I now have 2 400W HPS/MH grow lights.They came with their own generic HPS grow bulbs. I'm running on a very tight budget and need the biggest bang for my buck. I would like to know how to figure out what features I should look for in both types of lights, as I want to use MH for veg, and the bulbs need to be replaced periodically, which is another question I should ask. How long can bulbs last before needing replacement, besides when they fail?
Ive heard of people using bulbs for 5-6 grows if not more. but after a while the bulb starts to lose its penetrating ability. look for the color temp the bulb falls under. the better the bulb the better light it puts off. idk. I hope this makes sense. Hortilux has bulbs for about 80 bucks a piece and they are amazingly high quality and penetrate deep into the leaves. ive seen them for as low as 70
Use the cheap bulbs for a few (4 to 6) grows to get the feel of how they work and recoup some of the money spent on them. Then you should have a better idea what to look for. You best investment would be a Light Meter to determine how many lums your getting to the plants and how high or low the lights should be. Bulbs will decrease over time and eventually fail. Never toss out a working bulb that was replaced with a new one, the replaced bulb is now an emergency spare At 4:20 today I am gonna toke on a bong and hope this information helped you