flower- hps vs mh- anyone tried both?

cloudflyer said:

Really nice? they will most likly be hermie seeds too. Plus in nature inbreeding is almost always bad

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True, but I've come too realize the reason for fem seeds. You only buy/use them when you're growing 1-3 plants for personal. Anything more, just use regular seeds for better phenos, growth, etc.

I myself have never bought or used fem seeds, but know all too well about them, and they're not for me.

Pool said:

True, but I've come too realize the reason for fem seeds. You only buy/use them when you're growing 1-3 plants for personal. Anything more, just use regular seeds for better phenos, growth, etc.

I myself have never bought or used fem seeds, but know all too well about them, and they're not for me.

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Normal seeds are great. But hermie seeds make hermie plants meaning you will always have hermie seeds to make more hermie plants that will make more hermie seeds......

This is a pretty informative thread. It's good to see not all of the lighting threads are the same.

A normal female has the genes to develop male flowers if severely stressed. Besides, I'm not talking about bag fulls of seeds, just a few seeds here and there among some very heavy and potent buds. Just watch the temperature and watering of the plant, and you will avoid this. I find, in my experience, that putting up a metal halide inbetween the two Gavita lamps adds the extra blue component, keeps the plant compact, stocky, and very very heavy.

This post is for entertainment purposes only. I do not grow pot, and only recommend growing if you are legally entitled to.

that sounds fantastic. i am taking my time with adding more electricity use, for security reasons, and i figured if i got an hps bulb, i would probably buy another ballast and move my girls over to the hps and start some new ones under the mh, so in a certain sense, using my mh multi-spec bulb for flowering is sort of keeping me from going hog wild, at least for now lol...

thanks for the posts, everyone- they've helped me, and i am sure many others. please continue the discussion! gotta take some pics of my babies now so i can update my journal...

If I had a choice between agrosun gold and HPS I would take HPS because it puts out
more lumens per watt, and this is what the plant uses for photosynthesis. I always used HPS until a few last grows I added a supplementary metal halide. The buds have started getting so big that I started running into problems with mildew, and I mean giant buds, extremely potent. But HPS alone will also give extreme potency, so it is the best overall bulb to use.

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

You may be better served giving the room two coats of flat white paint before you consider adding additional CFL's. I want to see some pictures

object16 said:

If I had a choice between agrosun gold and HPS I would take HPS because it puts out
more lumens per watt, and this is what the plant uses for photosynthesis. I always used HPS until a few last grows I added a supplementary metal halide. The buds have started getting so big that I started running into problems with mildew, and I mean giant buds, extremely potent. But HPS alone will also give extreme potency, so it is the best overall bulb to use.

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that's cool. i'm wondering if it's possible for thc production to be limited by the distraction of the plants growth resources by hps lights. and i wonder what the perfect ratio of blue to red spectrum light would be... what wattage of each bulb. i'm also starting to wonder if i need to be studying more about general plant biology to really nail down an excellent grow lol

Chosen said:

You may be better served giving the room two coats of flat white paint before you consider adding additional CFL's. I want to see some pictures

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that is the truth, my friend... i think i may paint some panels that i can let dry and air out and slip into the grow area in a few days... since i just put em in 12/12, sure don't want the buds tasting like dutch boy paint lol

Is UV important for blooming?


High elevation plants that have been there for generations are high in thc but more importantly it is a lot more complex. On a short term basis a clone from a known variety Indica type will have a slightly more up high with the addition of UV during flowering but Sativas seem to improve a lot more with a much clearer up high.

I would suggest that if breeding for seed indoors the addition of UV a/b tubes as supplementary lighting would help to improve the stock a lot. Your plants getting some real sun would probably allow them to express the potential of that generation. You can easily test this If you make a number of cuttings from a mum and grow half with sodium only and supplement the other half with sun when you can, I think you will find quite a difference between the two stones the more sat in the var the bigger the difference.

correct me if im alil off, but i thought that the U/V light that MH bulbs put out is very minimal. the absolute best color temp for THC production is UVB 275nm to 325nm. marijuana can use UVA 100nm to 274nm, but its not anywhere near as useful in THC production as UVB.
if any1 has a color temp chart for the MH or the dual spec bulbs id like to see them. i'd like to see what percent more UVB a MH puts out compared to a HPS, and what percent something like a tanning bed bulb.
i am planning on using 2 or 3 100w tanning bed bulbs i have in the last few weeks of flower along with my 1000w HPS. seems like you could get the high yield of the HPS with the extra kick from the UVB packed tanning bulbs without the cost of running/buying a MH ballast and bulb. and the heat would be alot less too.

I have also been wondering this age old question..... I am using a 100 watt mh and 70 watt HPS they are about 3 in apart, this is my first grow but as soon as I go to flowering (monday) im goin' with a 150 watt HPS on top with my 100 MH and put the 70 down low for the bottom bud's... ( but i am only doing one plant) I was thinking when I went to full flowering I would take the MH out.. but I just might leave it in....hummmmm
MH and HPS always a debate....

--------Fire it up take a hit from the bong

I've used both seperatly and together. They both flower similarly as others have said, you'd have to have a side x side comparison to see a difference between hps and mh it's that small. HPS has enough of an edge to choose it if buying a new light, but not enough that I sweat using mh for flowering myself.

(yes I currently grow with only mh, and I'm happy with it in flowering.)

I did not see any diffference at all in resin production hps vs mh vs both but then again I never tried comparing them side x side. I do reccomend broad spectrum for flowering though, and more lumens regardless of spectrum.

This is what I've gathered from all the information I have read on. Veg period will do best with MH, you will have less space in between internodes, hps really doesn't matter here. In flowering HPS is the main light because it produces the right spectrum for bud BUT MH is also very important here, not for growth but for trichome development. You will notice that you will have much frostier buds if you use MH during flowering.