What is the difference between MH and HPS grow lights?
Metal Halide (MH) lights help weed plants grow during the seedling and vegetative stages. In contrast, High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) lights benefit marijuana plants in the flowering stage. This is due to the type of light that the bulb produces. What are the drawbacks and benefits of MH and HPS grow lights?
Are HPS bulbs good for plants?
HPS-like MH bulbs are still simply not as effective as having a full-fledged HPS light to flower your plants under though due to the significant difference in light intensity. If you are growing vegetative harvest crops such as leafy greens or herbs, you may want to just stick with MH grow lights.
Which is better for plant growth HPS or metal halide?
• Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) is what really matters to plant growth, and delivery of usable PAR is better with HPS than metal halide. • The enhanced blue in metal halide does not lead to increased plant growth compared to HPS in the “veg” stage.
What is the difference between HPS and metal halide bulbs?
• The enhanced blue in metal halide does not lead to increased plant growth compared to HPS in the “veg” stage. • Metal halides deliver, on average, about 80,000-110,000 lumens per standard 1,000-watt bulb. For the same wattage, HPS bulbs delivers about 130,000-155,000 lumens.
What bulb is best for vegetative growth?
For vegetative growth you should choose a 'cool white' lamp. This is also acceptable for flowering, but a 'warm white' light will be better as it is stronger in the red end of the spectrum which is more suitable for flowering.
Are HPS lights good for veg?
HPS lighting (high pressure sodium lighting) is a great light source that will help indoor-growing vegetable plants develop rapidly and produce abundantly, things that all gardeners want from their plants.
Which is better HPS or MH?
MH lamps provide a more natural appearance in color and are typically the choice for plants that have little to no natural light available. High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lamps provide more yellow/red spectrum, which is ideal for most plants that are actively fruiting and flowering.
Is HPS better for flowering?
HPS lamps emit a lot of light in the red spectrum, which improves the flowering stage, and more than average light in the blue spectrum, which is beneficial during the growth cycle of the plants. This is where LED lamps stand out.
Why is metal halide better for veg?
Metal Halide Grow Lights The balanced spectrum of MH produces lush, compact vegetative growth that will support big yields when plants are ready to flower, whereas plants that receive too much red light during the vegetative stage can become spindly and develop fewer flowering sites.
What light do you use for vegging?
The ideal light intensity for vegetative growth is 400-600 μmol·m−2·s−1. Once your light intensity has reached the level you want for veg and your plants are happy, let them veg away!
Can you use HPS for the whole grow?
MH/HPS Grow Lights HPS lights can be used for the entire grow and will still get great results. Modern ballasts often allow a grower to interchange MH and HPS bulbs, but it's important you look for this feature if you want to use a combination of both MH and HPS.
What is hotter MH or HPS?
MH lamps are hotter than HPS lights. This is a critical element you need to keep in mind when heating and cooling your grow room.
Is HPS better than LED?
Essentially, we're talking about different technologies and calling them both “HPS.” LEDs are much the same. Though they're generally more efficient than HPS (with some clocking 2.8 µmol/joule), some LEDs are less efficient than high-quality HPS fixtures, and they give you less light.
Why do commercial growers use HPS?
Effective at Fast Growth & Big Yields HPS grow lights produce fast growth, fat dense buds and consistently big yields. They efficiently turn electricity into light, and they give off a type/color of light that promotes better flowering.
What lights do professional growers use?
Today, the most widely used lights for professional use are HIDs and fluorescents. Indoor flower and vegetable growers typically use high-pressure sodium (HPS/SON) and metal halide (MH) HID lights, but fluorescents and LEDs are replacing metal halides due to their efficiency and economy.
How many plants 1000w HPS?
Yield Lab 1000W HPS+MH Cool Hood Reflector Grow Light Kit (Price: $239.95) — With a 1000w grow light, you'll get 130,000 lumens from an HPS bulb and 110,000 lumens from an MH bulb. That's sufficient to provide coverage for up to 6 plants.
Can you use HPS for the whole grow?
MH/HPS Grow Lights HPS lights can be used for the entire grow and will still get great results. Modern ballasts often allow a grower to interchange MH and HPS bulbs, but it's important you look for this feature if you want to use a combination of both MH and HPS.
