First Question:
I purchased a 400-watt metal halide (MH) lamp. The salesman told me that the lamp could be used for both vegetative and flowering. However, a fellow grower told me that the MH would be a waste of time and a high pressure sodium (HPS) lamp should be used instead. What do you think?
Second Question:
In a single-light garden is it better to use an enhanced spectrum HPS lamp such as a Son Agro 430-watt bulb as opposed to a regular HPS to emit more light in the blue spectrum?
Eds Response: ( emphasis mine ) :
MH lamps contain more blue light and less red light than HPS. HPS lamps produce more total light than MH lamps and more light in the red spectrum, which is used more efficiently than blue light, powering a faster rate of photosynthesis. In addition, read light helps in flowering development.
The only reason to use an MH lamp rather than an HPS is to avoid suspicion that a weird-colored light may arouse. Using metal halide lamps in any stage of growing is a waste of time and money. More total light that is useable by the plant is produced by HPS than MH lamps, so plants grow faster using HPS lamps alone.
The plants dont need the extra blue light offered by the Son Agro. Enhanced blue light doesnt increase production. Although plants use blue light for photosynthesis, they use more red light. In rooms with mixed lights (MH and HPS), the plants between the two lights, which were receiving a mixture didnt perform quite as well as the plants directly under the HPS lamps, but yielded slightly more than those under the MH. You could see the wave effect.
The solution to the ballast problem is to replace the MH bulb with an MH-to-HPS conversion lamp. This bulb will fit into your system and is powered by the same ballast as an MH but it emits an HPS spectrum.
