you know the kelvin temp of your Metal Halide bulb?...most MH bulbs run from 6500k down to 4100K. The 'warm MH' bulb is the better all round bulb for flowering...(4100k-5000k)...:thumbsup:

The higher the kelvin temp ...the better it is for vegging...(5000k-6500k)

I would flower with a 4100k MH bulb and veg with a 5500k MH bulb...:)

Hope I didn't confuse too much?...:pimp:...a conversion bulb is the next best option...good luck...it looks nice so far...:D

[KillerBudG]

Your thread has now officially been:pimp::pimp: Pimped:pimp::pimp:.:D Good day sir an sorry I forgot to welcome you so Welcome. There is tons of useful info. on theses boards. Listen to dutch he is right with those kelvin temps.:thumbsup::jointsmile:


~One~:rastasmoke:
~BudG~:rastasmoke::rastasmoke:

[Dayzt1]

I have a 400w MH as well with a conversion bulb for flowering and can tell you that the HPS conversion bulb works well - it was about $130 though, so if you can't afford it then the MH should work too. Unfortunately I haven't tried using the regular MH bulb all the way through so I don't have anything to compare... at the end of the day though if you get the conversion bulb then you save those extra bulb hours by changing the bulb half way through your grow...

[TsarBomba]

Thank you all very much for the prompt replies :rastasmoke: and for the warm welcome:jointsmile:

I think Ill stick with the MH through budding, since it is a bagseed plant. I do however have some seedlings from some killer purple crusty I had a few weeks ago and I hope to take clones from them as soon as possible to sex. Tho thats down the road a lil bit.

Dutch Pimp, I dont remember off-hand what the kelvin temp is, but I do know that its the 'standard' GE 400w mh bulb. I can take a look when I get back from school.

Thanks again all, you guys rock and Im happy to be part of the community :rastasmoke:

[JackdaWack]

I would have stuck with the cfls for vegg and got an HPS to flower... You don't need anywhere near the amount of power in lumens during vegg. I use a 150watt 6500k cfl for vegg with 2 32wtt 4500k cfls, which is freaking amazing! And then when i switch to flower in goes my 400w hps. Really cuts down on the electric bill, plus im not wasting light, a 400wtt system for veg, in my case would be serious over kill. I always try and get the best setup that suits my needs. I would definitely try and get a better bulb to flower with tho, u need to be well below 3500k to get results worth putting all that money and effort into. Not trying to be discouraging or anything but dont expect to get decent buds without the red side of the spectrum

[VapedG13]

I use the MHs for the entire grow and I grow monster plants Cannabis Forums Message Boards - Medical Marijuana, Cannabis Club, Dispensary, News (http://boards.cannabis.com/attachments/grow-log/225667d1250830241-all-aboard-og-kush-express-008.jpg) :hippy:

[TsarBomba]

Hey Jack, I would have invested in an HPS/ballast had I gotten the same deal that I got on the MH and ballast (free). I will likely get one soon anyways, as I want to scrog and Ill need separate chambers for veg and flowering.
Actually I used 125watts of cfls to get it about halfway, then switched over to the mh when it was given to me about 2 weeks ago. I can say that I saw immediate results in new growth right after changing to the mh, but the cfls did keep the nodes pretty close together.

Hey Dutch Pimp, btw, I checked the rated kelvins on the GE datasheet, its 3200k.

thanks all:rastasmoke:

[TsarBomba]

nice buds vaped, are those g13's?

[VapedG13]

nice buds vaped, are those g13's?

Thanks Bro....No that is some of Reserva Privada's OG Kush from the Attitude seed bank Reserva Privada OG Kush Feminized (http://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/reserva-privada-seeds/reserva-privada-feminized-seeds/reserva-privada-og-kush-feminized/prod_935.html)

[Dutch Pimp]

Hey Dutch Pimp, btw, I checked the rated kelvins on the GE datasheet, its 3200k.

that should do very well for flowering..IMO...:thumbsup:

[JackdaWack]

Yeah 3200k would get the job done good! Not ideal, but pretty close, and considering it was free!!! there's no point in rushing to get something better just yet. Heck, there isnt much of a point running a HPS if u can get MH bulbs in 6500k for veg and 3200k for flower.

[MasterKushy]

If you want more red end of the spectrum you could always get those 2700K 65W CFL's from Lowes for $15 each and use them as supplemental lighting. But really I think you will get enough lumens from your HID to do just fine.

[TsarBomba]

Nice, thanks all, I will be taking periodic pics of the mysterious bagseed plant as it grows. I might look into a warm cfl for flowering, just for some extra yellows and reds. :hippy:

So, any ideas how much Indica this plant has in its genes?