HPS vs. MH

[Longscare73]

#1 - It seems that everyone has ther own opinion about what types of bulbs to use for Veg. & Flow. I prefer MH & HPS for all purposes of growing vs. CFL, Flour, and etc... I have used the MH for Veg. & HPS for flowering for all my grows but have been reading that the flowers are way more dense when using HPS for entire life cycle. I want to hear some feedback on your opinions and results if any????

#2 - Looking to get a new HPS for next entire grow cycle and torn between some bulbs. $$ is not much of an issue but I want the BEST and so far I have found only two that I like. Please let me know your opinions on the selections and if you have other favorites and why please let me know.

1st choice - 400 Watt GE Lucalox PSL/XO HPS $62
Specs: 28,500LH, 56,500 Lumens, CCT 2100K, Base Mogul
2nd choice - 400 Watt Eye Hortilux Enhanced HPS $85
Specs: 24,000LH, 55,000 Lumens, CCT2100K, Base Mogul
3rd choice - 400 Watt Enhanced HPS Light Bulb Osram Plantastar $65
Specs: 32,000LH, 55,000L, CCT2000K, Base Mogul

#3 - Does anyone know if they make a combo MH/HPS 400W system with some sort of cooling chamber? If so would like some feedback about ppl's prefences.

 

[mebesideme]

I vote t5 for veg, there are 8 lamp 4 foots that put out over 40k lumens, and you can practically sit the light barely above the plants. You can use your own combination of 3000k and 6500k lamps to achieve whatever balance you want. They don't need air cooling. They use less energy than the most comparable size of hid light which is a 400w, and i mean way less, if you compare a mag ballast hid to this fixture. Plus, they are maintenance free, can run forever without having bulbs go bad a lot, bulbs are cheap, the list goes and goes.

As for flowering, you can't beat the old hps bulb and an air cooled hood reflector. Get the biggest and most expensive you can afford to run and keep cool in your space. From what I have seen firsthand and second, once you get good at cultivating crops from indoor grows, the only ways to get better yields is better light and temp control.

My choice from your bulbs would be the hortilux, given that is all of the three I have used before. Great bulbs though.

 

[Seamaiden]

'Scribed, gotta learn this stuff for Mary!

 

[Longscare73]

You say you would use the Horti but the Horti has less lumens. Wouldn't it be the smartest decision to choose the bulb with a higher lumen output? If not please someone fill me in.

For the T5 I would use them but have limited space and have already had my set up for a while. I could convert but not sure if it would be worth the $$$. Don't have the room to expand either so I'm stuck with what I got but it rocks the house. My babies are always top notch Grade Super A++.

If anyone knows which would be the better buy and why I would appreciate the input.

 

[Love420faces]

I vote t5 for veg, there are 8 lamp 4 foots that put out over 40k lumens, and you can practically sit the light barely above the plants. You can use your own combination of 3000k and 6500k lamps to achieve whatever balance you want. They don't need air cooling. They use less energy than the most comparable size of hid light which is a 400w, and i mean way less, if you compare a mag ballast hid to this fixture. Plus, they are maintenance free, can run forever without having bulbs go bad a lot, bulbs are cheap, the list goes and goes.

As for flowering, you can't beat the old hps bulb and an air cooled hood reflector. Get the biggest and most expensive you can afford to run and keep cool in your space. From what I have seen firsthand and second, once you get good at cultivating crops from indoor grows, the only ways to get better yields is better light and temp control.

My choice from your bulbs would be the hortilux, given that is all of the three I have used before. Great bulbs though.

how wide is that 8 bulb 4'?

 

[BongJuice]

I use a 2 foot 6 bulb T5 bulb set up.
No need to cool the lights, Plus I can put the fixture inches away from the tips of the plants.
I think I only paid $150 for the fixture.

 

[Dirtyboy]

Buy any 400 hps and just put a 400mh bulb for veging and its all good.

I do that with a 1000 watter. Oh and for a few years now.

 

[Love420faces]

thank you very very much

what do you think would be sufficiant for just a mother plant im going to take clones off of???

 

[mebesideme]

how wide is that 8 bulb 4'?

right at 21"

 

[born2killspam]

Whether or not you can even get away with recklessly swapping an incorrect bulb on a ballast will depend on the ballast type, and even if it does light, it will stress the hardware.. MH and HPS ballasts create different voltages across the secondary, and HPS use an ignitor where an MH does not..

 

[Zhu]

I use 3 ge lox 150w hps like 20 bux a bulb and its 20k lumens a piece. Very good lights imo

 

[bubblegumgreen]

Hand down this one.. 2nd choice - 400 Watt Eye Hortilux Enhanced HPS

It has a mere 1500 less lumens and is a better bulb all around than the GE one.

If you used a Mh for vegging and then switched to the HPS for flowering that is preffered but if not just use the HPS all the way thru and you will be very happy. Just make sure that if you do plan to switch bulbs when you change the timer then get a ballast that can handle both a mh and hps.

