Which is Better, 400w MH or 600w HPS During Veg. Stage

[Pay It Forward]

I have a 600 digital ballast that can run 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% power. Question, which provides better growth during veg. stage, a 400w MH bulb, or 600w HPS bulb? My hydro store guy doesn't sell a 600w MH, he said most people use a 600w HPS during veg and flower stages. Thanks for your advice.

Peace, PIF:thumbsup:

[catbuds]

MH is blue spectrum, growth. HPS is red spectrum, flowering. Higher red spectrum during veg stretches growth, making them taller.

[growdemon]

it also would really depend upon how big your space is.. An HPS would be okay. I suppose for vegging but 600w HPS bulb.. you would need it way high, probably about 4/5 ft ++ above your plants. which in turn your just wasting the light & bulb away & your plants would stretch like "catbuds" is saying. HPS bulbs arnt cheap

young seedlings & clones, like a more lower level light, they have to be sort of worked into it. depending on space size & growing conditions and how tall you want your plants to get.

the new trend now is CFL for vegging which is similar to T5's, which has been getting the same results as a MH but with less heat & cheaper bulbs.

so to answer your question.

400w MH bulb would be better for vegging from seed or clone,

however, a 400w MH could possible be too strong in the beginning. depending on space, growing condition & strain, and if your doing seeds or clones.


IMO, HPS & MH are a thing of the past, technology does advance

[Shovelhandle]

IMO, HPS & MH are a thing of the past, technology does advance

Yes technology does advance. But most model grow ops still run the high power lighting or Gavita DE or plasma lamps. LED hasn't really killed the market just yet.

[catbuds]

HPS & MH have been a thing if the past for me since the late 80's. It doesn't matter how you get the lumens up to par or the color temp (cool, or blue spectrum for growth, warm, or red spectrum for flowering) where you need it for the stage if growth you happen to be in. If you can do this without all the heat & huge electric bills, all the better. (I still have my HPS in storage). I've been a florist since the early 70's, & back in the day, house plants were a big fad & flourscent grow lights were big. For over 10 yrs I'd argued that this works for pot too. I was called crazy & the guys would say oh well, she's a girl, how would she know. Tired of arguing, I just kept it to myself after that. When I found this forum, I was flabbergasted to find so many growers doing what I've done for over 30 yrs. Why try to grow plants indoors as large as your outdoor grow? Outdoors, grow vertically if you want, indoors, grow horizontally out of necessity. Go sea of green or similar (SOG). I have my own methods of doing things that many may disagree with, & Ill be posting them in 'my camper closet grow' if your interested. Changing up a few things, but not technique. :)

[growdemon]

yea exactly, it really comes down to the needs & scale/size of what it being achieved.
But I think a lot of people just assume and think that is the only way. Induction lighting is quite interesting so is plasma if you can spring the bucks for it. I'm actually really amazed at how cheap a HPS & MH setups are these days.

especially first time growers, they want it fast and now, so their mentality is ok if I get a 1000w HPS I will get the biggest badest buds on the planet. which we have seen many recent failed attempts & also tons of problems along the way.

my suggestion to any new garden grower is to go slow.... run a test plant of some swag. if you really want to grow class AA herbs. grow some basil, oregano, tomatoes even... once you got that down. pop a few cannabis seeds
dirt is dirt
light is light
seeds are seeds
food is food

[catbuds]

I keep seeing so much 'over kill' with some of these 'younguns'. Read these forums to death, then ask questions. Don't make it harder/more expensive than it is. Its a plant, treat it as such. Keep in mind what growdemon said in post #3. & then again the last paragraph of post #6, especially if you've never grown any kind of plant before. Don't believe everything you've heard on the street. Many myths & old wives tales are debunked here. If you wonder who's advice is most reliable, check out the reps (little green bars under user name) & their profile. Its really not hard, so relax & enjoy your grow. This is a thing of pleasure & will give you a sense of accomplishment & pride. We want you to be happy with what you do & we're here to help you carry on the tradition. That gives us old heads a sense of accomplishment, & when you do well, it makes us proud! :) :) :) ~~~PEACE! ~~~

[tlranger]

Veging- fluorescent and Cfl's

[thenewgrow]

hey man if you only have this 2 type of bulbs and want to use them for veg's and flower then i would say that you should use the 400w MH bulb for veg's becors MH is like a summer day spec :), and the 600w HPS bulb is like a late summer day :) so the 600watt is perfect for flowering stage :) and the MH 400watt is perfect for veg's your plant's then run a cool tube to get the MH closer to your clones and seedlings :) they use MH in the most of the medical grow for shop's and big grow's :) becors they grow abit faster under MH then fluorescent and Cfl's. but its cheaper to run fluorescent and Cfl's that's what i do think :)

[yao847zi]

600w HPS is better depending on experience:)

[catbuds]

HPS is warm lighting, red spectrum. Aids in bud formation & trichrome production. Causes stretching, elongated stem growth. MH is cool lighting from the blue spectrum. Encourages healthy leaf growth, short stong stems & plant respiration. HPS in vegetative growth can cause long enternodes, weaker stretched stems that sometimes can't hold the bud weight, & a much taller plant that may out reach your grow areas height. You end up with much more stem & a spindly plant. If you have a choice, DON'T use any WARM light for vegetative growth.

[thenewgrow]

MH 400 watt is made for veg's so i would say MH no matter what. your hps is for flower,
and do work for veg's to but you will get more out of the MH for veg's ..

--peace--

[CaptainOrganicsCO]

Some say MH could be better for flowering. I began growing indoors fairly recently. I wanted to grow organic. I got sold on the idea of flowering under metal halide only. The reason was to produce more resin. More uva(b?) and the plant protects itself with the thick coating of resin. Sacrifice a little yield for more potency. Sounds great for a personal grow. I now run HPS and MH side by side for flower. I do wanna do a HPS only flower. It's kinda funny that's what everyone does and I've never tried it. Interested if anyone else has flowered under just MH and what they thought about it?

Back to the thread sorry... My vote between the 2 is... A no brainier... No one veg's under HPS. Catbuds explained it well above.

The important part is flower. You could veg in a window, you can veg for a day. Some folks on here are popping sativa seeds and sending them straight to flower.

MH for veg.