I have the cheap 400w HPS from HTG and I'm considering purchasing another bulb for it. Of course I'm eying the Eye Hortilux but the another is a MH conversion bulb sold by HTG on Ebay. Anyone have experience with those? Here's a link. 400 watt MH CONVERSION GROW LIGHT BULB Metal Halide HPS - eBay (item 400082359006 end time Jan-28-10 06:37:22 PST)
HTG is great I picked up a 400wat HPS setup from them, with no regret AT ALL... (with my avatar pic as proof that HTG sells quality stuff at low prices) I'd say, go for it
Why would you get this bulb? First of all it says that it puts out 38,000 lumens... the Hortilux puts out 54,000 lumens (big difference) plus you can do your entire grow with just the HPS (Veg and Flowering).
I guess that's why I'm asking about it here. Is the MH bulb richer in blues despite being less efficient?
Your question is defintiely valid, I didnt mean to sound rude or anything. To answer your question regarding the blues, yes it is more blue especially at 6000k color that the specs say its at. If you want to invest in a good bulb I'd go with Hortilux but you probably will be ok with what you already have (the standard hps bulb). Have a look at this thread: http://forum.grasscity.com/general-indoor-growing/312317-hps-mh-vegetative-growth.html HPS will do fine for both stages but I do agree with those who say that you should go with CFL or maybe even t5 fluoros for Veg to save money on electric bills. My 400 watter costs me about 30 bucks a month in electric bills! What I'd really like to see is a side by side comparison of the expensive Hortilux Vs. a good name brand like GE HPS bulb to see if the Hortilux actually lives up to its claims.
I agree, but to cut down on sample error it would have to be two decent sized gardens. Good point about the electric bill. I'm using the HPS during veg this time only since this is my first grow and I don't have any flowering yet. When I do I'm moving the rest of the plants to a smaller veg space with my CFLs and leaving the HPS for the flowering space. I might supplement some with CFL. Thanks for the link too- good to know that many think I'm just fine with my HPS bulb.
Me too. It's interesting that on Hortilux's page for the super HPS, they say: "The combination of Super HPS and the Metal Ace conversion lamp provides the optimum spectral energy levels through all stages of plant growth" which, I guess, is an implicit admission that using the expensive Super HPS from seedling to harvest is not optimal.