1 bulb for veg and flower?

I have had 2 grows with cfl's and thinking about moving to hps or mh. Is ther a 1 bulb system that I can use? I would like to stay the 400-500 watt range in a 3' wide by 4' tall by 2' deep grow area. Should I use 1 hps bulb for both veg and flower or should I get a lower watt mh and a lower watt hps? I'm trying to keep down on power consumption to about $30 a month on my electric. What are my options?

check out ceramic metal halide CMH

you can get 400 watt and it is very close to the sun, there is currently no better bulb for growing, you'll agree if you do the research

well i though if u have a 400w hps setup a mh 400w bulb would fit as well or not

CMH

one bulb for veg & flower

less heat (you can hold the 250 watt)

spectrum of the sun (very close)

has UVB

cost less than hps

folks it's a no brainer

Why dont i see a lot of people using the CMH? Just buy i digital hps ballast and you can put a MH in it too.

riddleme said:

CMH

one bulb for veg & flower

less heat (you can hold the 250 watt)

spectrum of the sun (very close)

has UVB

cost less than hps

folks it's a no brainer

Click to expand...

lol, you cannot hold a 250w mh unless you really like roasted hands + it would blow the bulb by touching it.

dual spectrum bulb is what you want my friend

peace

because people are stuck on myths and folklore, thinking lumenes is what matters,
because they only come in 2 sizes 250 and 400

but in side by side grows the 250 was equal to 400 hps and the 400 did as well as 600 hps
smoke test always put the bud better under cmh

do the research you'll see it there are a couple of grow journals here using it, check em out

your right you can not hold a mh bulb but you can a CMH bulb

google it

Either get a ballast that can operate both mh or hps (400w at least...don't go any lower than that), or just get a metal halide ballast and use an HPS conversion bulb (or hps ballast and metal halide conversion bulb).

Dual arc bulbs are cool...pricey though.

They also make full spectrum metal halides (I'm not sure if this is the ceramic metal halide they keep talking about) that could be used the entire way through a grow.

riddleme said:

because people are stuck on myths and folklore, thinking lumenes is what matters,
because they only come in 2 sizes 250 and 400

but in side by side grows the 250 was equal to 400 hps and the 400 did as well as 600 hps
smoke test always put the bud better under cmh

do the research you'll see it there are a couple of grow journals here using it, check em out

Click to expand...

Or you could post links to your claims, remember you are the one trying to convince people of CMH. And as far as holding it in your hand you mean you actually own 1 and do this? Or this is what you read, because i cant even hold my 42cfl with burning my hand.

here some CMH info for you

All Growers are after that Perfect Bulb.
Each Lamp style has its benefits and Drawbacks.
CMH is literally HPS and MHP in one, with few of the Drawbacks of either

HPS Positives
some red with the Yellows
High Lumen Maintenance
Low Priced 4 basic lamps
HPS negatives
Primarily yellow/Red little Blue
Gets HOT and Throws Heat

MH & MHP Positives
some are full spd output generally Blue Range or Spiky threw-out
Lumen Maint 60-75%
MH negatives
can be spiky and some COs rate Kelvin without a spd
Gets HOT and Throws Heat threw out the Grow area.

CMH Positves
FULL SPD NICE.
Doesn't Throw Heat heat rises as well as easy to air cool
Lumen Maint 85%+
low priced vs specialty lamps

CMH Negitives.
Not many
no hot re-strike just like MH
No Digital or E Ballast (in reality no to horti eballasts any ways. all commercial MFRS are against High Freq Hz Ballasts, as they Rattle the bulbs apart.

here a 100page thread about them
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=72215

If ur gonna go with 1 bulb get the HPS. U can veg with an HPS but can't flower with a MH. Well u can but its shitty. Also if u use 1 bulb u may want to consider auto strains that way u can veg and flower in the same room at the same time and then u could have a perpetuating crop

People that flower with mh dont seem to think they are shitty, its just like using hps for veg, not ideal but will work just fine

Pull up HTG's website (High Tech Gardening). For a VERY reasonable price you can get a 600 watt digital HPS set up that is "enhanced" (ie. it still has the normal HPS characteristics, but it also has approximately a 20-30% boost in the blue end of the spectrum, which effectively makes it a MH and HPS in one!!!). Plus, if you really want to, you can run either standard MH or HPS bulbs with the same ballast/fixture. And HTG is SUPER discreet about all transactions.
Also see if there are any hydro shops in your area (I just recently discovered one less than 10 miles from my house --yippeeeee!!!!) you may want to go that route so that you can pay cash with no paper trail.

Good luck!!!!

resinraider said:

Also if u use 1 bulb u may want to consider auto strains that way u can veg and flower in the same room at the same time and then u could have a perpetuating crop

Click to expand...

That's not a bad idea at all!!!!
Do you know if feminized seeds are available in auto strains???

Mr.GreenJeans said:

That's not a bad idea at all!!!!
Do you know if feminized seeds are available in auto strains???

Click to expand...

Yes they are

i have a cmh and it is indeed very cool. The 400w is about 8-10 in from the top of my extreamly health one month old plants. and temps are only 75-77 and never get any higher. When the plants were seedlings i had the bulb that same 8 inches from them and they never once showed any sign of light stress.

I agree with resinraider. HPS does fine for all phases of growing.