MH then HPS or AGRO

[jimmynizzle]

I just wanted to ask a question about lighting. Ive been in the planning stages for my grow room for several months now, but i want to make sure eveythings perfect before i even bother starting.

With that said, i want to know what would be more effective as a lighting source. I have been looking around and i have seen that a MH light would provide the right spectrum for veg and a HPS would produce the correct spectrum for flowering. This will produce better buds rather than using one type of light all the way through.

However, i have also seen an AGRO bulb, which apparently delivers both eneds of the spectrum, so in turn is more cost effective than me having to buy both a MH and HPS bulb.

Let me know your views, thanks in advance.

 

[ReelFiles]

I just ordered a 430W Son Agro with enhanced blue spectrum. In m opinion that's all you need. Why spend the extra money on a MH bulb that produces less lumens?

 

[jimmynizzle]

I saw the same one, quite ironic lol
I havent looked into the specification of lumens and all that, just the uses for each of the items. If that is the case however, i will consider investing in one of these, thank you very much

 

[420 swede]

The agro bulbs arent good, i went with a 600w sonlight agro last year and i got pretty much same results as using something between a 250-400w MH & HPS, then u might aswell spend the money u'd save on buying a single bulb agro and go with a 250w mh & hps setup for probably same or cheaper price with better end result and less heat.

It doesnt mathers if it dish out allot of lumens bcuz u still need proper light spectrum which the agro lamps aren't good enough at in my opinion. Do whatever u want but i'll never buy a agro lamp again, its not even a big cost concidering if u are allrdy up in the HPS/MH 400w+ game u are probably spending allot of cash on the entire setup dealing with heat and proper nutes since u allrdy went serious about all the other stuff so why not do it 100% instead of just going cheap 80% to save like 30-40$ or something?

Feel free to argue my opinion

 

[ReelFiles]

I found my bulb for $30 new on ebay so at that price it can't hurt to try. I always say try different things and see what works for you. I believe the Hortilux 430W bulbs are supposed to be higher quality, if you don't care for the Son Agro. I will be posting my experiences with it in my journals. I should be getting all my parts within the upcoming week.

 

[jimmynizzle]

Nah i think you raise a very good point, as i said if i am going to do this, i want to do it right, better results and saves me from buying more stuff later on. This is my first grow, so im still coming to terms with what does what really. I had no idea what growth relied on out of the two (lumens or spectrum) but i will take this into consideration. More opinions are welcome

 

[420 swede]

Nah i think you raise a very good point, as i said if i am going to do this, i want to do it right, better results and saves me from buying more stuff later on. This is my first grow, so im still coming to terms with what does what really. I had no idea what growth relied on out of the two (lumens or spectrum) but i will take this into consideration. More opinions are welcome

Here u got a graph over the 400w agro spectrum (best pic i could find)


HPS:


MH(might be a fuckup one the company site, the image file says 250, so might wanna take it to concideration):



hope it puts some clarity into it. my monitor is pretty bad. The graphs was kind of blurry to me so i couldnt see all numbers properly.

What u are looking for is mainly blue light, and secondary optional = green/white/yellow, it doesnt help much but some ppl say its nice to have some overall spectrums helping out anyway, not gonna state anything i dont know for sure.

Flowering u want red mainly

Agro is not the best out of two worlds, is pretty much what u can reach in and grab on to while combining two desired spectrums that doesnt match into one unit.

 

[EdGreyfox]

Jimmy,

You can get package deals from HTG supply that include the ballast and both type of bulbs for only a few bucks more then the cost of a single bulb/ballast package, so there really isn't much reason not to get both. One thing though- you will always end up deciding you need something else, something better, etc. You'll decide to get a bigger light, or some supplemental lights, or add another area to your grow that needs it's own set up- it's always something in this game. I started off expecting to just grow 3-4 plants at time under a 400w, then things changed and my 400w couldn't cover enough area to flower all my plants so i got a 600w. Then we turned it into a perpetual grow (400w for veg, 600w for flower) and the 600w needed some flourescents to supplement it and make sure the shorter plants being rotated in got enough light. Now we're getting into doing our own cloning, and that's a whole set up of it's own (a cheap one thankfully). Everytime I think I've finally got everything set something new comes along, so don't be surprised if the same sort of thing happens to you.

