600w hps vs 315 watt cmh 3x3 grow tent

Zbud94

Well-Known Member
CBD10F99-CAC2-4A6D-AAAF-9DDF48335B31.jpeg hey all about 13 days away from harvesting my fruity chronic juice and banana og. plants was vegged under a 400 watt MH for 1.5 months topped and super cropped. Plants are in 7 gallon smart pots.
I’ve been using my 600 watt hps air cooled hood in my 3x3x6 grow tent for flower. Right now they are in week 6 of flower. 75F23DE5-E18F-4BD3-AFA1-F2B0C9DDC190.jpeg


My question is would I see an increase in yield and quality if I switched to a 315 watt CMH ? Would my yields be anywhere near what I could get with a 600 watt hps ? Would quality improve?

If the 315 isn’t enough could I use a sun system diamond 630watt CMH in a 3x3 or would that be killing it ?

Thanks !! Happy growing
 

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
This isn’t exactly what you asked but I tested a 315 Phillips 3100k in an open vertical reflector in a 2.5’x 2.5’ area vs a Hortilux 600w super hps in a 3.5’x3.5’ area.

The plants grow more compact and leafier with cmh. More stretch and more bud vs leaves on hps. It’s the red to blue ratio.

The 315 did 15 oz of very frosty bud.

The 600 did 24 oz of equally frosty bud.

Some patients said the hps bud was better.

The lowers of the cmh plants did not develop as well as hps even with them trained to 30” bushes.

Lots of hype about Grow lights out there.

I do think the best buds are from the 2 combined for best results.
 

Zbud94

Well-Known Member
This isn’t exactly what you asked but I tested a 315 Phillips 3100k in an open vertical reflector in a 2.5’x 2.5’ area vs a Hortilux 600w super hps in a 3.5’x3.5’ area.

The plants grow more compact and leafier with cmh. More stretch and more bud vs leaves on hps. It’s the red to blue ratio.

The 315 did 15 oz of very frosty bud.

The 600 did 24 oz of equally frosty bud.

Some patients said the hps bud was better.

The lowers of the cmh plants did not develop as well as hps even with them trained to 30” bushes.

Lots of hype about Grow lights out there.

I do think the best buds are from the 2 combined for best results.
Hey thanks ! This does help a lot! I really like the way this grow turning out. Hoping for 12+ Oz since the fruity chronic juice is bulking up nicely but the banana og is taking her time... says an 8 week strain but thinking I’m going to let her go a full 9 weeks. The smell is definitely progressing. The filter takes care of all the smells as of now but as soon as you open that tent a fruity wave of goodness smashes you in the face !!

I’d love to hear everyone’s input on this ! Have other people had good luck with cmh or is hps still king ?? What about that hortilux 600 watt ceramic hps ? was thinking of trying that out if it would fire in my magnetic ballast ?
 

Zbud94

Well-Known Member
I've got both and use them together in a 1 metre x 1 metre and I like to start with cmh, then hps, then bang them both on after week 3 temps allowing.
So you’re rocking 915 Watts in about 10.5 square feet ?
 

Zbud94

Well-Known Member
Wow !! That’s some power ! What kind of weights have you been pulling using that setup ?
 

JDMase

Well-Known Member
Wow !! That’s some power ! What kind of weights have you been pulling using that setup ?
Still dialing it in and haven't had a decent run without too much heat. Only running 3 plants in vert atm I got between 8-12oz my last 3 runs. I'll prob start a diary again soon as I just popped some gorilla glue crosses called ruby red gorilla bubble and two autos i made myself and a black dog kush by hso
 

Ryante55

Well-Known Member
View attachment 4168251 hey all about 13 days away from harvesting my fruity chronic juice and banana og. plants was vegged under a 400 watt MH for 1.5 months topped and super cropped. Plants are in 7 gallon smart pots.
I’ve been using my 600 watt hps air cooled hood in my 3x3x6 grow tent for flower. Right now they are in week 6 of flower. View attachment 4168252


My question is would I see an increase in yield and quality if I switched to a 315 watt CMH ? Would my yields be anywhere near what I could get with a 600 watt hps ? Would quality improve?

If the 315 isn’t enough could I use a sun system diamond 630watt CMH in a 3x3 or would that be killing it ?

Thanks !! Happy growing
I ran 3 315 in a 3x9 got 2.75lb at my best 2.25 at worst I was using the nanolux 315 vertical fixtures you have to get the plants super close to yield well I was running 18 5gal airports per 3x9
 

Zbud94

Well-Known Member
I ran 3 315 in a 3x9 got 2.75lb at my best 2.25 at worst I was using the nanolux 315 vertical fixtures you have to get the plants super close to yield well I was running 18 5gal airports per 3x9
This is where I’m going to run into problems! Living in Vermont my plant count is 2 flowering 4 veg. So I’m trying to maximize my two flowering plants. I’m leaning towards a double ended 1000 watt dimmed to 750 in a 4x4. Or the 630 watt cmh.
 

Ryante55

Well-Known Member
This is where I’m going to run into problems! Living in Vermont my plant count is 2 flowering 4 veg. So I’m trying to maximize my two flowering plants. I’m leaning towards a double ended 1000 watt dimmed to 750 in a 4x4. Or the 630 watt cmh.
Oh I see if your in soil use some big ass pots like 25 gal minimum
 

churchhaze

Well-Known Member
It’s the red to blue ratio.
Any evidence to support this? I hear you making this "blue for more leaves, red for more flowers" argument a lot. I ask because i suspect the reason HPS's spectrum is superior for flowering is because of it's lower R:FR ratio. Red is actually counterproductive in that respect while amber and far-red help to lower the R:FR ratio. A higher R:FR ratio will reduce the shade avoidance effect.. This is one of the reasons why blurple spectrum is terrible for flowering and taller plants in general.

