Starting to see more people using CMH bulbs lately. Here's another one:
https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/210479-dual-areoponic-cabinet-ceramic-metal.html
Philips Mastercolor 400w CMH is quite possibly the perfect growing bulb. If only they would offer 600w and 1000w bulbs.
Philips Mastercolor CMH > Eye Hortilux BLUE MH > Any horticultural HPS > Standard Metal Halide > LED's (at their current prices) > T5 fluorescent tubes> T8 fluorescent tubes > Standard triphosphor CFL's > GE Reveal inandescent grow lights
I'm glad to see you picked the best. Hopefully more people can be convinced to use CMH's.
Thanks Imn8r, and the rest of you folks
*I can't say enough about the spectrum these bulbs put out.
Here's a
thread devoted to CMH
I wrote:
I'm using these bulbs and having excellent results; Philips Master Color Retro White (4k). I'll put
my current grow up against any 400W HPS grow any day of the week.
I think the reason there is confusion surrounding these bulbs is because all CMH are not the same. After doing my homework on Philips CMH I found all CMH are not the same. I would not trust any other brand calling themselves CMH
Measuring light in lumen's (what humans see) is antiquated. Have you ever seen LED's rated in lumen output? Plants see red and blue, and UV mostly.
Regarding Philips Master Color Retro White (4k) CMH:
1. Puts out more red than HPS
2. Puts out more blue than MH
3. Puts out more UV than HPS/MH
4. Throws less heat...
5. Less Color Shift (less than 200k over their lifetime)
Compare the HPS (wasted spectrum = heat) to the CMH Retro White (4k). More red more UV
It's closer to the $130 eye hortilux blue MH but more red @ half the price, and runs on a HPS ballast. No need for switchable ballasts, or changing bulbs.
Next grow I'm thinking about switching to HPS in the 3rd week of flowering, just for comparison. Maybe flower production increases when the plant is starved of blue light in flower?
Warning:
NO DIGITAL BALLASTS - you will destroy the bulb. ONLY use a standard coil and core HPS ballast (don't let the name confuse you). CMH bulbs cannot handle the frequencies of digital ballasts. Of course there are exceptions to this rule as there is at least one digital ballast that is designed to work with CMH lamps. They are fairly expensive and unless you know you have one of these you don't so don't try. The Ceramic Metal Halide bulbs are positional. This means that they are designed to be EITHER horizontal or vertical (they cannot be used universally) but not both. Placing the bulb in the wrong position will cause it to fail early.
