SLOW GROWTH WITH 1000Watt - Should I change bulbs???

[qwickymart]

Say someone was growing some plants under 2x 1000 watt lights. 1 x 1000 HPS and 1 x 1000 MH .

30 days flowering and the plants are getting big and flowering, but not "filling out" . The HPS plants look better overall, but the MH are a little lanky.

Have done this 3x before and never had this issue - BUT I HAVE NEVER CHANGED MY BULBS!!!

The 1000 MH has over 120 days of use on the bulb. Most were 24hr days.
The 1000 HPS has over 90 days of 12/12 use on it.


WOULD CHANGING THE BULBS BE A GOOD IDEA and GIVE ME BETTER RESULTS? Or is it too late - have I already missed the most important growth stage?


The bulbs that are in the lamps now are horticultural bulbs but very old.

HOWEVER I have 1 NEW 1000 watt Sylvania bulb that has similar lumen output as the grow halide I have been using.

The current 1000 HPS is a horticultural bulb and I have a NEW regular 1000 watt HPS that I could swap it with.


SHOULD I SWITCH THE BULBS? Even though the NEW bulbs aren't AGRICULTURAL BULBS - Will they still benefit me by having the fresh lumen output?

THANKS FOR ANY ADVICE!

[gonnagrow]

Of course the plants under MH only are going to flower less, it lacks the red spectrum needed that HPS has.

Days 17-34 of flowering typically not much growth is seen. As they progress they will fill out more I'm sure.

I'm not an expert but I would assume a fresh regular bulb may be better than a worn horticultural bulb /shrugs

Hope it helps,

Gg

[I.B.Token]

Hey quickymart,

I use two 1000 watt lights to grow. I use a combination of MH & HPS during the vegging stage and then use two HPS during flowering. I get a better yield doing it this way. I've tried different combinations but this seems to work best for me.
Your bulbs should be ok. You should be able to get more hours out of your bulbs before you replace them. I usually get 6 to 9 months out of mine @ 18/6. I'd go with two HPS to finish your budding. Good luck
I.B.Token

[newguy440]

After the first couple weeks of 12/12 you really don't need the MH any more. I'd go with two HPS bulbs starting 2 weeks from the start of 12/12 light cycle.

Bulbs are the single most important factors to growing next to good clones. Considering the amount of money our harvests are worth, it is definitely worth spending $100 per bulb every 6 months or so.

I keep all my lights on 12/12 except my MH which is on 24/0. The HPS bulbs get replaced every 5-7 months and the MH every 6 months religiously.

[newguy440]

From my own experience- non-horticulture bulbs suck. They work, better than fluorescent or CFL for flowering, but suck compared to a comparable horticulture bulb. I've doon side by side experiments between a $40 1000W HPS and a $130 1000W Hortilux HPS and the difference was unbelievable.