 

[jimmynizzle]

Yeah im sure it will happen by the time everything arrives at my door, its happend alot even before purchase lol

The way i would cultivate would be using hydroponics, but as for systems i was very unsure, so many to choose from, but i think im tending towards the wilma pot system, just the 4 pot as my grow space isnt as big i would like it to be, but even then i had to think this through many times. Aerogarden crossed my mind a few times, simply because of some of the videos i saw, but the yields (again this is from what i saw, im not bombing whatever anyone else does using an aerogarden, if you guys are making your fair share good on you ) just didnt tickle my fancy. i read flood and drain systems work extremely well, however these were very expensive from what i remember, and although i want the best i am on a budget

so from cultivation, to lights, to nutes, to everything, changes were made until i got my final price list. Its still a little more than what i can afford right now, but ill give it a little while longer

 

[420 swede]

Yeah im sure it will happen by the time everything arrives at my door, its happend alot even before purchase lol

The way i would cultivate would be using hydroponics, but as for systems i was very unsure, so many to choose from, but i think im tending towards the wilma pot system, just the 4 pot as my grow space isnt as big i would like it to be, but even then i had to think this through many times. Aerogarden crossed my mind a few times, simply because of some of the videos i saw, but the yields (again this is from what i saw, im not bombing whatever anyone else does using an aerogarden, if you guys are making your fair share good on you ) just didnt tickle my fancy. i read flood and drain systems work extremely well, however these were very expensive from what i remember, and although i want the best i am on a budget

so from cultivation, to lights, to nutes, to everything, changes were made until i got my final price list. Its still a little more than what i can afford right now, but ill give it a little while longer

Good you are thinking it through and doing it proper, i did the mistake of mashing on a 600w electronic ballast etc without thinking about how to get rith of the heat which fucked everything up, allso it was money i could have distributed on other things to get a better overall result, after that i had to go over budget by about 300 bucks buying a otherwise unnecessary 1000w mobile AC unit which took up allot of space, made allot of work emptying its water tank and ofc using allot of power and electricity is pretty expensive in sweden right now.

I wish u the best of luck, allso i'd recommend soil if this is the first time u are growing. Its allot easier and it makes it a hell lot more fun since its allmost imposible to fuck up, imagine the disspointment if your plants die sometime along the road and u have to start all over bcuz u where/are inexperienced, im yet to explore hydroponics and ive been in the weed jungle for about 3 years now. Allso chosing soil it would save u allot of cash making u able to start growing now since it might make your setup within your current range of cash, and since soil is a waste product u can just buy a hydro setup later when u got cash without feeling you that u are throwing cash away "upgrading". Allso organic soil will give u the best top of the line in quality and lean smoke which u can't achive in hydro (me and quite many others think that way atleast).

 

[bobsgreen]

When I come up with some capital I'l be getting a two lamp hood and digital ballast to add to my setup probablt run 400w mh and 600w hps..HPS gives you more weight but supposedly mh will tighten your buds and increase resin..I hope to do my own side by side comparison to my current 1000w hps in the (somewhat distant) future. Hortilux is also supposed to have some dual arc bulbs that are hps and mh all in one(not just enhanced spectrum) but the lumen output seems low to me and from what I hear bulb life isn't as long

 

[jimmynizzle]

420 swede, thanks for all your help

The thought of using soil never really crossed my mind, i think it was the thought of faster results through hydroponics and the yield increase. i am very unsure if ill be able to use soil though, im away from home alot of the time at university, so when it comes to watering etc i dont think i will be able to be as efficiant as a system that waters itself?

Thanks guys for all the help

 

[EdGreyfox]

Jimmy,

Hydro is definately not a set and forget kind of thing, so if you're gone for several days at a time I would highly suggest you start in soil. If your nute mix or PH gets off too much in hydro in can kill your entire crop in a matter of hours, where with soil you almost always have several days to react and correct any problems before it gets critical. Also, watering isn't something you do every day anyway. During veg you will probably water no more then once every 4-5 days, and during flowering it's more like about every 3 (might go as often as every other day if they are big plants or a strain that really sucks up water), so you don't have to be there to check them every day like you do with hydro. As long as your light timers are working and you don't let them get too dried out they should recover even if you do let them go an extra day or two between waterings. You also need to think about dealing with common pests (spider mites where I live). You are going to want to give your plants some sort of a preventative treatment every 7-10 days depending on what you use, and it's important enough that you can't afford to forget to do it or put it off for an extra week.

 

[MeJuana]

Just hang an HPS and MH light up in there that is what I did

 

[420 swede]

420 swede, thanks for all your help

The thought of using soil never really crossed my mind, i think it was the thought of faster results through hydroponics and the yield increase. i am very unsure if ill be able to use soil though, im away from home alot of the time at university, so when it comes to watering etc i dont think i will be able to be as efficiant as a system that waters itself?

