AgroSun MH vs. Lumatek HPS

[Amateur Grower]

I am running a 400W magnetic ballast and have been reading differing views on certain bulbs. I have an AgroSun Gold metal halide bulb that says it is halide and sodium together in one bulb, but it's marketed and sold as a halide. I was planning on using it to veg then switch to a Lumatek HPS high par output to flower with.

I have read some less than stellar reviews about the Lumatek, so my question is this-should I use the AgroSun all the way or switch to the Lumatek for flowering? I have always used a MH to veg then switched to a HPS to flower.

Specs for the AgroSun...
Wattage:400Base
Type:Mogul (E39) HID Type:Metal Halide
Initial Lumens:40,000
Color Temp:3000K
Warranty:1 YearBulb
Orientation:HorizontalBulb Shape:BT37

Specs for the Lumtek HPS high par output...
Initial Luminous Flux (lm): 60,000
Luminous Efficiency (lm/W): 136
Color Temperature (K): 2,050
PAR (umol/s): 713
Photo Flux (phyto-lm):128,000

I will appreciate any and all comments. I'm also considering using each bulb for one week, then switching to the other for a week, then switching back, etc.

AG

 

[bubba902]

Deff the 60k hps to flower, do you have a dimmable ballast if so run the hps the whole time lol, blue looks btr though

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I don't think you are going to be wanting to run a 3000K for vegging.

I also question a 400W bulb that puts out 60,000 lumens. I have never seen a 400W above 55,000 lumens.

 

[pcduck]

I would go with the hps just for the added lumens.

THG I have not heard of nothing over 55,000 lumens either, but I went and checked and sure enough Lumatek is advertising 60,000 initial lumens.

hXXp://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/lumatek-400w-highpar-output-hps-grow-bulbs-p-3688.html

 

[Amateur Grower]

Ok, so I put my plants into flower yesterday-I did about 3 1/2 weeks of veg with the AgroSun and they look pretty nice. I just dont' want to screw up the flowering phase. I would STILL like for anyone who has any kind of opinion, expert or not, to chime in on this discussion-please?

 

[bubba902]

Lol no pun intended, doesnt take an expert to grow dope, just some one passionate for the plant,

 

[Amateur Grower]

Lol no pun intended, doesnt take an expert to grow dope, just some one passionate for the plant,

Agreed! :goodposting:

AG

 

[Amateur Grower]

Controversy aside, I am still interested in thoughts on these bulbs. I know someone has surely used one or the other.

The Agrosun says you can use it veg through flower. I don't know a lot about what the specs mean but as stated earlier, 3000K color temp didn't seem high enough for veg but I used it anyway and have some green bushy plants so I was satisfied with that.

I also always use MH to flower so I'm a little hesitant to continue with the Agrosun.

ANYONE who wants to chime in please do so! I'll be very diligent with any reply.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

The lumens of the agrosun is substantially less than the lumens of the HPS...however the light spectrum is very close...I am not sure that I see any advantage to the agrosun? Are there any studies that show that a light in the 3000K range is a good choice for vegging?

I have also just noticed something in the description of the HPS. It lists it at 60000 lumens. However, on the very next line it lists the lumen to watt ratio as 136.

400w x 136 lumens/watt = 54,400 lumens Huh???????

 

[OGKushman]

I believe the dual spectrum run at 440 watts? So thats like 10%+...5440 lumens + 54,400 = 59, 840? Im high* :rofl:

 

[OGKushman]

Side note:
So I was wondering what the lum/watt ratio is of the t8's I use and they are rated at 80-100 lum/watt...the t5HO that everyone raves about is 92.6...t8s are 1/5 the price lol



specialty-lights.com/plant-grow-faq3.html

To get T5-HO performance out of a T8 fixture, the high-lumen / high-performance lamps are usually specified. These lamps provide more lumens (approximately 15% more than standard 700 series lamp) without drawing any additional watts; providing the highest lumens per watt of any fluorescent lamp.

lightingassociates.org/i/u/2127806/f/tech_sheets/FAQs_T8_or_T5-HO_-__Which_should_I_use_.pdf

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_efficacy

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I have never seen any T8s rated at 80-100 lumens per watt.

Reading the link you provided, it sounds like the high lumen tubes are specialty items (not the norm T8s) and that you need an upgraded ballast to handle the high lumen bulbs:

"To get T5-HO performance out of a T8 fixture, the high-lumen / high-performance lamps are usually specified. These lamps provide more lumens (approximately 15% more than standard 700 series lamp) without drawing any additional watts; providing the highest lumens per watt of any fluorescent lamp. Couple these lamps with a high ballast factor ballast to safely overdrive the lamp’s output another 12-15%. With this lamp and ballast combination you will have a fixture capable of producing 3658 lumens per lamp."

Have you priced the ballast and high lumen tubes? I would certainly be interested in looking at these as the normal 32W T8s run 2500 lumens (or less).

 

[OGKushman]

just a quick search will yield a lot of results

start with f48t8HO (f48 is the length) also F60T8HO, F72T8HO, F96T8HO

google.com/products/catalog?q=f48t8ho&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=6655099380727542655&sa=X&ei=pNx9T5uRH-XJiQKiovmvDQ&ved=0CCwQ8wIwAQ

instructions
youtube.com/watch?v=WJncJmkQPtM

ill be doing this today I have a light meter too...

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I watched the video, but I must have missed something. It appears that he used twice the electricity to get twice the lumens. Two ballasts running 2 bulbs rather than 4 bulbs--basically the lumens from 2 bulbs put into one? I guess I am not seeing where this is changing the lumen/watt ratio?

I will check out the HOs more, although initally, those are looking as expensive as the T5 HOs.

 

[default]

The lumens of the agrosun is substantially less than the lumens of the HPS...however the light spectrum is very close.

Unless the spectra are identical, the you can't really make any useful comparison between the two bulbs by looking at the lumen specifications. Well... any useful comparison in terms of plant-response; the bulb with the higher lumen rating will look brighter to human eyeballs.

That alone makes me wonder about the Lumatek bulb's ultimate efficiency where plants are concerned.

I have also just noticed something in the description of the HPS. It lists it at 60000 lumens. However, on the very next line it lists the lumen to watt ratio as 136.

400w x 136 lumens/watt = 54,400 lumens Huh???????

You'll note that nowhere in their ads do they state that they didn't use their own Lumatek ballasts to do the testing. Ballasts which have an overdrive setting. Try that again, only add, say, 10% to your wattage figure. Sneaky, huh?