600W HPS vs MH can I grow with this bulb

[bananahaze64]

So I just moved for the winter to a indoor grow, however I only have 1 tent in here there is 1 plant in flower (i started inside using led but the type you buy for maby indoor herbs and today my seedlings just germinated in the tent under the 600w with the other plant. The lights are on 18-6 my question is can i keep my seedlings under the hps as the plant in flower has around 7 weeks left. Do i need a mh for the veg is the difference negligible or? My plants are autoflowers. Any help would be great

 

[Red Eyed]

Make sure those seedlings are far away as they dont need that much light yet...

 

[bananahaze64]

I have it dimmed to 400 and it is maby 1.2m away from my seedling pots

 

[NukaKola]

It won’t hurt your seedlings but they might get lanky from stretching due to the HPS’s spectrum.

 

[Herb & Suds]

Metal Halide can actually be used thru an entire grow with good results
I would think HPS would cause plants to be to sparse in veg

 

[Wattzzup]

HPS is fine for veg. Not preferred but a lot of people do it. There is a thread on here somewhere about MH only grows.

 

[Star Dog]

As above they tend to stretch a bit more with hps, a sort of bridge between the two are called dual spectrum like sylvania Grolux, Philips Green power a lot of people use them throughout the grow.

I like mh for the close node spacing and I also use it until after the stretch 1st 2/3 weeks into flower.

 

[GeneBanker]

I don’t love running a bulb below it’s rating. It’s better than burning a plant. But compromising spectrum isn’t my favorite either. I’d rather find that sweet spot and work the light closer to the plant as needed.

 

[Renfro]

Metal Halide can actually be used thru an entire grow with good results
I would think HPS would cause plants to be to sparse in veg

I actually prefer to veg under HPS because I want the stretch for my style of growing. The difference is just longer internode distances. So if you are trying to keep a plant shorter then MH is the way to go.

 

[kovidkough]

I actually prefer to veg under HPS because I want the stretch for my style of growing. The difference is just longer internode distances. So if you are trying to keep a plant shorter then MH is the way to go.

agree if your goal is to trellis train perhaps some stretch isn't all that bad
although canopy management is canopy management and you could fit more smaller stout plants into your grid, its all give and take

 

[Renfro]

agree if your goal is to trellis train perhaps some stretch isn't all that bad

I like to top mine at 4 or 5 nodes, let the resulting branches get nice and long, like 3 feet or more. Then I move the plants to the flowering rooms, "press" them out under a trellis with the branches going horizontally in all directions under the trellis. Then I veg them a little longer before the flip to bust out the nodes so the resulting branches will become future colas. End up with each plant filling out a 4x4 area really well. The HPS is perfectly suited to this method. I tried MH for a bit and it just took longer to get them tall enough to move and train. Now I am running LED just because it really drops the energy usage on my veg room, the AC unit hardly has to run since the LED puts out less heat and you actually need a warmer room due to the lack of IR. I find that with 3500k spectrum I get internode distances that are between the HPS and MH. I just start the plants a little sooner to give them a little more time to get tall.

 

[bananahaze64]

Thanks for the replies guys i just have another question could this be related to the light? am noticing lots of wiered things happen to the leaves, its on 18/6 and dimmed to 400w becuase there is some seedlings in there. The leaves are mostly droopy when lights on and off, the edges of the leaves are sort of crinkly/not straight then today on a upper leave i noticed a bunch of black burn like dots. I ph my water to around 6.5 and i using bloom nutrient watering Maby every 3 days at the moment. Can anyone help me why she is starting to look sick ?

 

[Wattzzup]

Dimming your light is costing you yield. Move the seedlings off to the side as far as possible.
Ph to 6.8 for soil.

You should look into LST.

 

[Star Dog]

Have you tested the ec run off?
Instead of dimming a 600w to 400w your better to buy a 400w if you can.

 

[Wattzzup]

Or just raise the height on the 600. It’s accomplishing the same thing without buying anything.

 

[bananahaze64]

okay so put my light on 600 and some higher, but can anyone explain the spots and the leave drooping etc?

 

[Wattzzup]

The pics are kind of hard to tell. Need some better pics with more light

 

[bananahaze64]

Here you go

 

[xtsho]

Here you go

What are you growing in? Soil, ProMix, coco? And you say you're only feeding bloom nutrients. Which ones? Some are meant to be used with other parts as they don't contain everything and many are just high in phosphorus and potassium and contain little to none of the micronutrients. I'm not saying that's the case but it happens often where a grower says they're using bloom nutrients and it turns out they're actually using a bloom booster which is intended to be used in addition to a balanced nutrient regimen.

 

[bananahaze64]

What are you growing in? Soil, ProMix, coco? And you say you're only feeding bloom nutrients. Which ones? Some are meant to be used with other parts as they don't contain everything and many are just high in phosphorus and potassium and contain little to none of the micronutrients. I'm not saying that's the case but it happens often where a grower says they're using bloom nutrients and it turns out they're actually using a bloom booster which is intended to be used in addition to a balanced nutrient regimen.

Im using plagron bat mix its a premixed soil

Batmix | Organic growing with bat guano for the best smell and taste.

The main nutrient added in Batmix is bat manure (bat guano). Bat manure is naturally rich in phosphorus and potassium, guaranteeing abundant growth.

www.plagron.com

Along with there product alga bloom

Alga Bloom algae-based organic nutrient for the flowering phase.

Alga Bloom can be used in the flowering phase of a plant. The organic fertilizer ensures a healthy, firm plant and an abundant bloom.

www.plagron.com