Are hps really that much better than flourescent?

Discussion in 'Growing Marijuana Indoors' started by cody8892000, Nov 28, 2008.

  1. right now i got 4x 150 watt eq. T4 CFL's and im wondering if i shouldnt of wasted my money on them and just got a hps or what....should i just put out the money and get a 400w hps.....and how much should i expect to get a decent one for and how hot will it get and where could i possibly find one that like comes with a growing hood (not the security light but will they work too?)
     
  2. A security light will work, and you can make your own cooling tube (there's a picture tutorial somewhere around here, use the search). You probably won't find a security light at 400w tho. Probably more like 70-100w.

    What's watt eq.? Is that watt equivilant? Don't pay attention to that and don't post the equivilant on the forums. It's useless, it just tells you how much better than an incandescant bulb it is, and in most cases is exagerated for marketing purposes. Tell us the real wattage please.

    If you have 70w of HPS and 70w of floro/cfl lighting, you will be getting more light out of the hps system because the hps produces more lumens per watt than the floro/cfl does. Wether it is better or not really depends on your situation. Small growboxes might get heat issues with HID, and work better with CFL.
     
  3. the light from a HPS system will penetrate down to the lower leaves much better than a cfl. yea you could use a 200w CFL and grow great bud, but HPS is much better.

    (theres are general figures)
    200w CFL= 10,000 lumens
    150w MH= 15,000 lumens
    400w MH= 50,000 lumens
    600w HPS= 90,000 lumens (generally most efficient for lumen to watt ratio)
    1000w HPS= 140,000 lumens
     
  4. they're 42real watts each and i got 4 of them so that 168 true watts i believe
     
  5. you might want a few more watts than that. it depends on what your grow size is. You should have a avg of 100 watt per plant, if you have a SOG i'm not sure how it goes.
     
  6. well awesome because im just doing 1 plant and im gonna try to raise till its about 4ft tall and i plan on on buying alot of lights to hang around the sides and in darkareas when it gets pretty big not sure if ill use 42 watts or 24watt bulbs for that....whatever seems best at the time
     
  7. i grow with four of the 42w CFLs + 250w hps in my flowering room. The plants that are usually under the cfls grow maybe 3/5 of the size of the hps plants. You get some decent nugs around the top near the light, but much thinner plants than you could get with hps. the nugs are never as dense either. Not saying you cant grow quality, but quantity is reduced. I'm thinking of getting rid of all CFL's and buying another hps... but im too lazy to take down the lights... ill wait til it burns out i guess :D
     
  8. I got one on ebay for $40. You just got to get lucky. I got it on a resale. The seller for some reason thought it was too bulky but space is not a problem for me.
    Unfortunately when it arrived the bulb was broken but got a replacement on ebay for $11 400 watt hps. I actually have a 320 WATT mh BULB IN THERE NOW THAT i FOUND AT WORK AND JUST SO HAPPENED TO WORK IN THE BALLAST.
    My 3 plants which are not quite 3 weeks old now are about 9 inches wide(Topped) x 5 inches tall where my last grows (CFL) they were 6 inches tall and maybe 3 inches wide. They are way more healthier with the new light. I can't wait to see the difference in buds.
     
  9. That's a real easy problem to solve tho with CFLs. Most people are using multiple CFLs, and while you do want the majority of them for canopy lights, it doesn't hurt to hang others down at lower levels beside the plant to get the lower leafs. With the right setup and combination of CFLs, you can actually get more light into the lower branches than you could with an hps bulb.

    I'm not saying CFL is better tho, HPS/MH is much more effecient. Every style of lighting has it's own unique applications and advantages tho along with disadvantages.
     
  10. for one plant what your planning will be fine. after a few grows if your really into it and want more plants you can get a better light.
     

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