400 Watt Metal Halide Question

I am a first time grower growing four plants (one bag seed and three feminized white rhino) under a 400 Watt Metal Halide Lamp. The plants are still in vegetative and the tallest one is almost 7'' tall. When they are ready to flower we will be using a HPS bulb. The climate is temperature controlled at a steady 75*F and we check the pH of the soil and water daily. We are using a soiless mix in 3 gallon pots with good drainage. We are also using FloraGrow, FloraMicro, FloraBloom, Tarantula, and Piranha and a bit of molasses. We also have a homemade Co2 brew setup that seems to work well. We have a few low power fans circulating air in the spare bedroom, and a window air conditioning unit to bring in air from outside.

Now that you know my setup, my question is: Are we going to get quality buds from our White Rhino plants using the 400 Watt Metal Halide? Or would we need a 1000 Watt Bulb to get dank quality buds? Basically, does the 400Watt affect the bud in quality, or size of yield?

Thanks for any words or help. I will post some photos taken just a minute ago.

Note: The first picture is the youngest white rhino, the second is the bag seed, the third is the second biggest white rhino, and the fourth is the biggest.

It will just affect the size of yield bro. You will get twice as much bud from a 1000watter than a 400 watter, but the bud wont be better.

its all good bro. just maximize your lumens with your light. just moved mine 16" away from the light, but they say the closer the more you get. use your light for everything it gives you, but ya 1000w gives you more coverage over a greater are.

your question really doesnt make sense...you said yourself that you will flower with an HPS bulb anyways, so the only way that the MH could affect your yield would be the size and busyness that it makes the plants grow in veg. bigger wattage MH means more stout and bushy growth, which means more compact budding sites, which means more bud. however, the major determining factor in your yiled will be how much watts you flower with.

let me ask you a question, do you have two lights (hps, and mh) or one light with a switchable ballast? if you have two different lights, use them both throughout the whole grow, because the more light the better, and the plants love a mixed spectrum.

We are using a switchable ballast.

ok cool. its always smart to buy switchable. anyways, you are at about the limit (4 plants) for 400 watts. most of the time, new growers average .5 grams per watt. so your looking at roughly 5-7.5 ounces, perhaps more if you have an exceptional green thumb.

north strong & free said:

its all good bro. just maximize your lumens with your light. just moved mine 16" away from the light, but they say the closer the more you get. use your light for everything it gives you, but ya 1000w gives you more coverage over a greater are.

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i keep my 400 watter hps 8" away!

cheetah2007 said:

i keep my 400 watter hps 8" away!

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What type of lamp are you using? Our does not have any special cooling system or anything. We just use fans and A/C to cool the area. Let me know!

as i said i use 400 watter High Pressure Sodium i grow in room and the heat isn't a problem. there is one 120mm computer fan blowing between the bulb and the tops.

cheetah2007 said:

as i said i use 400 watter High Pressure Sodium i grow in room and the heat isn't a problem. there is one 120mm computer fan blowing between the bulb and the tops.

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As I said at the beginning of this thread I started. I am using my 400Watt Metal Halide for veg. Then switching the bulb to HPS for flower. If I put my MH that close to my plant tops, they would shrivel up and die. Probably just a misunderstanding of yours, but could have been fatal to my girls.

a 1000w lamp for 4 smallish plants seems a bit of overkill to me. you'll be fine with the 400w.

That's what I am thinking as well. I use nutrients when needed and co2 and we treat these better than ourselves to be honest. I think either way I will be happy with yield.

Roca, to get your light closer to the plants you need a cool tube / air cooled hood. That way the heat from your bulb is taken straight away and you can have your light REALLY close to the plants. About your potency, it should be good, you have a good strain white rhino, just take care of everything like nutes, ph, water ect and you will be great. Since you are also using co2 in your grow your yield will be alot more than usual. But since you only have 4 plants i would do some LST and a little longer veg time so you can maximize yield for each plant.

** Also watch your bagseed plant when you start flowering to make sure it is not a guy and pollenates with your white rhino ladies.

nathenking said:

It will just affect the size of yield bro. You will get twice as much bud from a 1000watter than a 400 watter, but the bud wont be better.

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This man speaks the truth.

Proph said:

Roca, to get your light closer to the plants you need a cool tube / air cooled hood. That way the heat from your bulb is taken straight away and you can have your light REALLY close to the plants. About your potency, it should be good, you have a good strain white rhino, just take care of everything like nutes, ph, water ect and you will be great. Since you are also using co2 in your grow your yield will be alot more than usual. But since you only have 4 plants i would do some LST and a little longer veg time so you can maximize yield for each plant.

** Also watch your bagseed plant when you start flowering to make sure it is not a guy and pollenates with your white rhino ladies.

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Thanks Proph, glad to see people help out and appreciate it! I am having a hard time with lowering my soil's pH, I am feeding it with water with a pH of 6.5. My light does not accommodate a cool tube that I know of (I will post pictures of the light). Also, what do you mean by do some LST? I am unsure of what that means. Thanks a lot man. Your word means much.

I keep a string on my 400w HPS with knots tied at 4 inch, 6 inch, and 10 inch marks. I try to keep the top of my plants at the 6 inch mark, I never let a single stem reach about the 4 inch mark, and the 10" mark is just to see how the spots that are out of ideal range do.

I am using a metal halide until flower. then hps

Well, not anymore. My metal halide lamp somehow started working and it is basically brand new. I had to get them under light immediately so I put them under my 400watt HPS on 18-6. Previously on 24 hour schedule with Metal Halide. Am I gonna see any problems.

roca, your light is cooltube able. I had that exact same light. All you have to do is take it apart (not really, just remove the reflector ect ect until you just get the socket and bulb. You will need a screwdriver. After that you just need to make a cool tube and slide it on in. Those lights are very simple to take apart to just the mogul / light.

Here are some DIY's for a cool tube. The biggest problem i had with mine was just figuring out how i was going to hang the light inside the glass tube but you will figure something out. You can get those glass baking pyrex tubes off ebay (they are no longer made but there are ALOT on ebay. OR you can go to hobby lobby and get that hurricane lamp glass. That is what i used.

GROWFAQ

DIY: Best Cool Tube - Grasscity.com Forums

LST - Low Stress Training.

It is basically you lean down parts of the plant (usually the taller ones) and tie it down. It does not harm the plant at all but just redirects growth, and eventually that bent over stem will continue to grow up eventually. This will increase your yield ALOT. Look through that lst link and get an idea, if you still dont get it than look up LST journals and you will see. It is REALLY easy.

Here is a LST method. I followed this and came out good.

https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/6834-how-lst-low-stress-training.html