You say this definitively, but I have my doubts.
 
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MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
Any evidence to support this? I hear you making this "blue for more leaves, red for more flowers" argument a lot. I ask because i suspect the reason HPS's spectrum is superior for flowering is because of it's lower R:FR ratio. Red is actually counterproductive in that respect while amber and far-red help to lower the R:FR ratio. A higher R:FR ratio will reduce the shade avoidance effect.. This is one of the reasons why blurple spectrum is terrible for flowering and taller plants in general.

You say this definitively, but I have my doubts.

The university of Michigan is my source for spectrum and effect on plants and Utah did the full testing on the cmh315.

I don’t know the exact frequencies but they are testing individual colors.

What I see in my growroom over the last 2 years definitely confirms what I am saying as well.

However what you said about fr makes complete sense and that may be included in the red effects in testing. I do not know the answer to that.

And I should add as I was not clear. Red promotes branching and stretching rather than green leafy growth according to them. This gives larger flowers to my eyes and scale. I will have to re research the bloom aspect as I can’t remember.
 

Zbud94

Well-Known Member
The university of Michigan is my source for spectrum and effect on plants and Utah did the full testing on the cmh315.

I don’t know the exact frequencies but they are testing individual colors.

What I see in my growroom over the last 2 years definitely confirms what I am saying as well.

However what you said about fr makes complete sense and that may be included in the red effects in testing. I do not know the answer to that.

And I should add as I was not clear. Red promotes branching and stretching rather than green leafy growth according to them. This gives larger flowers to my eyes and scale. I will have to re research the bloom aspect as I can’t remember.
There are so many articles about red vs blue spectrum. Does a MH veg better than an HPS I read articles like this all the time. And I have also done tests not scientific tests but I have placed plants in my tent with the 600 watt hps and then had plants in my smaller tent with 400 watt MH. The only difference I saw was the hps has slighlty more node spacing. But also seemed to grow faster than the mH. Each had an over growth of leaf material. I can’t say wether the hps would yield more than the MH since I only flowered the hps tent. The MH tent was for my outdoor ladies. Also each tent had the same genetics but not from clone just from seed, so the plants could have attributed different traits... that’s why I can’t say it was very scientific lol
 

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
There are so many articles about red vs blue spectrum. Does a MH veg better than an HPS I read articles like this all the time. And I have also done tests not scientific tests but I have placed plants in my tent with the 600 watt hps and then had plants in my smaller tent with 400 watt MH. The only difference I saw was the hps has slighlty more node spacing. But also seemed to grow faster than the mH. Each had an over growth of leaf material. I can’t say wether the hps would yield more than the MH since I only flowered the hps tent. The MH tent was for my outdoor ladies. Also each tent had the same genetics but not from clone just from seed, so the plants could have attributed different traits... that’s why I can’t say it was very scientific lol

Before they started testing led they proved that between hps and mh hps grew faster bigger plants everytime. They concluded that for sheer speed and size the highest watts/lumens always won.



In my tests I also did 600w Hortilux Blue vs 600 super hps. The blue had closer results to the 315 cmh with less yield and fluffier buds especially lowers. But with a larger coverage area and a shorter bulb life.


I am waiting for more lamps like the new Hortilux led are available to try led. And for prices of complete fixtures to come down.
 
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Zbud94

Well-Known Member
Before they started testing led they proved that between hps and mh hps grew faster bigger plants everytime. They concluded that for sheer speed and size the highest lumens always won.



In my tests I also did 600w Hortilux Blue vs 600 super hps. The blue had closer results to the 315 cmh with less yield and fluffier buds especially lowers. But with a larger coverage area and a shorter bulb life.


I am waiting for more lamps like the new Hortilux led are available to try led. And for prices of complete fixtures to come down.
What about the hortilux ceramic hps ? Has very high red spectrum but has an 80 Cruz and looks more like daylight . I’ve read a few threads about them along with one journal but have yet to find any other information on the light. I do know growershouse sells them for 420 for the complete kit

I’m wondering if I could buy just bulb and run that in my sun system magnetic 600 watt hps ballast ?
 

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
What about the hortilux ceramic hps ? Has very high red spectrum but has an 80 Cruz and looks more like daylight . I’ve read a few threads about them along with one journal but have yet to find any other information on the light. I do know growershouse sells them for 420 for the complete kit

I’m wondering if I could buy just bulb and run that in my sun system magnetic 600 watt hps ballast ?

Funny you mention the ceramic hps. I was just trying to research it myself this morning. Hortilux is trying to get you to use their gold ballast and reflector but I don’t see any reason it won’t work fine in my blockbuster air cooled hoods run by my 600w galaxy ballasts.

I may try one next to the other good with a super hps 600.

But they are expensive and I get the super hps for $60.
 

Zbud94

Well-Known Member
Funny you mention the ceramic hps. I was just trying to research it myself this morning. Hortilux is trying to get you to use their gold ballast and reflector but I don’t see any reason it won’t work fine in my blockbuster air cooled hoods run by my 600w galaxy ballasts.

I may try one next to the other good with a super hps 600.

But they are expensive and I get the super hps for $60.
Where are you finding the ceramic hps bulbs ? I can only find the full systems like you said they want you to buy the gold series... I can’t see why the CHPS wouldn’t fire on a galaxy?
 
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