Howdy y'all, It's time time 'o year when I gots to start an "Indoor" crop. Actually OUTDOOR INDOOR, haha. Out in the shed this time on the open floor, in dirt, no outside light coming in, and a moderate temp in winter. When I lived in a much colder climate (YEARS ago, don't miss it) I ran a similar set-up, outside in a shed, with a small external heat source and 1 400 hps in a 10x12 area, for 2-4 plants, through the full grow. And they would always be strechy. A friend mentioned that i use a MH through vegging. I guess my question is can I put a MH in the HPS fixture? Is it the same ballast? I've never used MH before so IDK. Thoughts? Suggestions? Chastising?
STOP!!!! unless you have a conversion ballast you can not switch between mh and hps bulds...it should say on the bulb box what ballast is needed to power the light, how far from the plants didi you have the light on your last grow?
I usually keep the HPS around 24" above the plants. Then maybe a little closer toward maturity. So I'll have to get a different ballast? I just want to know before I get a MH bulb. Is this even economically justified for 2-4 plants. I mean I usually get enuff yield to keep me going until next time anyway. Just trying to maybe shrink the stalks down a bit. I know a little more now about pinching and cropping and whatnot so, It might not even be worth the hassle. But I'm setting up now and wanted to get some opinions before I ran with it. Thanks Psycho D.
You could get a MH conversion bulb. It is designed to be put into a HPS fixture. Here is a link: http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=47305 Hope that helps.
Yup, exactally what I was loooking for, Thanks man! 1000111010110001110101100011101011000111010110001110101100011101011000111010110001110101100011101011000111010110001110101.:zalien:
If you want to invest, a good choice is the electronic future bright ballast. They use 40% less power, and work for both MH and HPS. no conversion bulb needed. They are also a lot quieter and don't run hot at all. If your getting new ballast it would be worth the upgrade. Ands it's so nice to just be able to throw a reg HM bulb in my eletro. ballast with no worries. NEG
another option would be to add a few 6500k cfls on the sides of plants, they give off similar spectrum ass a mh, produce very little heat, and you can find them at any home store, they also can be screwed into any regular light socket......that conversion bulb is sweet to, but then you cant run both lights at the same time(without adding another ballast)
dont use cfls. In my opinion they are no good. just take the time to actually invest in a horticulture light. cfls are weak, and dont provide enough power. Plus you need a few of them to even begin to equal the power of a HID. neg
Na, I wouldn't waste my time with cfls. I'd do LED first. The thing here is I like to keep things simple, small and, personal. And I already have the HPS set-up so.... I'll try the conversion bulb this winter, see how it works out, and if I find fault with it I'll shell out for the digital ballast. Thanks for the advise fellers. Now.........where is my Bowl?! AH! ..........
