This makes no sense ...........

[tinytoon]

I have had 5 plants under a 400w MH bulb for almost 2 weeks now and they are green as hell and have nice big, fat leaves but they dont seem to be getting taller. A few grows ago when all I had was an HPS bulb I didnt seem to notice this type of behavior so I guess my question would be does an MH bulb slow down vertical growth??? At the rate they are going I'll be retired before I can clone them lol (but really crying )

tinytoon Reviewed by tinytoon on 04-15-2009. This makes no sense ........... I have had 5 plants under a 400w MH bulb for almost 2 weeks now and they are green as hell and have nice big, fat leaves but they dont seem to be getting taller. A few grows ago when all I had was an HPS bulb I didnt seem to notice this type of behavior so I guess my question would be does an MH bulb slow down vertical growth??? At the rate they are going I'll be retired before I can clone them lol (but really crying :( ) Rating: 5

[GoldenGraham84]

well i don't think it slows growth, but i know that it forms tighter nodes. so, best case scenario, your nodes are so tight you don't notice growth. hope it all works out, tiny.

stay safe
-GG84

[sirruler]

my guess is that it depends on the type of lights you are using and its known that HPS have higher Lumens than any other bulb so maybe thats a factor too. I find HPS bulbs are generally more yellow which i find makes them grow tall as well.

[LOC NAR on probation]

MH are more blue for veg. When I use MH for veg I run my light much farther away from plant just to get a little stretch. The HPS was making them stretch to the light looking for the blue spectrum. I had the same results.

[tinytoon]

well from the sounds of it atleast it seems that I have not been smoking to much anyways lol :jointsmile:

@Loc light is aprox 24" from plants and running 18/6 and really not seen any stretch at all. will post a pic or 2 as soon as I can.

[sirruler]

i actually did a test last year with 8 clones using a 400watt HPS grolux (flowering bulb) and guess what? they all grew 'really' tall infact about 3ft tall in only a few weeks. after i began to flower them i was forever having to top them because they kept growing and growing and growing but it was all stick and few nodes.
from my little experiment i find its best to use anything that is ultra high in the blue and red spectrum and let them veg for as long as posible to keep them short and grow shed loads of more nodes. more nodes = more bud :jointsmile:
allowing them to veg just an extra week or more can really make a huge difference to the ensd result bit i top mine all the time while in veg to promote more nodes to grow while its as short as posible.

[LOC NAR on probation]

We have some in veg with MH now for alittle over 2 weeks and when I get the light 2 feet or closer they seemed to not get taller. We have the light at 3 feet and they got to about a foot tall. Now I lowered the light and they are bushing out some and not getting taller. I like to stretch them a little so the plant doesn't look like one cola. We will start to flower soon at about 18 inches and end up about 3 feet tall when finished.

They are 14 papaya with 2 hawaii x skunk x bigbud mix. They seem to be playing nice together. I like a little stretch and then bring the light down to bring out the branches. I never top, I use the light to control the hieght. We have 16 in a 4 x 4 feet area. If I went with less plants I would top and veg longer to fill the space.

[Lit Up]

i actually did a test last year with 8 clones using a 400watt HPS grolux (flowering bulb) and guess what? they all grew 'really' tall infact about 3ft tall in only a few weeks. after i began to flower them i was forever having to top them because they kept growing and growing and growing but it was all stick and few nodes.
from my little experiment i find its best to use anything that is ultra high in the blue and red spectrum and let them veg for as long as posible to keep them short and grow shed loads of more nodes. more nodes = more bud :jointsmile:
allowing them to veg just an extra week or more can really make a huge difference to the ensd result bit i top mine all the time while in veg to promote more nodes to grow while its as short as posible.

First off, what are you talking about?
Secondly, Blue spectrum for veg, red spectrum for flower. Good to have a mix of both. You knew that though except one is more favorable for each stage.
Third, MH bulbs are for veg and HPS for flower. I would only use a HPS for flowering and if I didn't have a MH bulb I would just use flouros instead of using the HPS.

Clones can typically grow faster than seedlings for obvious reasons. It didn't matter what kind of light you had, clones can and will grow about a foot a week once roots are established. Unlike a seedling that has to go through the "seedling" stage before it veg's, hence why clones are more popular. Your not the only person to do "little experiments". They market and sell these types of lights for these specific purposes for reasons ya know.

No offense, there are just too many variables in your experiment for you to be saying that HPS is better for veg when it actually isn't.

[Mr. Clandestine]

MH does keep vegging plants shorter and tighter, and whoever mentioned raising the lights is correct that it'll probably aide stretching a bit if clones are what you're shooting for.

As for using HPS for veg, while I won't say that it's any 'better' than a MH or blue-spectrum fluoros, I did use nothing but HPS for quite a while before I ever discovered conversion bulbs and switchable ballasts. I never could allow the plants to grow vertically, or they would have damn near reached the ceiling, but I did get to do a lot of experimenting with LST methods due to the extra stretching, as well as topping/FIM techniques which I believe may have improved the eventual yield.

So, all in all, HPS in veg might not be ideal (depending on what you're looking to achieve), but it works in a pinch, and in this instance, would almost certainly have assisted in cloning at such an early stage.

Just my :twocents:, for what it's worth.

[sirruler]

First off, what are you talking about?
Secondly, Blue spectrum for veg, red spectrum for flower. Good to have a mix of both. You knew that though except one is more favorable for each stage.
Third, MH bulbs are for veg and HPS for flower. I would only use a HPS for flowering and if I didn't have a MH bulb I would just use flouros instead of using the HPS.

Clones can typically grow faster than seedlings for obvious reasons. It didn't matter what kind of light you had, clones can and will grow about a foot a week once roots are established. Unlike a seedling that has to go through the "seedling" stage before it veg's, hence why clones are more popular. Your not the only person to do "little experiments". They market and sell these types of lights for these specific purposes for reasons ya know.

No offense, there are just too many variables in your experiment for you to be saying that HPS is better for veg when it actually isn't.

erm point out where i said HPS is better for veg????? cant see it, i dont see it either i said i once tried using a HPS for veg (as an experiment) and did NOT say it was best. read what people write 'before' you criticise them. of course other people have tried experimenting you wouldnt be the first either. from what you wrote about my post you seem to be on a high horse strait away with no reason, i suggest not smoking too much before reading posts because you obviously dont read them right