Just purchased a 400w mh/hps cooltube

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ruufuus

novice ethnobotanist
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hey guys, been a while since i posted, but i am asking your advice to day in the lighting department. i ordered a 400w mh/hps cooltube fixture last night, and intend to use it with a mh bulb, but am unsure what bulb to buy. I want the best bang for my buck, but upon doing some research, not all mh bulbs put off the same spectrum/lumens, and i want the best output/color temperature for the best price. i looked at a nice 400w hortilux bulb, but it would run me about 150+$.Also, the base type is a mogul E39 if that helps =]. If anyone could help me produce an informed decision i would greately appreciate it.
ps: i dont want to pay 150$ for a bulb :D.

Much love-Ruufuus
 
I think most of us here agree that we do not see that much difference between the $150 bulbs and the $20 bulbs. However, I do not use MH for vegging any more so have not bought one for quite a while.
 
I would rather buy cheaper bulbs and change them out more often.

you could use 3 $25 bulbs in the life of the $150 bulb, save 75 bucks and always have a bright bulb.
 
I'm with you there, but as I said, I'm looking for the best spectrum at the best price, as well as it being a e39 mogul base so it will fit =p
 
I think all 400W HIDs require a mogul base. With that said, most of us here do not see that much difference between the cheap and expensive MH and HPS bulbs. How much is the spectrum differing on the expensive and the inexpensive bulbs? I think you may be making this more difficult than it should be.
 
THG so you use hps to veg. How is that working out. I have thought about that. I hear that there is a little more airy buds and some stretch in veg. using hps? Have you seen any of this?
 
No, I use T5s to veg. I found that I can get just a good veggy growth with 216W of T5 as I was getting from 400W of MH and the T5s are a lot cooler.
 
Unless you are wealthy or a hardcore grower spending big money on a MH bulb doesn't make sense. Most of us HO T5 owners don't even own any MH bulbs anymore. I veg under HO T5's and flower under cheap HPS bulbs bought from 1000bulbs.com. I also feel buying the cheap bulbs and changing them out more often gets me a way bigger bang for my buck. I agree with THG you might be over thinking it.
 
I designed my system in the winter, i use a mh 250w in a 2x3 room. The light creates the heat, and the thermostat turns on the exhaust fan, maintaining a constant 80 for the veg. room. I have had good success with just using flouros. too havent considered t5 until reading this thread.
 
I would have to lookup the info again to be sure of the difference in light spectra, which will be a bit hard at the moment for I am at work, and using a droid =) I will do my best asap. Also do mogul bases differ in size? Ithought the e39 had some significance to size...
 
In my grows I use both T5 and MH. I start out with the T5s until they get a little bigger then for about a week or two I turn on the MH and run both types until I flip them. I can see a significant jump in growth from adding the MH (although I can't say if the growth is due to the MH or just more lumens from an extra light). I have started using the digital bulbs in my HIDs as all my ballasts are digital, and the bulbs last significantly longer.

You need to check around for HID bulbs. The higher quality bulbs can be had for cheaper than $150 a bulb. Look at HTGsupply.com, ebay, amazon, and access discounts.com is where I have found some good deals. :)

pretty much all of the HID lights have the standard E39 mogul base, unless it otherwise specifies on some of the smaller bulbs like the 75w, 100w.
 
Great info!. Just about all the info I needed. While I have your attention, do you think I could do good veg with 2 150w hps with 26w cfls for side lighting, and just use the 400w for hps in my flower room?
 
ruufuus said:
Great info!. Just about all the info I needed. While I have your attention, do you think I could do good veg with 2 150w hps with 26w cfls for side lighting, and just use the 400w for hps in my flower room?

I hve vegged with HPS before with pretty good results....growth wasn't as tight as with HO T5's but it was good. Jmo
 
ruufuus said:
Great info!. Just about all the info I needed. While I have your attention, do you think I could do good veg with 2 150w hps with 26w cfls for side lighting, and just use the 400w for hps in my flower room?
That depends on how big your grow room is gonna be. You need to achieve 3000lumens per square ft for veg, and at least 5000lumens per sqft for flowering. with a 400whps you can light up at a maximum 10sqft growspace. I must have missed the part where you said anything about having 2 150w HPS lights. If you have the 400w and it is a digital that will run both HPS and MH then you don't need the 150s (unless you already have them), in that case, the more lumens the better. I wouldn't use CFLs unless I had to, as they don't produce light efficiently. If you want to add some light with floros, get some T5HOs to go around the sides of the room. The T5s are also good for growing the clones and seedlings before hitting them with the heavy lumens of the full HID light. :)
 

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