IAm5toned
Well-Known Member
on MH lamps-
of course you can run a MH lamp in an HPS ballast... and some MH ballasts will even run (gasp!) HPS lamps... its all about knowing which lamps are compatible with which ballast types.
any probe start MH lamp will run in a pulse start HPS ballast. however, the lifetime of the MH lamp will be slightly shortened... nothing you would notice immediately though. might see some blackening of the arc tube on the MH lamp.
some MH lamps and ballasts are pulse start too, just like a HPS; though they are not as common as the probe start MH lamps that are sold in most, if not all big box hardware stores.
all HID lamps and ballasts have a cross reference number for compatibility called the ANSI number that can be quickly used to tell if a certain lamp is compatible with a certain ballast. the ANSI number is always a single letter followed by a number. for example, a 400w MH magnetic probe start lamp or ballast would both have the ansi number of M58. my magnetic HID ballasts will run 0-400w HPS, CMH or MH, then either 1000w HPS or 1000w CMH/MH. only lamps they dont run, unfortunatley for me is 600w. theres no switch to throw, or cap to change, its all auto select, just screw the lamp in you want to use. these ballasts have about a dozen ansi codes for compatibility, so i have to check carefully when i go to buy new lamps. unfortunatly for you, these ballasts are not cheap, nor easy to find. i got mine for free, because i am an electrical contractor and have access to such things, but they can be found and ordered through professional lighting distributors in your area. i only use or reccomend advance ballasts, made by phillips, for a variety of reasons, but like i said before, they are not cheap. id rather shellout 300$ for an advance ballast i know will last a decade than take a chance on a 179$ digi that may or may not work out of the box from htg supply.
as far as MH for stash, and HPS for cash, its true.
HPS will make your buds heavier and denser, MH will make them lighter and stickier. on my ladies flowered under MH, even my fan leaves get covered with trichs, the undersides of the leaves get covered with trichs, everything gets covered with trichs, lol... makes for a bitch curing, the stuff stays sticky for soo long it takes a good month cure just to get it smokeable. but when it is finally done, it is something worthy of being proud of. i have veitnam vets that i supply with meds tell me my stuff is the strongest they have smoked since they caught there ride home on the freedom bird. to me, thats a pretty good compliment, and the stuff i have been providing for them is nothing truely special, some local strains that are good, but not exceptional. i have run HPS in the past,using the same 2 strains; and though it greatly improved my yields in terms of weight, it seemed as if the potency was diminished, as well as having a less subtlety of flavors. now recently i have taken the plunge and got ahold of some good genetics from amsterdam, so im really looking forward to the finished product on that. in my own personally opinion based on real life experience, HPS buds are great, they finish fast, finish heavy and dense, but for that true connoiseur taste and smell that even the snobiest of pot snobs cant find anything wrong with, you best be finishing under MH or CMH. i prefer CMH myself, the buds still get covered in trichs and pack on a little more weight than traditional MH, without loosing the flavor. i have a buddy i occasionly swap buds with, he flowers in hydro under HPS, and his nugs are beauties, but when it comes to flavor and potency, mine takes the prize everytime. for 2 years now he's been trying to beat me, lol, and he smokes me on yields, he churns out lbs where i turn out ounces, yet he's always hanging around asking ive got one to burn
as far as flavor goes... well also based on my own real life experience, nothing beats a bud finished in organic soil than finished in either hydro or chem treated/time released soils. using organic hotsoils and hps makes for a nice yield with a good flavor, but for potency and bag appeal, you really need to have MH for supplemental lights in addition to the HPS to really bring the buds to there max potential and get the best of all 3 worlds with flavor, potency, and weight.
hydro systems are nice, and they make for incredible turnaround times for harvests, but, they just dont seem to pack the punch of potency and the sweet aroma of soil finished buds, at least to me, anyway.
right now im trying to develop a soil based sog system that is actually a kind of hybrid between soil and hydro, using nothing but MH or CMH. my goal is to have some very potent crops that can be comparable to hydro crops as far as crop cycle length and yields. i know its going to take lots of tweaks and several rounds to get it right, but i think im onto something.
thats my take on the subject.
i hope you enjoyed my lack of grammar, poor sentence construction, lousy spelling, improper capitalization, run-ons, improper use of contractions, compund sentences, and other editors's nightmares in this post... its not that im incapable of proper grammar, i just dont really care much for it these days
of course you can run a MH lamp in an HPS ballast... and some MH ballasts will even run (gasp!) HPS lamps... its all about knowing which lamps are compatible with which ballast types.
