HPS or MH

[coolasaurus]

Im just going to grow 2 small plants at a time. They will be flowered at 1 foot tall, so my question is:

Between the two which should i chose to work with first? A 400 watt HPS or an MH? The plants aren't going to be very large. Flowering will begin earlier than most people do.

 

[Navior]

If you can only use one light most people say you should go with HPS. I initially bought a Mh and my plants show amazing vegetative growth, but I still plan on using a HPS eventually.

 

[GlassFreak]

hps. good for flowering, (the more important part of growing weed)

 

[flex]

i would choose the HPS because the higher watt per lumen rate.

 

[Renzo]

Yeah, If you can only get one go with HPS for sure.

It's not to much more expensive though to get a ballast that can switch between HPS and MH bulbs. I would really look into it. It's a great upgrade for the price difference.

 

[CDN Kid]

yea man get a ballast to switch. if your only growing 2 small plants you should get a 150w hps/mh from somewhere. check craigslist and ebay and shit.

 

[mannurse801]

Just get a regular ballast, then you can buy and HPS conversion bulb that shines the spectrum of MH. Here is the link:
http://www.canadianwholesalehydroponics.com/products.cfm?p_id=1909&show_details=1&catpage=3

 

[bnoc450]

mh is for veg and hps for flower and veg so use an hps

 

[mannurse801]

mh is for veg and hps for flower and veg so use an hps

Yes, he can buy an HPS ballast and bulb kit. The , get the bilb mentioned in my previous post for vegging. So you will have an HPS system, with a bulb for flowering and a bulb for veggin.

 

[GlassFreak]

i think the lowest watt switchable ballist ive seen is the 400w systems, so its about 200 for the whole system including both the hps bulb and the mh convertion bulb, also comes with a timer, and if you want to upgrade to a cooled hood its cheaper with the package.(thats from htgsupply.com) or you could just get the hps for 2 plants man. if you double it or more then i would get 2 of the 150w or 250w systems if thats what you want to stick to. one of each like i said, or just save the money in the long run and get the 400w switchable.

 

[GlassFreak]

Just get a regular ballast, then you can buy and HPS conversion bulb that shines the spectrum of MH. Here is the link:
http://www.canadianwholesalehydroponics.com/products.cfm?p_id=1909&show_details=1&catpage=3

thats the kind of bulb i got with my setup, and yea i think its just a hps ballast with the convertion bulb for it. just make sure to get the hps system, that way if you can get that bulb it will work, there is no hps convertion bulb that fits into mh ballists. but like i said, 400w is the lowest watt convertion bulbs they have.

 

[coolasaurus]

Thanks im getting a 400 watt hps / ballast with an mh conversion bulb. Plants this small i dont want to skimp on light and use straight flourescent =P

 

[GlassFreak]

just make sure if they are small to get them used to the intensity of the light, have it as far away as possable for the first day or two, then slowly lower it down untill you get it at about 2 feet, at 2 feet you will get over 12,000 lumens at canopy level, at 2.25 feet you will get 10,000 lumens. after you get them used to the light and its 2 feet away, make sure it doesnt get too much closer unless you have an air cooled hood.

 

[superhighme]

since my local store only had 1 or the other I ended up picking up an MH light and have used it for my all my grows (im about 6-7 grows in). I will soon be picking up an HPS light, but either works fine for both stages, you'll just get varied results. Ive heard with HPS you get a lot more yeild. but Ive had pretty fair luck with a 600w MH veg to flower. cant imagine what will happen when I get an HPS light.

 

[silentpartner]

If you can get only one HPS. If you can, see if you can pay a little extra and get a switchable system, then all you need to do is get a MH bulb and flip a switch and turn it on. Otherwise you can always pick up a conversion bulb, but you never get as much light out of those...GL
SP