I've heard the same thing about the Shishkaberry and Blackberry. I'm happy to hear you like the Blackberry as much as I do.
I am trying to solve a problem I'm now facing. I never got my 1K ballast back from dude because I found out when I visited his place that he no longer has it. After things very close to getting violent he offered me a 1K MH ballast and $50. I'm not a fan of violence anymore so I took his offer but now have a HPS bulb and a MH ballast
I don't know if I should buy another HPS ballast, use the bulb that I have and sit on the MH ballast until it sells? Or, should I try to sell my bulb and buy a HPS conversion bulb to use in the ballast I now have?
The downside to the HPS conversion bub is that they don't produce nearly the total lumens of a HPS with the conversion being in the 105-120k range and the HPS at 150k. They do claim to have a better PAR rating but that is something I have no way of testing.
Any thoughts?
There is another option I suppose which is to buy a 'warm MH' bulb that has a color temp rated at 3000 kelvin and use the MH ballast.
Here is the info on that bulb:
SunMaster Warm Deluxe Grow Lamps emit balanced light similar to a 3000 ° Kelvin source, making them ideal for all phases of plant growth while ensuring more natural growth patterns occur in most species. Its enhanced orange-red component promotes flowering, stem elongation and germination while a rich blue content assures healthy vegetative growth.
SunMaster Warm Deluxe lamps surpass all other HID sources in PAR Watts - the most objective measurement of total light energy available for photosynthesis. Available in 400 and 1000 Watt horizontal and 1100 Watt universal burning versions, these bulbs are for use in equivalent Wattage metal halide fixtures equipped with a mogul socket with positioning slot.
SunMaster measures artificial horticultural light in Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) Watts. While lumens are based on the eye sensitivity curve of human beings, PAR Watts objectively measure the total Watts of light emitted by a lamp in the spectral region that plants respond to. They account for the nutritional value of light and are a direct measure of the light energy available for photosynthesis. 105,000 lumens.