flower- hps vs mh- anyone tried both?

L

LoveIt

Well-Known Member
my plants are just over a foot tall now, and september 10th will be day 40 of veg, so i think i may switch to 12/12 at that point. they should be close to a foot and a half by then, so at that rate, i figure they'll still be a manageable size after a couple months of flowering. you can see what they look like now in the link in my sig below.

i have been searching the forums and have found some discussion about using mh instead of hps for flowering. from what people are saying, it sounds like hps will grow a larger yield, and mh will produce smaller buds, but they may have a higher potency because of the higher uvb of mh increasing thc production. some people use both bulbs simultaneously, but i am thinking about just continuing to use my 400w mh.

there seems to be no shortage of theoretical opinions from growers, but i'd love to hear from anyone who has tried both and compared in order to see what the real deal is... in particular, i have seen that cloudflyer has some nice looking stuff that's under mh.

later taters
 
natmoon

natmoon

Well-Known Member
If you have a look at my thread called crossing a triploid male,i have exclusively used a 400watt hps for veg and flowering so you will be able to get a good idea of what you can expect,unfortunately i only have a crap camera so im going to buy a magnifying glass next week for some better close up shots:blsmoke:
 
FilthyFletch

FilthyFletch

Mr I Can Do That For Half
The hps will give a bigger tighter more resinous bud. The blue mh keeps the plant veg tighter and less spaced for compact growth. I use enhnaced spectrum bulbs that have 30% blue in the hps bulb to help compact the plants but if you have only 1 or the other to use use hps.If you have an mh ballast get a conversion bulb to get hps from the mh ballast.
 
C

Chosen

Well-Known Member
Not to hi-jack but since this is a MH vs HPS thread I would like to ask a question to anyone that runs both. I have run HPS from the begining and would like to know;

How does the heat heat each produces compare ? Is one hotter than the other ?

Edit; Well I just noticed the OP, who happens to be the person I had in mind when asking the question.
 
FilthyFletch

FilthyFletch

Mr I Can Do That For Half
Both put off similar heat. I never seem to have much heat from my units maybe raises air temps 5-8 degrees but I grow in minimal 8 x 8 x 10 areas.
 
L

LoveIt

Well-Known Member
this is the bulb i have... just google searched
for some reviews and didn't find any, but it seems like this has a good amount of red spectrum light in it...







[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Now! Halide and Sodium in one super bulb! The incredible new AgroSun Gold has 49% more red spectrum than ordinary halide bulbs while maintaining super bulb brightness.AgroSun Gold provides the full spectrum of light for healthy plant growth, with more red spectrum than any other halide for increased fruiting and flowering response.[/FONT]
 
trapper

trapper

Well-Known Member
two rearchers posed as university student studying medical pot, talked to researches of phillips and one other company,the resarch showed that both lights pretty much yielded the same though out testing with hps showing a slight improvement.it was reported in a 2005 HT issue.they also reported that hps holds its intensity for a longer period of time.
 
L

LoveIt

Well-Known Member
trapper said:
two rearchers posed as university student studying medical pot, talked to researches of phillips and one other company,the resarch showed that both lights pretty much yielded the same though out testing with hps showing a slight improvement.it was reported in a 2005 HT issue.they also reported that hps holds its intensity for a longer period of time.
Click to expand...
thanks for chiming in- that's actually really cool info. so, mh vs hps yielded roughly the "same". i'm gaining confidence about using my mh light for blooming, but my question is: the same what? hps showed a slight improvement, but in what? yield? by "yield", i assume we mean SIZE of yield, not yield in terms of POTENCY of thc, which is what i'm really trying to find out here. the question is: does mh make buds STRONGER IN THC than an hps light, even though we know an hps light makes buds bigger/denser/whatever, and maybe that's the way everyone likes to do it, because that's what everyone has told them is the right thing to do... i'm talking about potency people, not "one light yields 'better' (meaning bigger/denser) than another"... a nice, big, beautiful bud is what one is often (not always) trying to grow when they SELL weed, but the psychoactive effect is certainly the fundamental thing we're ALL after when we SMOKE weed, right?