Good luck to you..

 

[NoDrama]

I vote t5 for veg, there are 8 lamp 4 foots that put out over 40k lumens, and you can practically sit the light barely above the plants. You can use your own combination of 3000k and 6500k lamps to achieve whatever balance you want. They don't need air cooling. They use less energy than the most comparable size of hid light which is a 400w, and i mean way less, if you compare a mag ballast hid to this fixture. Plus, they are maintenance free, can run forever without having bulbs go bad a lot, bulbs are cheap, the list goes and goes.

As for flowering, you can't beat the old hps bulb and an air cooled hood reflector. Get the biggest and most expensive you can afford to run and keep cool in your space. From what I have seen firsthand and second, once you get good at cultivating crops from indoor grows, the only ways to get better yields is better light and temp control.

My choice from your bulbs would be the hortilux, given that is all of the three I have used before. Great bulbs though.

Tek Light T5 High Output
Fluorescent Grow Light Fixture 4ft. 8 Lamp Fixture Specifications

432 Watts

Intellivolt ballasts run on 120 208, 240 or 277V

Major brand programmed rapid start electronic ballasts

Low profile - 2½" high, sleek design, lightweight and easy to hang

95% reflective aluminum 9-bend reflector increases output by over 300%

Durable black powder-coat finish

Cool operation and does not emit heat, noise or vibration

Unique design places ballasts outside bulbs for longer fixture life

Backlit ON/OFF switch

Includes 8ft. grounded power cord

Comes standard with "V" hangers and 4 eye bolts

Dimensions: 48"L X 19"W X 2½"H
Lamps/Bulbs - INCLUDED

54 Watts, 5000 Lumens (92.59 lumens per watt)

Includes 8 - T5 4ft lamps 6500° K cool or 3000° K warm or mix lamps


As you can see you get 40,000 lumens at a cost of 432 watts, with a 400 HPS you get 55,000 lumens at a cost of 400 watts. Now I am not the greatest at math, but this does not seem to jive with the info you gave. the T5 setup doesn't use "Way Less" power, it actually uses a bit more and you get 27% less light. HPS still the king of Lighting.

 

[born2killspam]

Why do ppl resort to lumens for lighting when dealing with plants though? Lumens are a unit of visible brightness as the 'human eye' sees it.. If you compare charts of lumens/Watt vs wavelength, and PAR watts (photosynthetically active radiation per watt) then you'd see that plant & human sensitivities to wavelengths aren't even close to being comparably interchangable..

 

[NoDrama]

People use it because its easy to understand and works.

 

[gallo4]

#1 - It seems that everyone has ther own opinion about what types of bulbs to use for Veg. & Flow. I prefer MH & HPS for all purposes of growing vs. CFL, Flour, and etc... I have used the MH for Veg. & HPS for flowering for all my grows but have been reading that the flowers are way more dense when using HPS for entire life cycle. I want to hear some feedback on your opinions and results if any????

#2 - Looking to get a new HPS for next entire grow cycle and torn between some bulbs. $$ is not much of an issue but I want the BEST and so far I have found only two that I like. Please let me know your opinions on the selections and if you have other favorites and why please let me know.

1st choice - 400 Watt GE Lucalox PSL/XO HPS $62
Specs: 28,500LH, 56,500 Lumens, CCT 2100K, Base Mogul
2nd choice - 400 Watt Eye Hortilux Enhanced HPS $85
Specs: 24,000LH, 55,000 Lumens, CCT2100K, Base Mogul
3rd choice - 400 Watt Enhanced HPS Light Bulb Osram Plantastar $65
Specs: 32,000LH, 55,000L, CCT2000K, Base Mogul

#3 - Does anyone know if they make a combo MH/HPS 400W system with some sort of cooling chamber? If so would like some feedback about ppl's prefences.

i use the same set up you do.....i dont use a cooling chamber, i just open up the door and let the room vent. lotsa fans, 400w gets hot. keep em about three feet away from ur babies and youll be fine

 

[born2killspam]

400W 3 feet away? If you need to do that, then you need to work on ventilation.. They should sit about 12" abouve the plants without any special air-cooling.. At 3 feet your plants will stretch with a 400W..

Edit: Unless by 'babies' you mean fresh cuttings or seedlings..

 

[gallo4]

400W 3 feet away? If you need to do that, then you need to work on ventilation.. They should sit about 12" abouve the plants without any special air-cooling.. At 3 feet your plants will stretch with a 400W..

Edit: Unless by 'babies' you mean fresh cuttings or seedlings..

seedlings yeah.. jus startin to veg

 

[wyteberrywidow]

igot my seedlings that are starting to veg(3 weeks from germ) 18 inches from my tops they are looking good comin along with 5 leaves

 

[born2killspam]

Slowly lower it to about a foot if they're at that stage.. Do it over 2-4 days..