You get what you pay for?

hey everybody,

this is pretty much my first real post... anyways, i'm always looking for new ways to make things better and new equipment and nutrients and such. i would like to know what people's opinions are on hps bulbs, fluorescent lighting, and nutrients.

first off, i have much experience with standard bulbs and hortilux bulbs as well. i have to say that i havent really been able to tell much of a difference between the two, not enough to warrant the 100 price tag of a hortilux. what are everyone else's experiences with bulbs? does brand name matter? i found this generic type enhanced hps that looks ok. i feel like the 30% extra blue light is a negligable benefit at best because by the time youre into flowering your plants should be pretty much ready to go growth shoots and leaf-wise.

GROWBRIGHT 400 watt HPS BULB grow light 400w ~hortilux - (eBay item 180070882679 end time Oct-30-07 09:02:17 PDT)

next, fluorescent lighting. are t5's really that much more amazing than any other kind of fluorescent light? ive used cfl's and t8's in the past with great success. i guess basically what i want to know is, assuming all other conditions are ideal, will a t5 light produce a quicker growing more vigorous plant than a comparable t8 or or cluster of cfl's?

lastly, hopefully people are still reading this... currently i have pretty much a complete line of botanicare nutrients going. i used to use strictly guano and kelp/fish emulsions. i can definitely tell that the botanicare products work much better, but what im not sure of is all of the extra things like the sweet and the liquid karma. what nutrients does everyone else use and in your opinions what are the absolute best organic nutrients out there?

thanks!

I spent the extra $$ on the Hortilux bulb with the extra blue and did NOT notice a difference in flower. That could be because the blue is for the veg cycle. (got ripped off a little since i don't veg under HPS).

I am very happy with the Botanicare additives. Molasses at 1.5 tablespoons per gallon has given me some decent results.

I use Sunblaster florous for veg and they are fantastic. Relatively inexpesive at $32.00 cdn.

have fun and stick with it.

hey blink thanks for the reply! i dont use hps for vegging either it seems like kind of overkill. do you use the molasses along with all of the other botanicare products at the same time?

sure do.
I love the results.