600w Dimmable vs. (2) 400w CMH?

So I'm planning on moving to an organic ebb & flo table, but I've hit a bump trying to decide what light system to go with.

I've had my heart set on a Quantum 600w dimmable, and I plan to run the Planet Ito schedule on 50% power for a couple weeks, then switch back to 12/12 at full power.

BUT, after doing some more reading, it would cost me the same to use my current 400w and get a second non-eballast 400 with 2 CMH bulbs. I could run one 400w on Planet Ito (which I have done before), and then run both on 12/12 (800w) through the end.

Will I get a greater output with (2) 400w CMH's or save the heat, and go with a digital 600w?

According to this website: http://www.growlightexpress.com/ceramic-metal-halide-bulbs-9/mastercolor-ceramic-metal-halide-400-watt-horizontal-79.html
many people are switching from a 1000w to (2) 400w and getting amazing results.

Ready... GO!

duh no brainer the two cmh will kick the shit out of the 600w.

the two would b alot better, but ur gunna do sum worrying on heat i think, have two bulbs it will b much hotter i think

macriv said:

duh no brainer the two cmh will kick the shit out of the 600w.

Click to expand...

I'm assuming you know this from experience?
I've read mixed things; some ppl only like CMH for vegging. I've been trying to do more research on the subject. Some say mix with CMH and a HPS.

FuZZyBUDz said:

the two would b alot better, but ur gunna do sum worrying on heat i think, have two bulbs it will b much hotter i think

Click to expand...

That's what I'm thinking too. I don't have AC either.

I may go with a 250w CMH and keep my 400w HPS going alongside. I haven't decided yet.

Thx guys

DrDank said:

I may go with a 250w CMH and keep my 400w HPS going alongside. I haven't decided yet.

Thx guys

Click to expand...

I would definitely like to see the results of that grow. What brand of CMH lamp are you using?

CMH is far superior to the old technologies (read: mh and hps). There are countless threads available for your consumption. I recommend the sticky at ICmag.com or heading over to opengrow. THe only technology that can compete with CMH (both for vegging and flowering) at the moment is LEP.

RanTyr said:

CMH is far superior to the old technologies (read: mh and hps). There are countless threads available for your consumption. I recommend the sticky at ICmag.com or heading over to opengrow. THe only technology that can compete with CMH (both for vegging and flowering) at the moment is LEP.

Click to expand...

even tho this guy has never used em or even hps fer the fact of the matter. i thought i tought u a lesson ryan!! dont talk about SHIT U DONT HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH DOOD. sure u done some reading, nOw Go BuY 1!! and use it for once so u will hav some of this sruff called....EXPERIENCE!! sorry fer being a dick but im tired of this shit.

dont dim your ballast. it will decrease your bulb life. i have a dimmable 1000w Lumatek, but i will never touch the switch. if you have the funds for more bulbs, then you can dim away..just my 2 cents.

calibuddz said:

dont dim your ballast. it will decrease your bulb life. i have a dimmable 1000w Lumatek, but i will never touch the switch. if you have the funds for more bulbs, then you can dim away..just my 2 cents.

Click to expand...

i got the 400watt digital luma tooo and i always thought there had to b sumwhere that the new age and olg age tech had to hav a ploblem, sumwhere! but with this problem b removed with a new age digital ballist bulb??? i was lookin into getting a 10k digital bulb fer late flowering, or even a 3k fer red spectrum, instead of the hps bulb i use now.

FuZZyBUDz said:

even tho this guy has never used em or even hps fer the fact of the matter. i thought i tought u a lesson ryan!! dont talk about SHIT U DONT HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH DOOD. sure u done some reading, nOw Go BuY 1!! and use it for once so u will hav some of this sruff called....EXPERIENCE!! sorry fer being a dick but im tired of this shit.

Click to expand...

Lighten up FuZZyBUDz, he was just offering his two cents. Although far from fact, there are quite a number of people who would share his opinion. And there is no shortage of people here offering opinions about things they have no experience with.

Remember this from a few weeks ago

FuZZyBUDz said:

the MH spectrum will acualy slowly kill ur plant in flowering, its recommended that u throw a MH on ur plant in the last 2 weeeks of flowering because of this, wat it will do is slowly kill ue plant and to defend its self from the HARMFUL rays it will protect itsself by building resin, aka THC. but NO u SHOULD NOT flower with a MH, im pretty sure of that dood.

Click to expand...

So chill out, its not like he said to pee directly on your plants for optimal nitrogen uptake before transplanting to kitty litter.

dingbang said:

Lighten up FuZZyBUDz, he was just offering his two cents. Although far from fact, there are quite a number of people who would share his opinion. And there is no shortage of people here offering opinions about things they have no experience with.

Remember this from a few weeks ago



So chill out, its not like he said to pee directly on your plants for optimal nitrogen uptake before transplanting to kitty litter.

Click to expand...

+rep for using his own words against him

Ok,my bad if i ofended u dood. i share the opinion too, i just beleif that if ur gunna hand out out advise u need a lil 'hands on' experience before u go shootin advice. this guy posted this thread lookin for people who hav acualy used H.I.D. and or CMHs so i dont think someone whos is using a couple cfls should speak on it as if they had used it. but i guess i was bein a jerk tho. appolagize about that.


as fer that post a few weeks ago i loked a lil deeper into it and it acualy does help build a genrous amout of resin. thats y people say that plants flowered under MH hav more resin build. and i will b tryin it in january.

Thanks guys. So after some reseach on ICmag, I'm gonna stick with my 400w, and I picked up a 250 hps for cheap, and I will run the 250 with CMH. I may run the 250 18/6 with the 400w @ 12/12 for the first couple weeks, then run both 12/12 thru flo.

Now, if i could just get my issues worked out with my ebb & flo table....

ok so here is my experience with this issue. i have two 400w in a 5ft by 2ft tent with both bulbs in their own cool tube. the tubes are attached inline and require a 640 cfm fan to cool the temps but cool they are indeed. Temps dont vary more than three degrees to a max of 78 all day at a height of 16in or so. both bulbs have been blasting my clones since they went in a week ago with almost 10000 lumens per sq ft with no shade at all. the only thing the clones have done is sprout out at every joint with healthy lush green growth. even the almost dead one is pulling a 180. They flower very well but i will admit the density is sumwhat less than the compact growth you get with the hps lights but i feel the benifit goes to the cmh for pure resin production. My last crop was dripping with tricoms and was an unkown bagseed from a bag of mids.

oh the bulbs are ceramic metal halides too