MH vs. CFL question

I am new to all of this, so my apologies if the answer to my question is obvious.

I have begun growing 6 plants in a very small, but sufficient area.

My lighting needs an upgrade now that the plants are nearing 1 ft. From what I've read it seems that metal halide is preferable to compact fluorescent.

I have a 100w MH bulb, a HPS bulb and I'm not willing to spend much currently.

My question is whether it is worth purchasing a ballast for a single 100w MH bulb or would it be better to buy two higher wattage 5000K CFLs?

They appear to be near equal in cost.

p.s. I haven't looked into HPS bulbs yet. Will I need a special ballast for that bulb as well?

Well I ended up purchasing a CFL, but I still hope to get a response to my question.

CFLs if your in a small area..MH needs good ventilation. But ultimately MH is the way to go in VEG.

seanec327 said:

CFLs if your in a small area..MH needs good ventilation. But ultimately MH is the way to go in VEG.

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Then he'll need to fork out more money for flowering.

Tapehead, just buy a 600w set up and use it for vegging and flowering.

"a 600w set up"? That is too vague for me to understand.

I'm currently using a 4200 lumens 65w CFL and some low watt soft white fluorescent tube I found. With the hot summer weather, even that is causing 90+ temps. Even with more fans, MH is out of the question.

I will be purchasing another CFL. Does 5000k+ make much of a difference versus the 4200k? Should I bother using soft white while vegging?

Unless I can use my High Pressure Sodium bulb in a regular fixture, this will be my 12/12 setup as well. Hope it turns out.

Thanks for the responses.

Airwave said:

just buy a 600w set up and use it for vegging and flowering.

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Probably referring to a 600w HPS set up, as HPS can comfortably be used for veg as well as flowering.

You cant use a HPS bulb in a regular fixture. However it really would make all the difference investing in the lighting, you would see a huge improvement that would more than make its money back compared to your current lighting. At the end of the day, the more light the better.

Peace out x

600w seems excessive for my 3.5' X 3' X 14" box. I'm sure you're right about more light being better, but heat is becoming an issue.

I'll have to purchase some 2500k CFLs for flowering I guess.

or buy a 600 watt switchable that lets you use MH or HPS. if i remember correctly there 119$ (buy now price) on ebay. that may have been a 400 watt tho. in any case its fairly cheap for blub, ballist, and reflector.

Dude, a 600w HID system in that little of space is way too much light and heat. Looks like LED and CFL is your safest bet. Lots of CFL's since you're on a low budget.

CFLs are way cheaper, and fine for vegging. Your growth will be a littl e bit slower per watt, but really, what's a couple of extra days? I highly recommend HPS for flowering, or a T5 Scrog, but CFLs can still give you decent results. Aint no shame in keeping your grow simple