Need Help!!! MH Decision Making

Hi Guys -

I have a decision to make, and i was hoping you guys could help me choose... i am on a tight budget this month, however, i need mh lighting for my vegging...

I currently own a 4 bulb 4 foot new wave fixture (216 watt, 20000 lumens, 6500kelvins) and a 1000 watt sun system ballast system (using hortilux super hps bulb)... I plan on planting 30 plant seeds, hoping to get half females, which shouldnt be to hard of doing.

What i need help on deciding is, what should i do, get a 600 watt digital ballast and MH bulb, or a 1000 watt digital ballast with MH bulb, or just get a conversoin bulb for my 1000 hps system...??? ( By the time I need to use this, they will be in their final pot, 12 liter grodan maxi pot 3.1 gallon capacity...I 1st plant them into 4.5 inch square pots under the new wave fixture, then transplant into the maxipots)

what should i do... i need to be able to give all these plants light of theMH, so notr sure if a 600 will do.... If someones got some ideas other than mine that might help me out, please post yout thoughts....

thanks

Well since they don't make a 600w MH you'll be using a conversion bulb for the 600 any way you look at it.

I'd say go for gold, get the 1000w digi (Lumatek are good) and simply use witch ever bulb you want.

Of course if you're hurting for money than you should simply spend the money on a conversion bulb for the 1000w hps you already have.

Hope this helps.
Bob.

In veg, I can put them really close together, so I can get 25 of these maxipots into a 4 x 4 area... so I need to light a 5 x 5 area for 30 plants... crap! didnt realize this, amybe I should stick with just 25.... My license lets me grow 35 plants...

Thanks BobBong -

Will this 1000 watt MH lighting be to much for these plants to take... HOw far should i hang this reflector from my plants....

Their in 4.5 inch square pots, till their planted in the maxipots... How big should i wait for them to put them under the 1000 watt...


Or should i Just get 2 600 digital ballst, (same price as 1 1000 watt)

thanks i really aprreciate it

what are you doing with the mh flowering? and what are you trying to achieve with it. here are some charts i have that might help

No, im not flowering with the MH, I use a hortilux eye super HPS for that...

Im for an MH for vegfging my plants, instead of making them stretch in veg...

Just needed to know how far my refletor (glass lens and air vented with a 435 6" valulbrite incline fan (cheap made in china)

I transplant to maxi pots (12 liter) from my 4.5 inch square pots (using a 216 new wave fixture for these seedlings)...

Not sure if my plants can handle a 1000 watt... What do you think?

thanks for the charts man!

i smoke alot so ilike the sea of green concept. clone to flower, not to mention with indoor it seems to lose alot compared to outdoors the taller they are when i grow, tall plants arre top heavy with sparse buds on the bottom so i feel that veg time if not a mother is a waste of time i go from 5-6" inch clones and end up with about a two to three foot plant that i harvest evry 2-3 weeks on rotation when the plants are kept short you lose less light intensity

I'm confused, do you have separate vegging and flowering sites? If so, then your new wave should work for vegging. Vegging is the easy part. I have 8 T5's vegging 36 one gal pots and they reach 12" in 5 weeks. I've also vegged under a 1000mh conversion bulb. I saw no difference in veg rates. I'd stick with the flouros.

Start your flowering in the smaller pots, pull the males then place the females into the 3gal pots. They'll be ok. If you flower in a 4'x4' garden you'll be flowering with 62watts per SF which is great.

Hey Grey -

I only own 1 new wave 4 bulb 216 watt new wave fixture... I first geriminate in a rapid rooter plugs, then transplant into 4.5 squared pots, then transplant them into thier final pot, grodan maxi pots(12L)... so when I transplant them into ther maxipots, my new wave fixture does not cover 25-30 plants in the maxi pots...

So i was looking for a MH with much higher output to cover at least 5 x 5...

Unless you have some advise for me to save some money... would be much appreciated...

thanks

Or maybe I should get some 1 gallon emily pots from hydrofarm (6 inch square 7 inches deep... and transplant to here, then 1 week before I plan on flowering transplant to the maxi pots, this is just more work for me though and more stress, however, a 400 watt MH would cover 36 plants, since 36 fit into a 3ft x 3 ft...
and when there in there maxi pots, finish flowering with my 1000 watt HPS intead??

Any ideas guys..

I can afford a 1000 watt lunitek, which would more beneficial since I can use this as a HPS, so I would have 2 1000 watt HPS flowering instead of one!

so dont know. Help!

Saltypimp, for a veg lamp that will cover a 5x5 area, you want at the MINIMUM a MH400 with the BEST bulb you have get (hortilux ftw!) and a parabolic type hood, but really you can go more watts than that. If you only run 400, it won't work with a crap bulb. Try a MH1000 for biggest oomph... heck, get a switchable K if you feel lucky :D
Remember that your flower watts should be about 3x the watts that would have taken to cover your vegging plants adequately. IF you veg under a switchable K, add another k or 2 of HPS when you go to flower. Vegging under a 400 and then flowering under a pair of 600s is a very nice ratio.

stinkyattic -

ThANKS FOR THE REPLY -

Planning on getting a 1000 watt MH for this...

How close should i get my 1000 to my plants when they first get transplanted in the 12L maxi pots (transplanted form a 4.5 square inch - or maybe I should get a 6 inch aquare pots...) Im thinking a 1000 MH will to strong for my plants at this stage...

THE BULB - so the hortilux bulb is the best mh -are you referring to the "blue" bulb (6500K) or just the "metale halide" bulb... I was planning on getting the sunmaster "cool deluxe" MH (6000K)

thanks

The the really really blue one. I think the packaging actually refers to 'daylight' somewhere. Mmm blue. I recently switched from 650 total watts of MH to 400 with that bulb, and don't use the 250 lamp anymore, the light is so intense I don't need it, and can put those 250 watts to work in the flower room lol.

I'd go from 4.5" to gallon pots as your next step. Read the 'continuous canopy' sticky and the 'why i should re-pot' link in it. Top of the basic section.

To determine height, just raise the light until the back of your hand held at the canopy is warm but not uncomfortably so. You can go closer if you have an air-cooled hood (GREAT invention!).

THANK YOU STINKYATTIC - YOUR THE BEST

Anytime. Good luck.

I forgot to ask:

When initiating flowereing, should i give my plants 36 hours of complete darkness, before setting my hps to 12/12...???

Ive read that you should but do not know whats its for