it makes sense that (on average) most people who grow for the purpose of income are interested in high yield, even if it means the potency is less strong than it could be. that's not what intrigues me... i want to know if i choose to use my mh "agrosun gold" light (which has a good amount of hps- red spectrum- light in it) for flowering, if there is anyone who has actually documented, or at least has some sort of anecdotal opinion that's based on experience, having used mh for flowering (and hps, separately), and is able to describe their findings regarding potency.
 
donnieosmond

donnieosmond

Well-Known Member
Well if people can flowers with CFLs you can CERTAINLY flower with MHs... Not the right spectrum but as long as it provides enough lumens for the space you're going to get bud. Not optimal but good enough for average growers.
 
potroast

potroast

Uses the Rollitup profile
You can flower with MH lamps, and it would be best to use the enhanced spectrum lamp, but if you have a choice, the Sodium spectrum is better for flowering, and an HPS lamp puts out more lumens/watt than Halide. Also, Halide lamps put out more heat than Sodiums.

HTH :mrgreen:
 
cloudflyer

cloudflyer

Well-Known Member
MH is blue UV light (spring), HPS is orange with very little UV light (Mimics the harvest sun) The reason I use MH is because of the UV it puts out. One of the reasons marijuana produces trichombs and THC to protect itself from UV light. But there is a sacrafice, I wont yeild as much. I added the multi spectrum bulb to increase yeild. If you go HPS with a multi spectrum you will not be getting UV light just orange and blue spectrum. Duel bulb systems are the best. The growzilla is a great duel bulb reflector. The second best option would be to get a MH multispectrum bulb. EYE Hortilux BLUE
 
donnieosmond

donnieosmond

Well-Known Member
cloud you bring up an interesting point. do you own one of those blue multispectrum MHs? They look really cool
 
cloudflyer

cloudflyer

Well-Known Member
donnieosmond said:
cloud you bring up an interesting point. do you own one of those blue multispectrum MHs? They look really cool
Click to expand...
Yes that is the bulb I use.I have always grown with MH. Because of all the hype I decided to try HPS for 2 grows a couple of years ago. Every grow I grow 1 or 2 white widows, and 1 or 2 of a strain that I want to try. Eventually I want to do some cross breeding. Anyway Those two grow cycles I did notice that my white widow had more buds on it, but it was not as strong. I have been using the same seeds from the same plant for many years now. That is when I switched back to MH. This is when I decided to go with the multispectrum bulb. I now notice more buds than I had with just the MH, at the same strength, but not as much yeild as the HPS.

SO
If you are growing for yourself I recomend either 2 bulbs (one MH and one HPS) or a MH multispectrum bulb.
If you are growing for profit, flower with HPS.
One more thing they dont make a 600w MH. I know my list on my profile says 600, I was stoned and by the time i figured it out I could not edit anymore. 600w watt bulbs are the most efficant bulbs. They do not put out as many lumins at a 1000w, but since they are much cooler they can be put closer to the plant.
 
trapper

trapper

Well-Known Member
LoveIt said:
thanks for chiming in- that's actually really cool info. so, mh vs hps yielded roughly the "same". i'm gaining confidence about using my mh light for blooming, but my question is: the same what? hps showed a slight improvement, but in what? yield? by "yield", i assume we mean SIZE of yield, not yield in terms of POTENCY of thc, which is what i'm really trying to find out here. the question is: does mh make buds STRONGER IN THC than an hps light, even though we know an hps light makes buds bigger/denser/whatever, and maybe that's the way everyone likes to do it, because that's what everyone has told them is the right thing to do... i'm talking about potency people, not "one light yields 'better' (meaning bigger/denser) than another"... a nice, big, beautiful bud is what one is often (not always) trying to grow when they SELL weed, but the psychoactive effect is certainly the fundamental thing we're ALL after when we SMOKE weed, right?

it makes sense that (on average) most people who grow for the purpose of income are interested in high yield, even if it means the potency is less strong than it could be. that's not what intrigues me... i want to know if i choose to use my mh "agrosun gold" light (which has a good amount of hps- red spectrum- light in it) for flowering, if there is anyone who has actually documented, or at least has some sort of anecdotal opinion that's based on experience, having used mh for flowering (and hps, separately), and is able to describe their findings regarding potency.
Click to expand...
yes they finished in the same time same yield,some even say that mh is best in last two weeks because of the uv light it gives off,that is also a problem when you use a tube,it shield the uv light from the plant.the article was in a 2005 high times,i will try and find the article.
 