Thanks guys for all the help

Soil is allot more forgiving to neglect then hydro, allso u wont have stuff like algea cleaning, maintenance or risking pump break down. If your hydro system breakes down during light time the entire crop is dead within 3-6 hours or so, depending on the system. Allso u can leave soil for allot longer time. A friend of mine used to soak all his plants and go away for 4-5 days without a problem, and thats without a drip system. This u probably couldnt do with a retail hydro system set, and if u can due to the water would make it without refilling the plants can still die from ph/ec value change. Allso u don't have to worry about nutes as much, u can buy nuted soil, add a slow releasing soil tab, pee in a bottle and fill up the rest with 9/10 water and fert it with pee during vegg stage. Ofc top of the line nutes is always to recomend but it doesnt have to be so boring and serious going with soil, u will always have a fun result =)

A list of reasons why hydro is "bad" for you:

*The yield and effeciency diference isn't big, in fact quite small and soil organics is better quality.

*More power consuming (its true, soil doesnt use any electricity !!!!)

*All systems buzz and making "water sounds" which isn't the normal thing u'd be expecting to hear from a closet

*Its expensive

*Its harder

*Many first time growers get caught by ppl close to them and they might threat u with cutting contact or "empty threat" go to the cops if u dont get rith of it, then u have invested allot of money in something that aint gonna be used for a while.( this mainly goes to younger ppl who are still depending on their family in some way or just have family close but them being intolerant of MJ using or the risk of getting busted and inprisoned, short said caring ppl around you)


With this said hydro isn't bad, its rly good but its not good for you or any first timer. Growing should be fun and edjucating, to make sure its gonna be all that u start with soil, the original.

edit:

A short list of the only benefits i can see with hydro:

*No waste product to get rith off

*A bit more yield

*less "messy", but then again..i like getting my hands dirty ^^

 

[jimmynizzle]

lol after alot of consideration, ive actually changed my entire set up and will now be using soil instead of hydroponics. i guess there are pros and cons for both, but for now since you guys have suggested i start with soil, ill take your word for it! no point jumping in head first when ive got good experience on hand here. thanks alot guys, my total costs has litrelly halved. im now searching the forum for a good guide on soil growing, although i have seen quite a few videos online. thanks again

 

[cutman]

i did a side by side test on the to hps, and m/l both were 400wtt. with the plants the same. and now im flowering with those same lights just to see if there was a differnts. take a look and make up your own minds. but it there for all to see.

 

[cutman]

it starts on pg 6 i believe and goes through till i have to move them but you can see the diff... between plants

 

[420 swede]

I'm glad u changed your mind...even if we are probably a atalantic sea across and some states in distance i wish u the best of luck, if u need any more help u can just send me a PM.

either way here is a shopping list of mine for starting my first own homegrown solo: ,.hope it might lead to some inspiration, in my eyes its totally complete except for buildinng materials for my stealth box which isnt that much in total (about 30£ in total), its all from hydroponics.eu (thinking about buying a 125mm channel fan + speed regulater for later but i think its not needed right now = 200£ for 125mm channel fan, speed regulator and mounting stuff for the fan)

btw, since u wont be spending cash on hydro u should buy the best soil avalible, even some brand soil online is worth the trouble, it probably wont be more expensive compared to the the local "flower shop", if u can get some decent soil mix from where u buy the rest of your stuff u should buy it..get good soil mixed with perlite, vemaculite and leca/clay pellets. get good, big buckets so u won't risk going rootbound, 25 litres buckets will give u big, good ol' bushes but if u are limited on space u can go with small high quality grow pots and just vegg them for a short time and then turn them into flowering... myself i let them stay im vegg for about 2-4 weeks after they stick up from the soil in vegg time and then go flowering since i'm a bit low on space in height. No mather what soil u are buying or mixing ot should be at least 50-60% soil....rest perlite, vermaculite and leca. in a decent mix for optimum results.

If u are u dont want them high u can look into techniques like fimming or LST...which give u bigger yelds but at a litle longer vegg time then normal but it will fit into your grow area. It will will just slow your crop down for a week or two and its probably worth it unless u are growing a sensitive strain to fimming and it might give u hermies due to the stress of cutting it.

 

[Nicolantonio]

guys i need some pro advice... and please dont hate... i bought a SONLIGHT Digital Ballast 4D (Dimmer 250 / 400 / 600W / SL) and AGRO 600W Sonlight for veg and flowering... im planning on planting 5 babies.... is that good? or too much ? how much could i excpect to yield? im using nutrients too