What is better for growing LED or HPS?
LEDs have much higher efficacy than HPS lights. LEDs are much more efficient than HPS lamps, which allows them to use lesser watts to achieve the same or higher output. The VOLT Grow® 720W FL-1 light produces a higher light output than a standard 1000W HPS light while using 30% less power.
Why is HPS better than LED?
The heat per watt is far greater with an HPS fixture compared to LED. This technology is far more efficient in transferring energy in to light, as it produces less heat and has a higher wattage equivalency to HPS (600w vs 1000w).
Do people still use HPS lights?
They efficiently turn electricity into light, and they give off a type/color of light that promotes better flowering. Despite all the newer types of lights, HPS lights are still easily the most common type of grow light used today, and the majority of commercial grow operations use HPS grow lights for good reason.
What is MH light?
The light produced by an MH bulb is across the spectrum. It is a very bright blue light that can be seen quickly by the human eye. The ability to be customized can help save money but may damage your plants due to its less concentrated light.
What is the purpose of HPS lumens?
The lumens used in an HPS bulb help create a more concentrated light process than an MH bulb.
Is MH light stronger than HPS?
An MH light is not as strong as an HPS bulb due to its light spectrum, but customizing options can make it an easy choice.
Can you change the color of MH lights?
MH lights are also customizable. You can change the color spectrum of the light to be either cooler or warmer. The cooler light will be better in the earlier growing process, while a warm red light mimics the high-pressure sodium light.
What is an HPS grow light?
HPS (High Pressure Sodium) Grow Lights are a specific type of HID (high intensity discharge) grow light often associated with a reddish / orange-ish output. If you have ever seen a friend’s indoor grow light and noticed it had a red/orange appearance, it is likely an HPS grow light. You may have also seen HPS lights used in parking lots and street lights because they provide a lot of illumination and they’re brighter than fluorescent lighting. While HPS lights are also used for general lighting applications, high-quality HPS grow lights are engineered specifically to grow plants and put out even more light than standard HPS lighting.
Is HPS better than MH?
There are basically two main factors that contribute to HPS being a better option for flowering than MH. First, the reddish output of HPS more closely resembles the natural sunlight a plant would absorb in the autumn seasons, which drives the plant’s maximum flowering production. In addition, HPS lights provide higher light intensity (lumens) than MH. This can be around 25-40% more lumens/watt than MH lights of the same wattage, and when it comes to flowering; the more light – the better the results.
What is the best HID light for growing marijuana?
The HID lights that are most frequently used in growing plants indoors and in greenhouses are metal halides and high-pressure sodium (HPS). The reason both are commonly found in grow rooms – especially marijuana grow rooms – is because there has been a long-standing belief that metal halides are best for the early vegetative stages of growth, ...
Is buying metal halides for veg a waste of money?
However, if you trust the validity of carefully conducted, unbiased university studies using accepted scientific methods, then purchasing metal halides for “veg” may be a waste of money, and could lead to decreased yields.
Is HPS better than metal halides?
However, HPS is considerably more efficient for photosynthetic radiation (PAR) than metal halides.
What is a hood for plants?
Hood: This serves as a reflector to help hone all of the light in on your plants below. It is located above or around the light bulbs and is necessary for efficient use of the light energy. Some hoods are also used for the containing and dispelling of heat.
How to tell if marijuana is too hot?
In order to check this, simply hold your hand underneath the lights for ten seconds near where the tops of your marijuana plants are. If you can stand the heat, this is too hot for your plants and you should move the grow lights up, further away from them.
Do you need MH lights for marijuana?
Essentially you either need to buy MH lights and HPS lights, or only HPS lights. It does not make sense to buy only MH lights. MH bulbs are bright and blueish in color (because they emit light that is mostly in the blue spectrum) to act like the spring sun, making it promote photosynthesis better. Therefore, these lights work best for the vegetative growing period of your marijuana plants.
Do plants need to stay short to get enough light?
The plants under CFLs also need to stay short to get enough light, while MH/HPS lights are known for their penetrating abilities.
Can you use HPS lights on marijuana plants?
Using HPS lights alone will still produce good — not optimal, but good — results for your marijuana plants, so for convenience and less hassle you can always use those types of lights.
