Best Lights for Veg Phase

Here's the deal, if you had to choose between a 400w HPS, 600w HPS or Fluorescents for the ideal vegetative phase which would it be?

One stipulation, it has to be good for seedlings, clones and mothers simultaneously.

Flo's...they have blue (necessary for veggin) colored light. HPS is red. I veg w/ CFL's and shit but really most ppl argue that Metal Halide is the best for veggin if u can control the temperature.

busey

Everything that I've read says if you can afford MH and have the space for them, take them over Floros any day.

cfl are the best in my book!! and cheper to by and run, good luck

PlasmaRadio said:

Here's the deal, if you had to choose between a 400w HPS, 600w HPS or Fluorescents for the ideal vegetative phase which would it be?

One stipulation, it has to be good for seedlings, clones and mothers simultaneously.

Click to expand...

400W HPS for me. But for seedlings and clones Fluro's are the best option as the are not too overpowering. But I imagine if you have the 400w HPS High enough it should be alright.


But to be honest for vegetative MH is the best as it emits more blue light from the spectrum which is good for the things you need. A 400W MH would be my option.

^^But hey, thats just my opinion

My take on this comes from my favorite grow guide:


"You can run

1. hps light through both stages of growth (ok).
2. mh light through both stages of growth (ok).
3. run a mh light through the veg phase of growth followed by hps light through flowering (very good).
4. run both mh and hps light through both stages of growth (best).

When grown with hps light only, the marijuana plants I grew were taller and thinner than when grown under mh only. That meant a smaller harvest. Plants grown with mh light only, tended to take longer to flower but the harvest was larger.
However, many growers I've asked said they have had better results using hps, if only given the choice of using one type of light. This is something you can experiment with yourself, if you are interested.
You can't use a standard high pressure sodium bulb in a metal halide fixture, but you can use a metal halide bulb in a high pressure sodium fixture of the same wattage."

How about a 400w with a conversion MH bulb in it?

400watt+ hortilux blue for veg and flower - maybe add a couple 100watt warm white cfls at flower time... people tend to give WAY more red than they should using HPS, but that is just my theory based on what spectrum the plant actually uses, and what the fall sun actually looks like during the day

donnieosmond said:

You can't use a standard high pressure sodium bulb in a metal halide fixture, but you can use a metal halide bulb in a high pressure sodium fixture of the same wattage."

Click to expand...

i don't think that is true, either way you need conversion bulbs unless the ballast is switchable... or not? I am just curious - I wouldn't use HPS except maybe as supplemental red on a HUGE grow

I went with the 400w with a conversion bulb. We'll know if it is any good in two months...

i wanna veg with floro tubes my next grow under a SCROG. i'm in a box now w/ CFL's. either way, blue light is best for veg. do it right and u'll get real tight buds.