high wattage cfl or hps
- Thread starter dnlfacundo
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t0k3s
Well-Known Member
yeah for FLOWERING like i said... but for vegetative growth it sucks.
Ativas
Well-Known Member
Okay ... I misread the post. I thought he was asking about the preferred light for flowering when in fact he was asking about a full grow. So, I'll semi-agree with you then.
HPS are not top-notch lamps for vegetative growth, true, and CFLs will outperform them during veg if you have a sufficient amount, true, but for me, it's six of one and half a dozen of the other. In my opinion, HPS outperform CFLs more in bloom than CFLs outperform HPS in veg - so take your pick. If you're competent enough to produce a decent plant with an HPS in veg you'll be better off in the long run. (HPS tend to produce stringy plants but there are tricks to get around that.) I know what you're saying and I agree with the veg thing, but I'm not convinced a full grow with CFLs will outperform an HPS overall.gethigheveryday
Well-Known Member
well iv never used an hps but i am using one 250w red cfl and another 125w red cfl and after around 4 weeks of flower and 4 weeks of veg, iv got some good buddage so far, check my diary out
t0k3s
Well-Known Member
Okay ... I misread the post. I thought he was asking about the preferred light for flowering when in fact he was asking about a full grow. So, I'll semi-agree with you then.
i totally agree with you... hps works that shit in flower and can suffice for vegetative growth if your not new and have some knowledge of indoor growing.. but for the cost of cfl and the spectrums you can get they will work real well for newer growers. i used 4 6500k on a clone on my first indoor grow and had it veged in about 4-5 weeks to my liking which isn't to bad for a cfl. but if i had the choice i would say fuck cfl, and fuck hps.. just get a metal halide 400w for veg and then later on buy a conversion lamp and use it both for flower and veg and save 150-300$ on getting a new light when you can get a conversion kit for like 50-60 bucks.. shit the lamps cost more than that sometimes. thats my opinion on it
t0k3s
Well-Known Member
nice plants.. but with a hps you would have buds twice that size and dense as fuck.. CFL'S get the job done but they dont suffice for large crop harvests. for the cost of the type of CFL,s your using buy your self a 150 -200 watt metal halide ..conversion lamp compatible so you can veg and flower and you got a all in one grow light ad save some money.. and you will get fatter crops way faster and also the penetration of hps ad metal halide is really powerful compared to cfl's so they really pump out some thc laden buds.
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t0k3s
Well-Known Member
let me re quote
. "compared to metal halide and blue spectrum CFL's it sucks for producing bushy plants." sometimes plants are really bushy naturaly like yours. but sometimes when you got pure sativas or something they end up spindley and the node spacing is not too good which the more nodes close together you have the more bud sites there are and the more dense your buds will be. ask fdd he can tell you how well metal halide is over cfl's and hps.. and from his pics i think you can trust him..
Ativas
Well-Known Member
Agreed.
Experience is a big factor; I'll leave it at that.Yea, I'll concede that. If I had been able to afford a second light, I would have veg'd under a MH without contest. And I have no doubt it would have exploded under the light. I think that HPS is preferable to CFL during veg, simply because achieving a similar level of intensity, light distribution & penetration would be uneconomical (exempting single plant or small scale stealth operations).let me re quote
I think MH is definitely the ideal for veg growth by a wide margin. HPS seems 'good enough' in that I probably could have seen similar growth in noticeably less time under an MH, but I still have a nice healthy base to flower on.
CFL's I think are fantastic for cloning, seedlings and situations where size or temperature are an issue. They are also a cheap & non-intimidating light for people very new to growing. I think for vegetative growth overall, they are still third in overall efficiency and usefulness.
I love how people are dead set to stay with CFLS, even though there is NO reason to. Take a look at the wattage you are using for the CFLs, then take a look at the lumens. You will be using the same watts as say a 400w HPS, but you will get HALF the lumens/light from it. Also, CFLs burn the hell out of your leaves when the plant grows into one of the dozen or so you would need to properly veg and flower a few plants.