L

LoveIt

Well-Known Member
cloudflyer said:
Yes that is the bulb I use.I have always grown with MH. Because of all the hype I decided to try HPS for 2 grows a couple of years ago. Every grow I grow 1 or 2 white widows, and 1 or 2 of a strain that I want to try. Eventually I want to do some cross breeding. Anyway Those two grow cycles I did notice that my white widow had more buds on it, but it was not as strong. I have been using the same seeds from the same plant for many years now. That is when I switched back to MH. This is when I decided to go with the multispectrum bulb. I now notice more buds than I had with just the MH, at the same strength, but not as much yeild as the HPS.

SO
If you are growing for yourself I recomend either 2 bulbs (one MH and one HPS) or a MH multispectrum bulb.
If you are growing for profit, flower with HPS.
One more thing they dont make a 600w MH. I know my list on my profile says 600, I was stoned and by the time i figured it out I could not edit anymore. 600w watt bulbs are the most efficant bulbs. They do not put out as many lumins at a 1000w, but since they are much cooler they can be put closer to the plant.
Click to expand...
awesome, thanks cloudflyer, those are exactly the kind of details i was hoping to hear about. so it sounds like my multi spectrum bulb could do well to produce more thc than an hps and more buds than just a plain mh... i was thinking of hanging some cfls around the sides to throw some more lumens on the bottom buds when i start the blooming phase. there are tiny preflowers forming everywhere- soon i'll find out which ones go to the chopping block...
 
L

LoveIt

Well-Known Member
trapper said:
yes they finished in the same time same yield,some even say that mh is best in last two weeks because of the uv light it gives off,that is also a problem when you use a tube,it shield the uv light from the plant.the article was in a 2005 high times,i will try and find the article.
Click to expand...
it would be great to see the article- please post it if you dig it up.

i have heard about the glass of hoods filtering uv light... that's a bummer.

i have also seen instructions on how to convert your bulb (not sure if mh or hps) to have it shed major amounts (unsafe to be around) uv light in order to make your plants produce way more thc. involvs removing the glass bulb and clipping some sort of thing in the guts of the light that prevented the light from shedding unsafe (by government standards, i guess) levels of uv.
 
cloudflyer

cloudflyer

Well-Known Member
LoveIt said:
awesome, thanks cloudflyer, those are exactly the kind of details i was hoping to hear about. so it sounds like my multi spectrum bulb could do well to produce more thc than an hps and more buds than just a plain mh... i was thinking of hanging some cfls around the sides to throw some more lumens on the bottom buds when i start the blooming phase. there are tiny preflowers forming everywhere- soon i'll find out which ones go to the chopping block...
Click to expand...
Just be careful not to puts the cfl's too low. You dont want direct light on the undersides of the leafs.
 
O

object16

Active Member
Use two Hps lamps and a metal halide inbetween. Especially what works well is 2 Gavita lamps, with a generic 4100k metal halide inbetween and a little higher. For example, a 3x5 foot closet grow would be illuminated with about 145,000 lumens gives 10,000 lumens per square foot, and with the walls lined by mylar, you are simulating equatorial sun conditions. The sun at the equator is right overhead and puts out a lot of blue light. The small size of the Gavita lamps allows the metal halide to supplement the grow perfectly, since the Gavita does not need an external reflector. My own personal experience with this is wonderful. You really have to watch the growing conditions such as heat, and water, as you are really blasting the plants with this regimen. If things get too hot, you might even stress them into growing hermie, in which case you can harvest some really nice female seeds in the process.

This post is for entertainment purposes only. I do not grow pot, and do not advocate breaking the law.
 
cloudflyer

cloudflyer

Well-Known Member
object16 said:
If things get too hot, you might even stress them into growing hermie, in which case you can harvest some really nice female seeds in the process.
Click to expand...
Really nice? they will most likly be hermie seeds too. Plus in nature inbreeding is almost always bad
 
L

LoveIt

Well-Known Member
cloudflyer said:
Really nice? they will most likly be hermie seeds too. Plus in nature inbreeding is almost always bad
Click to expand...
you know way more than me about this, but i thought that if a plant was a genetic hermie, that it would pass on hermie genes, however, if a normal female was stressed into forming male flowers, the seeds it would produce would still have an even chance of growing into females.
 
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