metal halide for flower vs cfl
- Thread starter badways
- Start date
brotherjericho
Well-Known Member
How good are you growing with CFL?
moggggys
Well-Known Member
m/h are fuckin dire , the outpoots so so , the light produced is good only for veg , there hot there........ you get the picture , being honest id use a led over a metal hal any day of the week , hps is the bad boy and your doing yourself a disservice but not spending a little on one and getting returned in kind
Turm
Active Member
If all you have to choose from is mh or cfl go with the mh. It wont yield as much as an hps but def will more than cfls. MH in flower is said to make the buds quality better than a hps, don't know first hand though.
LadyZandra
Active Member
Depends on the brand and the bulbs you use...
There ARE wide spectrum MH bulbs-- only so-so from what I have heard...
There are also single-spectrum bulbs, where you use 1 for veg, a different one for early flower and a 3rd one for the last 3-4 weeks of flower... The single spectrum's are (IMO) a waste of money.... we tried them in Veg alone, and they reduced our plants vigor and yields IMMENSELY!
We went back to CFL's for young plants and HPS for the older ones-- are switching to T5 for older ones once we have the $$$....
But HPS is FOR FLOWERING but can be used in veg if using a wide-spectrum bulb.... MH makes buds fluffy in flower.... FROM MY EXPERIENCE WITH THEM ONLY.....
Use it for veg-- or better yet- get either a dual bulb fixture that holds a HPS AND MH at the same time-- or a switchable ballast that you use for a MH in Veg-- change out the bulb to an HPS and flip the switch for 12/12... worth the extra $60!!!
But- YES- you then have to have a fan and ducting to cool the air flowing thru the hood of the light- or the room heats up and the light has to be further above the plants than optimal.... so figure that into your cost!
There ARE wide spectrum MH bulbs-- only so-so from what I have heard...
There are also single-spectrum bulbs, where you use 1 for veg, a different one for early flower and a 3rd one for the last 3-4 weeks of flower... The single spectrum's are (IMO) a waste of money.... we tried them in Veg alone, and they reduced our plants vigor and yields IMMENSELY!
We went back to CFL's for young plants and HPS for the older ones-- are switching to T5 for older ones once we have the $$$....
But HPS is FOR FLOWERING but can be used in veg if using a wide-spectrum bulb.... MH makes buds fluffy in flower.... FROM MY EXPERIENCE WITH THEM ONLY.....
Use it for veg-- or better yet- get either a dual bulb fixture that holds a HPS AND MH at the same time-- or a switchable ballast that you use for a MH in Veg-- change out the bulb to an HPS and flip the switch for 12/12... worth the extra $60!!!
But- YES- you then have to have a fan and ducting to cool the air flowing thru the hood of the light- or the room heats up and the light has to be further above the plants than optimal.... so figure that into your cost!
badways
Member
yep..... ....
badways
Member
im running cfl but i was thinking of adding a led panel to my grow...could i use the lep bulb for kmart lol???
badways
Member
Depends on the brand and the bulbs you use...
There ARE wide spectrum MH bulbs-- only so-so from what I have heard...
There are also single-spectrum bulbs, where you use 1 for veg, a different one for early flower and a 3rd one for the last 3-4 weeks of flower... The single spectrum's are (IMO) a waste of money.... we tried them in Veg alone, and they reduced our plants vigor and yields IMMENSELY!
We went back to CFL's for young plants and HPS for the older ones-- are switching to T5 for older ones once we have the $$$....
But HPS is FOR FLOWERING but can be used in veg if using a wide-spectrum bulb.... MH makes buds fluffy in flower.... FROM MY EXPERIENCE WITH THEM ONLY.....
Use it for veg-- or better yet- get either a dual bulb fixture that holds a HPS AND MH at the same time-- or a switchable ballast that you use for a MH in Veg-- change out the bulb to an HPS and flip the switch for 12/12... worth the extra $60!!!
But- YES- you then have to have a fan and ducting to cool the air flowing thru the hood of the light- or the room heats up and the light has to be further above the plants than optimal.... so figure that into your cost!
i seen a mh on craigslist for the low low... so i was thinking... IS IT WORTH IT... because if i get the same thing with clf then why switch and have a higher light bill
Kite High
Well-Known Member
get the mh setup and run this bulb in it
http://www.lighting.philips.com/pwc_li/us_en/connect/tools_literature/downloads/232595.pdf
or the mh you can get...will definitely do better than cfl
http://www.lighting.philips.com/pwc_li/us_en/connect/tools_literature/downloads/232595.pdf
or the mh you can get...will definitely do better than cfl
brotherjericho
Well-Known Member
That's your answer?
bignugdoug
Well-Known Member
Yeah i would definitely. go with the mh over cfl. use your cfl for supplementle lighting. you will get a better end result if you go HID. i don't believe. a led from k-mart is gonna do the trick.
bignugdoug
Well-Known Member
right on the money
kushhound187
Active Member
Buy a mh.
or better yet, buy a switchable, dimable ballast.
that means it runs mh, hps, abd you can make it several diferent power levels.
mine do 500w, 750w, and a 1000w. dont fuck with anything else. switching dimmies is the best way to go.
order shit from china. you can get a 1000w switchable dimmie, a aircooled hood and a bulb for 220$.
bulbs from china, 30-35$. they are the same as a hortilux bulb. but half the price cause they dont have a stupid sounding name. hortilux just sounds dumb + thier bulb are no better than a phillips or chinese shit. hids are scaled down streetlights. not that difficult to produce.
im not short on cash by anymeans, but i dont waste money on dumb names and shit.
and forget cfls. they are ok for seedlings, but metal halide is better.
Flaming Pie
Well-Known Member
I would just use CFLs for veg and HPS for flower.
If you are growing multiple large plants, I have heard good things about using Metal Halide AND High presure sodium during flowering. But that would require 2-3 lights. Kinda overkill for only 1-2 plants.
If you are growing multiple large plants, I have heard good things about using Metal Halide AND High presure sodium during flowering. But that would require 2-3 lights. Kinda overkill for only 1-2 plants.
bignugdoug
Well-Known Member
Imo i would use HID's for 1 plant. not overkill like most people would think. i believe you would get awesome results using a 400watt mh for one or two plants. i myself wouldn't use cfl just for the fact that it takes several to even get moderate results. just my 2 cents