Why Do People Like Metal Halide Lamps???

oHsiN666

Well-Known Member
this is th e1st time using a Metal Halide for veg. my plants look like shit!!! the HOt5 i was using before was stacking the nodes way tighter then the MH. WHY? it is a 1000w MH. temps were good. humidity was good. grown in Roots Organic 707 Blend. they were looking kick ass then about a week or 2 before flipping them into flower they took on this ungodly, nasty, painfully looking stretch. i can not figure out why. its bugging the fuck out of me. i had 3 plants that i left under the HOt5 due to space restrictions and you can most def see that the t5 plants are way better. WAY BETTER!! its a unbelievable difference. the colors, the stacking, the bushyness. EVERYTHING!!! can anyone please explain why this is and what i could have possibly done wrong. the hood was damn near on top of them. and with the t5 i could have them almost touching the plants. i thought MH were supposed to be better, and did not necessarily need to be as close as the t5. i aslo had to clip fans aiming right at the tops of the plants. just so i could keep them a tad bit closer. running a 4x4 tent. have a 8" C.A.P. centrifugal exhaust. temps were never above 80!! mostly in the mid to high 70's. what gives? i had everything looking beautiful under the 24hr light cycle, under the t5. then at 30 days switched to 18/6 under the 1000w MH. i need answers, please. its racking my fucking brains!!!! at this point im going back to my HOt5's. getting new bulbs and possibly a 8 bulb set up for my tent. unless they make up for it in flower in a major way, i highly doubt it will be good for harvest. what is the worst that will happen at this point? i am assuming my harvest is affected. thinner stems, smaller buds. im fucking bumming hard right now!!
 

evilpyro26

Well-Known Member
Are you flowering with the MH, because if you are that's your problem. You should use a HPS for flower because flowering plants tend to like the redder spectrum. MH has a bluer spectrum and is better for vegetative growth.
 

Darwin Riddle

Well-Known Member
This happened to me, when I switched to MH mid-way through a grow...maybe it's because they are not used to the light...idk, I was wondering this myself. Did you get the light new? I got my in a trade and thought maybe it was because it needed a new bulb...which I got and also got a hps conversion bulb which screws right into the MH fixture.
 
Are you flowering with the MH, because if you are that's your problem. You should use a HPS for flower because flowering plants tend to like the redder spectrum. MH has a bluer spectrum and is better for vegetative growth.
Hahahaha i think he did flower with MH haha hes high fxxk ! lol
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Hahahaha i think he did flower with MH haha hes high fxxk ! lol
He specifically stated that this was still in veg, before flipping the time.

oHsiN, my answer to your question is "I don't know". It makes no sense to me that that should have happened. I'm stumped. cn
 

mikmike

Well-Known Member
i actually feel u, i cant switch to my T5 though because i sold my T5 and all the bulbs to get a 250w MH and hps and digital ballast. So far my plant has sprouted and has not changed in 4 days now still the ezact same size. with my T5 they would at-lest have some new leaves i still have just a a tiny little sprout
IMG_20120410_084750.jpg that was day one when i woke up and now this is it 4 days later IMG_20120411_024042.jpg
 

*BUDS

Well-Known Member
Long nodes are due to excessive heat, the cfls prob ran at about 70 so with the extra 10 deg plus thats enough to stretch.Get a cooltube on the 1000 and the nodes will tighten up and veg a lot quicker than the fluros.
 

*BUDS

Well-Known Member
i actually feel u, i cant switch to my T5 though because i sold my T5 and all the bulbs to get a 250w MH and hps and digital ballast. So far my plant has sprouted and has not changed in 4 days now still the ezact same size. with my T5 they would at-lest have some new leaves i still have just a a tiny little sprout
View attachment 2118351 that was day one when i woke up and now this is it 4 days later View attachment 2118353
If they are in a dome get them out, reduce watering and have a 18/6 light period.
 

missnu

Well-Known Member
Hahahaha i think he did flower with MH haha hes high fxxk ! lol
I have flowered plants under MH quite a few times and there is little noticeable difference in yield, but your temps are lower, and they plants end up shinier I think...so whatever you lose in yield you gain in crystals...for real...DNA Genetics Rocklock I have vegged and flowered under MH only, ended with a 2 ft tall plant that yields around 3 oz...whether with HPS, MH, or CMH...that is what I get...with different nutes and everything...right around 3 oz...of course I train it in the same manner everytime too so maybe that has something to do with it...but regardless of light used it yields the same...but the MH yields are more sparkly and get frosty earlier on...But it isn't noticeable enough of a difference to really even comment on...it isn't anything amazing...

Because any of these lights will adequately do the job regardless of what you have read on the internet or what not...
People make it sound like only blue for veg and orange for flower..or else your plants will just stop growing or something...lol. and that is just not the case...so
I know this is long but try to take this from it:

What you have read somewhere is not always necessarily totally correct...

and back on original post...

I'm thinking it is because of the change in lights, and light cycle...made them possibly think something had changed...
 

missnu

Well-Known Member
And as for vegging with a MH..I love it...and it beats T5 hands down...one of my friends uses a 4 ft to start his seedlings...he knows it won't support a large plant...what his grow in a week mine grow in a couple days...for real...no bullshit... So... the warmth from the light adds a lot to the growth rate of the plants...I mean the sun shines cold in winter when nothing much is really growing, and then bam! It gets hot and everything flourishes...T5s nor CFLs can simulate that heat...they are like sunshine in wintertime...enough to keep you going, but not enough to enjoy...
 

oHsiN666

Well-Known Member
to the dorks who think i was using it to flower you stoopid! i figured out why they stretched. with the help of informative people. and just so you peeps know, it was because i put them in the the dark period before flower a tad bit too long. it wont be a problem anyway. they didn't stretch all that much.

and yeah just for the record, you can use HPS for veg and MH to flower. it will work all it is, is a spectrum and color issue. maybe if some of you spend more time reading books instead of making fun of people on the internet you would kn ow that. seriously...
 

kpmarine

Well-Known Member
can anyone please explain why this is and what i could have possibly done wrong. the hood was damn near on top of them. and with the t5 i could have them almost touching the plants.
You have an HID damn near touching your tops, probably 90% of your issue right there. I don't grow HID, but I do know you need space. How long was your dark cycle that you put them on?
 

oHsiN666

Well-Known Member
And as for vegging with a MH..I love it...and it beats T5 hands down...one of my friends uses a 4 ft to start his seedlings...he knows it won't support a large plant...what his grow in a week mine grow in a couple days...for real...no bullshit... So... the warmth from the light adds a lot to the growth rate of the plants...I mean the sun shines cold in winter when nothing much is really growing, and then bam! It gets hot and everything flourishes...T5s nor CFLs can simulate that heat...they are like sunshine in wintertime...enough to keep you going, but not enough to enjoy...
WOW!!!! you really should leave your region and see if that works out for ya. some places already have heat.
 
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