Just wanted to pitch my $0.02... i was donated a couple inducted fluorescent lamps made by Full Spectrum Solutions a couple months ago, for my grow. i was given a 200w and a 400w. i compared the 200w in cloning and veg vs a sunblaze 48 with all blue tubes, which is over twice the wattage... the sunblaze lost miserably.. i had the 400w in the tent next to a 600w hps, for comparison sake. the plants under the 400w exploded into bloom a good week and a half before any of the plants under the hps. after 3.5 weeks, the 400w was pushing 5 inch colas out of it's plants, and the 600w hps was happy to see nuglings less than an inch tall forming on its plants. i was totally stoked, until a few days ago when i went into the tent to check on things and the 400w was off... apparently dead. the date of manufacture on it indicated 04-2012, so its literally one year old. the person that donated them to me never used them - they were brand new as i got them. I called Full Spectrum Solutions and left a message, 4 days ago.. no reply yet.
based on what i have seen with these lights in my own gardening (and considering that Full Spectrum Solutions lights are "commercial", not horticultural like inda-gro lamps) i KNOW that i want to stay away from HPS (you non-believers can take my share of those), and so i went ahead and ordered a pro-420-par and a pro-200-par from inda-gro. so far, in my experience with them, i am very happy. everytime i call, they answer. if i ask for their CEO, i get him on the phone. my order was shipped literally 2.5 hours after i placed it.
aside from all that, i'm 2 years deep in a horticultural/environmental studies major. i understand what Photosynthetically Active Radiation means, and because the phosphor doping in the tubes can be tailored to specific spectrum outputs, it is obvious that these lights will soon replace HID garden lighting.
also, watch this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfiI78uN3Ks your plants want UVB light too, and your HIDs lack there as well. inda-gro lamps have it.
here's my take on Inda-Gro... Darryl used to work for Full Spectrum, but from what I can gather, is cannabis friendly and wanted to make grow lights based on what he knew from working with them so long. they wanted a distance from indoor cultivation and so declined to take the direction he suggested to them. so he left and started his own company, selling the tech he was integral in developing there. i've seen tons of videos of Darryl talking in medical cannabis gardens, even showing his lights at the 2012 socal high times cannabis cup. he is all about embracing this cannabis movement, and thats what sets them apart from most of their industry-mates.
none the less, my fedex tracking shows that my lamps will be here on tuesday, but they made it from sandiego to oregon literally overnight, so we'll see. they might be here monday -=o) once i get it all up, i'll post pics here for you to check out.
also, heres some pre-existing pics and such that i have readily available to any that wanted to look:
[video=youtube;tyh8-ZuThuU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyh8-ZuThuU[/video]
my tent with the FSS 400w on a lightrail 3.5; 5 weeks veg
here's my purple durban poison, last week while the 400w was still up, she's like 3.5 weeks into bloom here.
and heres the same plant, 5 days later than the pics above, after the 400w took a crap and now the 200w is over it alone, until the inda-gro's get here. in the 3rd pic here, look to the upper right in the background.. thats a top of my pineapple kush (also a sativa hybrid) thats been under the 600w hps only, see that skimp ass lil bud there? compare to the ones on the PDP under only inducted fluorescent.
o, also, the 2 inda-gro lamps that are shipping now... fedex shows that the 2 of them in packaging weigh a total of 38lbs. i weighed the 400w FSS lamp before putting it on the lightrail.. 45 lbs alone, and with the glass lens taken out. my expectation is that due to the high PAR output, and the light weight of the 420par, that flowering will not suffer when i put both the 420par and the 600w hps on the mover... i'll keep ya all posted.