what's better for plants in grow, 400w hps or 250w MH?

be honest!

the question is specific but can be general, for example, 400w MH vs. 600w HPS etc.

what do you think is the value rating and proportion between more lumens and better frequency/color/kalvin?

Use the MH for vegging, early on when the babes are small you don't need the same kind of light intensity/coverage/penetration. Once you go into flowering bust out the 600 HPS, it'll have the proper light spectrum, more penetrating power and better coverage. The light spectrum of each type of bulb is stage specific meaning your veg plants will benefit more from the MH and your flowering plants will like the HPS better.

thank you, so what you're saying is that at first stages I should prefer color over lumens, since they don't need much anyway, and only when larger in size / flowering, use HPS

that does make sense
but now, my question is, how low, wattage-wise, would you go in this preference? in other words, if you say that for early veg, 400 MH better than 600 HPS, that's fine, but would you say the same if it were 600 HPS vs. 250 MH? what about a couple of 80w flourous with 6400K? would that still be better than a 600w HPS 3000K? I imagine it wouldn't. So, my question is, what is the limit? what is the optimal proportion?

of course no one has the exact answers for that, but based on some scales (like the examples I gave), perhaps we can sketch up a proportion of value for young vegetative plants, in terms of lumens vs. color

i completely understand your question and i am interested in find out the answer to, because even though its mh, would it work more efficently than a higher wattage bulb?i say go hps because thats what im useing through hps so i dont wanna feel bad but i really have no idea ill stay posted

ndzbnln said:

i completely understand your question and i am interested in find out the answer to, because even though its mh, would it work more efficently than a higher wattage bulb?i say go hps because thats what im useing through hps so i dont wanna feel bad but i really have no idea ill stay posted

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i'm using a 400w HPS right now, and i'm not so happy. then again, i wish i could say light was my biggest problem. still im thinking maybe moving to MH would speed up the vegging a bit, even though it's only 250w.

It is always better to go a whole grow with HPS than with MH. Especially if the HPS is also of higher wattage. If they are the same, it would still be better. You can grow plenty with a 400w HPS and unless your electricity is super expensive, just get the 400w and stick with it. Or if you have to, you could get a conversion bulb if your ballast won't run both (I'm not sure if there are conversion bulbs that say make a 400w ballast run a 250w light)

MH - Veg
HPS - Flower
HPS>MH - Veg and Flower

MH is perfered for vegging,,,,,,,HOWEVER i use my 400HPS with a MH conversion blub for vegging simply because it was cheaper to buy that buld then a MH ballast and bulb, and i have used a MH before, and these MH converion bulbs work just as good as a MHs

400 watt Mh = 39,000 lumes 600 watt mh = 58,000 lumes ? correct me if im wrong with the 600 watter... it depends the 400 watter will cost you about 40 bucks a month in energy as compared to a 600 watt might cost you 65 dollars a month.. I personal do a 400 watt mh with 39,000 lumes for 1 month...18/6 lights then i switch to 400 watt hps 12/12 lights

The only reason i would go to 600 watt or even 1000 watt is because it give you more Lumes... but in my case im poor broke an sick most of the time suffering from illnesses i wish i didnt have... sigh...

more watts = more growth

getting a lower wattage MH is not going to speed up your veg,

MH of the same wattage will shorten node spacing making shorter bushier plants

If you wanted to speed growth up you would run the 400HPS AND a 400MH at the same time

more watts = more growth