Let's just talk about BULBS!

Real good thread here. A lot of great information. I even bookmarked many of the links everyone provided.

400W HPS, I have used cheapie bulbs with no problems or complaints. I have been using 400W HPS for about 13 years.

600W HPS, I am still working on some comparisons. Not much experience with those yet, but I am liking what I have seen so far.

1000W HPS, I started off using Sunmaster bulbs, two of my strains will not taste right after growing under them no matter what. I switched to an Agrosun Super Red Sodium, it helped with one of the strains but the other still does not like it, will not come out right period. My 4-G strain from bag seed that I have been growing for 8 years. If I have to, I will stop using the 1000W lights to keep this strain at its best quality. I am giving it my last try with a dual arc bulb. I just put one in a few days ago. The color is beautiful. I can't wait to see the final results. If that does not help, I will just convert my 2000W closet into an 1800W closet using three 600W HPS.

I don't have a preference yet for 1000 watters, still working on that one. I have had great success with all of my other strains using the 1000W lights, it is just that one that does not react well to them.

I do have my preference for veg lights. The spectrum of these lamps is like no other fluorescent that I have seen. I have compared them in veg to MH, HPS, and regular fluorescent lamps and nothing compared. These lamps have a spectrum very similar to HID lighting, a very jagged spectrum instead of a smooth spectrum like regular fluorescent lamps. I am very disappointed, they stopped manufacturing my favorite lights. Not sure if it is because they have been banned or just a decision to stop making them, either way, it sucks! Luckily I stocked up on a few before they stopped manufacturing them. Now, don't shit your pants when you see the price per bulb!! I have worked with electrical and lighting most of my life and had access to many catalogs and information on commercial lighting supplies. Before it became legal here in MI to grow, I always purchased commercial lighting supplies. Sometimes I would have to do some customizing to accommodate my needs. In commercial lighting there is a lot of equipment that is not available from your typical grow shop and in some cases, better than what you can get at a typical grow shop. Just one example: three of my 400W HPS lights were originally outdoor lighting wall packs. I converted them to be used in the grow room. After 13 years of using them, never once has there been a bulb or ballast failure. Compared to HydroFarms PowerHouse 8 year warranty ballast, well there is no comparison on quality. I have already gone through two failed HydroFarms PowerHouse ballast. They do honor their warranty, which is great. I did learn the hard way to have a back up ballast on hand!

http://www.drillspot.com/products/343182/ge__f96t12_spx30_ho_linear_fluorescent_lamp_pack_of_15

I've started my LED panel build

Jealous ^


Have u heard of Shelby township?

I sure have.

I understand there is a Michigan led company called rhino grow in Shelby twnshp ...familiar with?

Old thread with some interesting info....

https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/355137-think-your-bulb-doesnt-matter.html

Huel Perkins said:

Old thread with some interesting info....

https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/355137-think-your-bulb-doesnt-matter.html

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I won't continue to beat this dead horse, but bulbs do matter (as the thread you linked makes clear). The extra $50 spent on a good bulb is made back 100x in increased yield over the life of the bulb. People think they are saving money by buying a cheap bulb, when in fact they are actually losing thousands of dollars in lost yield instead. Aside from genetics, it's the most important item in any garden imo.

Just got a ushio 600 watt HPS to MH conversion and she is bright to the eye and if the box is right its got the spectrum I want in spades. plants like it too. I'm pretty happy with all the conversion bulbs I have used though, I dare say they work better than a MH in a MH balast.

Stow I don't usually disagree with you but this time I do. As far as HPS bulbs are concerned. I don't care about that thread, I've done a side by side, like I said, Brand new Ushio vs 4th grow China bulb.

The Ushio was definitely built better but there wasn't any big difference in yield between the two. If I owned a bulb company like Hortilux I'm sure I would make sure there was threads on here like that too though.


Maybe Ushio bulbs aren't really what they claim to be too? Or maybe I suck at growing, but even then the Ushio side should've still been better and I don't suck at growing lol.

stumpjumper said:

Stow I don't usually disagree with you but this time I do. As far as HPS bulbs are concerned. I don't care about that thread, I've done a side by side, like I said, Brand new Ushio vs 4th grow China bulb.

The Ushio was definitely built better but there wasn't any big difference in yield between the two. If I owned a bulb company like Hortilux I'm sure I would make sure there was threads on here like that too though.