any probe start MH lamp will run in a pulse start HPS ballast. however, the lifetime of the MH lamp will be slightly shortened... nothing you would notice immediately though. might see some blackening of the arc tube on the MH lamp.
some MH lamps and ballasts are pulse start too, just like a HPS; though they are not as common as the probe start MH lamps that are sold in most, if not all big box hardware stores.
all HID lamps and ballasts have a cross reference number for compatibility called the ANSI number that can be quickly used to tell if a certain lamp is compatible with a certain ballast. the ANSI number is always a single letter followed by a number. for example, a 400w MH magnetic probe start lamp or ballast would both have the ansi number of M58. my magnetic HID ballasts will run 0-400w HPS, CMH or MH, then either 1000w HPS or 1000w CMH/MH. only lamps they dont run, unfortunatley for me is 600w. theres no switch to throw, or cap to change, its all auto select, just screw the lamp in you want to use. these ballasts have about a dozen ansi codes for compatibility, so i have to check carefully when i go to buy new lamps. unfortunatly for you, these ballasts are not cheap, nor easy to find. i got mine for free, because i am an electrical contractor and have access to such things, but they can be found and ordered through professional lighting distributors in your area. i only use or reccomend advance ballasts, made by phillips, for a variety of reasons, but like i said before, they are not cheap. id rather shellout 300$ for an advance ballast i know will last a decade than take a chance on a 179$ digi that may or may not work out of the box from htg supply.
as far as MH for stash, and HPS for cash, its true.
HPS will make your buds heavier and denser, MH will make them lighter and stickier. on my ladies flowered under MH, even my fan leaves get covered with trichs, the undersides of the leaves get covered with trichs, everything gets covered with trichs, lol... makes for a bitch curing, the stuff stays sticky for soo long it takes a good month cure just to get it smokeable. but when it is finally done, it is something worthy of being proud of. i have veitnam vets that i supply with meds tell me my stuff is the strongest they have smoked since they caught there ride home on the freedom bird. to me, thats a pretty good compliment, and the stuff i have been providing for them is nothing truely special, some local strains that are good, but not exceptional. i have run HPS in the past,using the same 2 strains; and though it greatly improved my yields in terms of weight, it seemed as if the potency was diminished, as well as having a less subtlety of flavors. now recently i have taken the plunge and got ahold of some good genetics from amsterdam, so im really looking forward to the finished product on that. in my own personally opinion based on real life experience, HPS buds are great, they finish fast, finish heavy and dense, but for that true connoiseur taste and smell that even the snobiest of pot snobs cant find anything wrong with, you best be finishing under MH or CMH. i prefer CMH myself, the buds still get covered in trichs and pack on a little more weight than traditional MH, without loosing the flavor. i have a buddy i occasionly swap buds with, he flowers in hydro under HPS, and his nugs are beauties, but when it comes to flavor and potency, mine takes the prize everytime. for 2 years now he's been trying to beat me, lol, and he smokes me on yields, he churns out lbs where i turn out ounces, yet he's always hanging around asking ive got one to burn
as far as flavor goes... well also based on my own real life experience, nothing beats a bud finished in organic soil than finished in either hydro or chem treated/time released soils. using organic hotsoils and hps makes for a nice yield with a good flavor, but for potency and bag appeal, you really need to have MH for supplemental lights in addition to the HPS to really bring the buds to there max potential and get the best of all 3 worlds with flavor, potency, and weight.
hydro systems are nice, and they make for incredible turnaround times for harvests, but, they just dont seem to pack the punch of potency and the sweet aroma of soil finished buds, at least to me, anyway.
right now im trying to develop a soil based sog system that is actually a kind of hybrid between soil and hydro, using nothing but MH or CMH. my goal is to have some very potent crops that can be comparable to hydro crops as far as crop cycle length and yields. i know its going to take lots of tweaks and several rounds to get it right, but i think im onto something.
thats my take on the subject.
i hope you enjoyed my lack of grammar, poor sentence construction, lousy spelling, improper capitalization, run-ons, improper use of contractions, compund sentences, and other editors's nightmares in this post... its not that im incapable of proper grammar, i just dont really care much for it these days
