CFL or MH which is best for vegging. ?

[cantoke]

There are people who say CFL will produce enough lumens to veg properly with good yeild and potentcy in the end. There are those that say MH is the only way to go for proper vegging and the vegging makes a difference in the yeild and potency. Then you have the people that swear by HPS from seedling to harvest.
I have been told MH is the way to go even though theres heat and power use issues.
Just wondering what people think, post your opinion, experience or comments.

 

[DubRules]

compact fluorescents work for growing, but produce huge internodes.
as long as you don't mind stretchy plants, you can use them.

 

[Dirtyboy]

Buy a hps and put a mh bulb in it. Then when its time to flower put a hps bulb in. I have done this for years.

 

[The Warlord]

If you can afford it MH is the way tio go.

 

[Green Cross]

There are people who say CFL will produce enough lumens to veg properly with good yeild and potentcy in the end. There are those that say MH is the only way to go for proper vegging and the vegging makes a difference in the yeild and potency. Then you have the people that swear by HPS from seedling to harvest.
I have been told MH is the way to go even though theres heat and power use issues.
Just wondering what people think, post your opinion, experience or comments.

That's a tough call; I'm vegging under CFL right now, but I have a MH in my closet (collecting dust).

I think it comes down to the amount of plants you have, and the height you want. If it's more than 12 plants you may want to go with MH, because you're looking at a lot of CFL bulbs to cover a large area. And MH has better penetration capabilities if you plan to veg to more than 12" tall.

I'm vegging 9 plants using 230 watts, and plant to move them to flower - under HID lighting - shortly.

 

[Green Cross]

compact fluorescents work for growing, but produce huge internodes.
as long as you don't mind stretchy plants, you can use them.

Compact floros do exactly the opposite. They produce tight inter-nodes.

HPS causes stretch

 

[The Warlord]

Compact floros do exactly the opposite. They produce tight inter-nodes.

HPS causes stretch

I was scratchin my head when I read that post thinking nuh-uh.

i veg in old aluminum bell shaped reflectors for stadium lights with a couple cfl's in the top of them. Some of my plants come out of there looking like a carpet of grass the internodes are so close together.

 

[MOBee]

Buy a hps and put a mh bulb in it. Then when its time to flower put a hps bulb in. I have done this for years.

heard it wasnt good to do this.. but u say u done that for years so i guess no problem at all?!

 

[Joe Camel]

Here are some pics that can show you a comparison.

This is 40 days under cfl lights

These are 43 days under metal Halide/

 

[maximus316]

mh for veggin will reduce stretching and hps for flowering will produce big fat buds, but i use hps all the way if you keep the lights close enough with out burning them you won't get very much stretching

 

[MOBee]

exellent comparaison, thx . clear up every question i had with cfl

 

[maximus316]

are the top flo's and bottom mh's??

 

[maximus316]

sorry didn't see the captions, my bad

 

[Joe Camel]

Yeah in my experience. MH is the way to go for Vegging.

I do use cfl's though/

Cloning
Seedlings

~~Joe~~

 

[Green Cross]

Here are some pics that can show you a comparison.

This is 40 days under cfl lights

These are 43 days under metal Halide/

Is there a reason you had the CFL's so far away? I have mine within 2 inches

 

[cantoke]

That's a tough call; I'm vegging under CFL right now, but I have a MH in my closet (collecting dust).

I think it comes down to the amount of plants you have, and the height you want. If it's more than 12 plants you may want to go with MH, because you're looking at a lot of CFL bulbs to cover a large area. And MH has better penetration capabilities if you plan to veg to more than 12" tall.

I'm vegging 9 plants using 230 watts, and plant to move them to flower - under HID lighting - shortly.

was planing to grow 12 plants in two 10 gal bubblers in growtent. was gonna grow em to 12 in. and start flowering. I have a switchable 400 MH/HPS and also 360 watt Batwing CLF ( similar to stelth hydro ) i will use the HP for flowering but cant decide to go with the MH or the CFL The CFL does generate less heat and eat less electricity but less lumens. The MH will generate more heat but put out more lumens. Heat isnt a huge issue for me as i have a cooltube, good fans and A/C piped into the grow tent. What would you use.?

 

[Joe Camel]

Is there a reason you had the CFL's so far away? I have mine within 2 inches

No I had them real close. I had the on a fixture i moved up for photos.

here it was before I switched to HID

 

[The Warlord]

was planing to grow 12 plants in two 10 gal bubblers in growtent. Was gonna grow em to 12 in. And start flowering. I have a switchable 400 mh/hps and also 360 watt batwing clf ( similar to stelth hydro ) i will use the hp for flowering but cant decide to go with the mh or the cfl the cfl does generate less heat and eat less electricity but less lumens. The mh will generate more heat but put out more lumens. Heat isnt a huge issue for me as i have a cooltube, good fans and a/c piped into the grow tent. What would you use.?

mh. ..........

 

[Green Cross]

was planing to grow 12 plants in two 10 gal bubblers in growtent. was gonna grow em to 12 in. and start flowering. I have a switchable 400 MH/HPS and also 360 watt Batwing CLF ( similar to stelth hydro ) i will use the HP for flowering but cant decide to go with the MH or the CFL The CFL does generate less heat and eat less electricity but less lumens. The MH will generate more heat but put out more lumens. Heat isnt a huge issue for me as i have a cooltube, good fans and A/C piped into the grow tent. What would you use.?

the heat thing is a factor, unless you plan to use 400watts worth of CFLs

I grew beautiful plants for years under 4' floro tubes, it's plenty of light for veg.

I use floro (CFL) 230w worth (10 bulbs)

 

[cantoke]

Yeah in my experience. MH is the way to go for Vegging.

I do use cfl's though/

Cloning
Seedlings

~~Joe~~

Thanks I think im gonna go with the MH i think it will work best for my situation