Maybe Ushio bulbs aren't really what they claim to be too? Or maybe I suck at growing, but even then the Ushio side should've still been better and I don't suck at growing lol.

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I respect your opinion stump. I'm not sure that thread was completely legit either. The differences a bulb can make would more realistically be measured in grams, not ounces. But even if a higher end bulb got you 4-5 grams per plant more, that ends up being a lot of weight over the life of the bulb. I feel the same about genetics. People complain about paying $150 for a pack of seeds, but if you extrapolate out how much more money you could earn from those genetics as opposed to some cheaper weak sauce, the $150 initial nut looks like a pretty good investment in the end.

Either way, the pics you've posted proves that whatever bulb you're using you are obviously doing something right. Each to their own.

Corso312 said:

I understand there is a Michigan led company called rhino grow in Shelby twnshp ...familiar with?

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Not familiar with them, Corso

I was actually disappointed, I thought the Ushio was going to be a great investment and make a big difference.

I ran Hortilux for a year and found that there lumen deprciation is insane and then started running Digital Plus bulbs from HTG and after 1 year my 600 watt DP is still putting out 89000 lumens.

Verdict in on BadAss bulbs, they suck. I wondered if it was cooler temps but the room is now well insulated and hasn't had cool temps in a long time and the yields are still not what they were! Going hortilux shopping soon! I bet my yield go up 25% within a month of putting some new bulbs in! It went down that much when I put the BadAss's in.

Oh... I started running my first 10-12 days under a Hortilux Blue, and finishing the last 10-14 days under a 10k sunpulse. The only thing I feel the sunpulse added was a little sweetness (my OG taste a little sweeter (not a fan) and my chem Valley tasted more like OG (good thing). I didn't notice any real considerable change in anything else. I will switch back to Hortilux when done with this bulb to.

I may try running the Hortilux Blue's and Hortilux HPS in a checker board pattern?

If you like the hortilux 1000W lamps, you're gonna love the Gavita fixtures with the Philips double ended lamp. Ppf is 2100 umol s-1 compared to less than 1800 umol s-1 for the Hortilux, which is by the way the best single ended US lamp we tested in the Ulbricht sphere. That's 15% more light. Both in an open reflector of course. In a air cooled reflector that would be more than 20% difference if I assume very low filter losses and a reflector that is as efficient as the HR96...

Hortilux recommends to change the lamps a bit sooner than Gavita does. After a year of use, the Philips double ended lamp still outputs much more than a new Hortilux lamp - it has more than 96% light maintenance over 5000 hours of use.

Do the math boys and girls

I'm a Hortilux fan but, you may want to checkout solis tek MH in 4K and 6K and HPS. I didnt have a lot time but they mention the bulb emits UVA/UVB to what extent I dont know. I also talked to the Asst. Manager at SGS in Livonia,Mi and he was trying to get the Solis Tek bulbs stocked. They arent cheap, but if they are as good as the hortilux I may switch they are less then the hortilux.

whazzup said:

If you like the hortilux 1000W lamps, you're gonna love the Gavita fixtures with the Philips double ended lamp. Ppf is 2100 umol s-1 compared to less than 1800 umol s-1 for the Hortilux, which is by the way the best single ended US lamp we tested in the Ulbricht sphere. That's 15% more light. Both in an open reflector of course. In a air cooled reflector that would be more than 20% difference if I assume very low filter losses and a reflector that is as efficient as the HR96...

Hortilux recommends to change the lamps a bit sooner than Gavita does. After a year of use, the Philips double ended lamp still outputs much more than a new Hortilux lamp - it has more than 96% light maintenance over 5000 hours of use.

Do the math boys and girls

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Belle went to St Ignace yesterday. She stopped and checked out a new grow shop there. They came back talking about
this amazing light that was there. Salesman has her convinced it's much better than using Raptor hoods w/hortilux 1000w
hps. Said the hood didn't look great, but it used a double ended bulb. Said "it's what everyone out in california is using".
(Slogan used in michigan to sell tons of good and bad products). So I ask her what kind of light was it? What's it called? She says.....
--drum roll please-- oh, fuck. I don't know. .
Said it runs off a 1000w balast too.

I was going to call up there in a few hours and ask but someone bumped this thread and this is probably what she's talking about right here.
So,
anyone using these?

Sounds like a MH / HPS combo lamp. Maybe a CMH hybrid?

I've gone LED and not looking back

commercial lamps-

just a different style. get them from your local electric supply house. they have stopped making the cmh?