CFL or HPS for veg?

HPS is about 2000k on the colour temp scale, ideal for flowering not so good for veg. A metal halide(MH) bulb is about 6000k, far better for vegging. I've always thought the 23w cfl's are a bit wimpy on the power front for growing, but a lot of people do get good results with them. The ballast I use is a digital 600w Lumii adjustable unit. I turn it down to 400w and use a 400w MH bulb for veg. I've a 600w HPS waiting for the flowering...

 

Nothing wrong with cfls for vegging. I only have a small 135w led so I use cfls to beef up light and has been working great. I would say save on your electric bill and reduce the heat while you can do just use the cfls for veg and then switch to your HPS to get some bomb flowers.


My grow journal http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1323166-another-noob-his-first-grow.html

 

Go with cfls. I've had shitty results from my 400w MH and I'll probably go back to t5's or LEDs for veg.

 

Mh or hps are both fine for Vegging a plant. Plenty of people use hps for the whole grow. I have an electronic ballast both mh and hps I use the mh for a month of veg and hps for a month of veg. Cfl can be ok for vegging but really they are not as effective as hid lighting. Watt for watt hid lighting beats cfl any day of the week. Cfl is good for starting a seedling. The above poster saying he had better results with cfl didn't have lighting issues, most likely he had temp issuses or another cause of poor growth. Blaming hid lighting and saying cfl is a better grow light is just plain moronic. His has better light penetration per watt, better power efficiency watt for watt. Also you don't save cash on power bill using cfl watt for watt hid lighting is more cost effective. This means 400w cfl true watts vs 400w hid costs the same amount of money only you get more growth from hid. I don't know where the concept that cfl is a energy saving grow light came from but it's bullshit. Total false hood lie the only possible savings is in the actual cost of bulb and setup cost. A watt is a watt why do you think cfl has to be inches from a plant? Well because it's useable plant growing light doesn't travel any further than this. It will not save you cost on power unless you run a small amount of watts at which point you are starving your plant of growing energy. As far as saving costs on controlling heat, you should be exchanging air no matter what light system you are using. If you can cool your grow area with an inline fan that you would need either way than there is no savings to be had there either. Cfl has gotten this great rep as a plant grow light, it is not an earned rep at all. Be smart do the research yourself, I bet the above posters will tell you that auto flower plants are great as well.

 

My brother uses HPS for his entire grow. He's gotten some fantastic results recently.

 

I feel hid is king for everything but clone and seeds. I don't think t5 will out perform hid lighting for anything else. Watt for watt hid and led are where it's at. A lot of people are hyping cfl I am still booing them if you have to keep the bulb two inches from plant how effective can it be. T5 same idea if your veg plant is 12" it's not lighting up the bottom of your girl. Who wants to mess with 10 bulbs and moving them all the time.

 

I think that was about 4-5 weeks through, so he has a while to go yet. The kid has a real green thumb, he loves growing!

 

The difference in cost is not that much. I promise you. Also my MH runs much cooler than my HpS. They are both 600w. However if you must, I suggest always go for the HID lights assuming you have proper ventilation. All HID lights need to be exhausted of heat

 

All grows should have proper ventilation anyways exchange co2 in the grow room is pretty important. Cfl or hid

 

My bill for 2 600w MH a month was 170 (plus my computer, fridge, washing machine, two large ts etc) my bill during my HPS flowering is 150. The Extra Growth Is Worth 20 bucks. I'd sneak it and not tell the wifey lol.
And I run 24/0 during veg.

 

24/0 is a waste of power plants need time to rest. 18/6 is the commonly used standard for a good reason. 20/4 would be better than 24/0 imo that's just advice and pushes the Plants to hard. Also why waste the power for zero to negative gain. Light time is a well researched subject even if your using cfl growing an auto 20/4 is the most extreme recommended. I would say to you bones switch that practice today man.

 

Jeebus man, ever grown outdoor? The sun dont hit the bottom or middles of my 14 foot tall 8 foot diameter plants or the 12 foot tall 15 foot diamter plants..... learn how a plant lives, grows and shares it energies within itself, itll do your knowledge a world of good.

 

 
 
Comparing CFL and sunlight is apples and oranges.  The luminous intensity of a CFL is a drop in the bucket compared to sunlight.  CFL light has very little penetrating power and despite lighting up your grow tent quite well visually, the plants will not grow well at a certain point.  CFL's have a diminishing return that exceeds that of HID lighting.  You can grow with CFL's and I use them for veg, but they are not as effective.  I do not believe you will be growing 14 foot plants with CFL's anytime soon.  Yes the energy is shared, the problem is there is not enough energy to share for proper growth.  CFL's will have a higher and faster leaf loss rate due to the plant cannibalizing under performing leaves that are not worth supporting unless you want to fk around constantly or have adopted a grow method specifically for CFL's.  I agree with the principles you are stating, but it is off-topic for purposes of this conversation.

 

The intention was never to compare anything with sunlight.

 

Shoot, even HID doesn't compare to sunlight.

Its the OG grow bulb!