10K Metal Halide report

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Jimster

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I decided to try a new 10000K 1000watt Metal Halide light for a grow. The bulb was recommended as a "finishing" bulb, but since it had so much blue in it, I decided to use it for veg growth as well. I also used a 6K MH for the veg cycle along with the 10K bulb. From my observations, while I thought the 10K bulb would be better for vegetative growth, the plants grown under it were shorter than the others that got either the 6K light or a combination of the 2. I also got hit with spider mites, so that also could have shorteded the plant's growth, but they are normally much taller and I have grown them for many years.
During flowering, I got lazy and left the 10K bulb in place and swapped out the 6K for a HPS. There was a large difference in plant and bud size between the HPS and the 10K. It has been about 8 weeks of flowering, and the plants under the 10K are showing signs of being about ready, while the others seem to be still actively flowering. The plants that seemed to finish early, a Sativa strain I'm familiar with, usually took 10-12 weeks to finish, so it looks like I'm about 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I'm unsure how the potency or taste is affected, but the yield is significantly lower than under the HPS or HPS/10K combination. The true test will come in a few weeks! :)
So, in summary, the jury is still out for using the 10K bulbs for anything other than "finishing". I'm not sure why a 10K bulb would improve anything during the last weeks of a plant's life, but I'm open to suggestions. Both 3500K and 6K bulbs are great for veg growth, and the 3500K bulbs can be used for both with good results, if needed. The best results to date have been using a combination of a HPS and a 3500K bulb for flowering. I haven't tried HPS only for flowering, but might try it next time.
What is your experience with different "K" bulbs?
 
oldskol4evr

oldskol4evr

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I decided to try a new 10000K 1000watt Metal Halide light for a grow. The bulb was recommended as a "finishing" bulb, but since it had so much blue in it, I decided to use it for veg growth as well. I also used a 6K MH for the veg cycle along with the 10K bulb. From my observations, while I thought the 10K bulb would be better for vegetative growth, the plants grown under it were shorter than the others that got either the 6K light or a combination of the 2. I also got hit with spider mites, so that also could have shorteded the plant's growth, but they are normally much taller and I have grown them for many years.
During flowering, I got lazy and left the 10K bulb in place and swapped out the 6K for a HPS. There was a large difference in plant and bud size between the HPS and the 10K. It has been about 8 weeks of flowering, and the plants under the 10K are showing signs of being about ready, while the others seem to be still actively flowering. The plants that seemed to finish early, a Sativa strain I'm familiar with, usually took 10-12 weeks to finish, so it looks like I'm about 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I'm unsure how the potency or taste is affected, but the yield is significantly lower than under the HPS or HPS/10K combination. The true test will come in a few weeks! :)
So, in summary, the jury is still out for using the 10K bulbs for anything other than "finishing". I'm not sure why a 10K bulb would improve anything during the last weeks of a plant's life, but I'm open to suggestions. Both 3500K and 6K bulbs are great for veg growth, and the 3500K bulbs can be used for both with good results, if needed. The best results to date have been using a combination of a HPS and a 3500K bulb for flowering. I haven't tried HPS only for flowering, but might try it next time.
What is your experience with different "K" bulbs?
i feel for you,i tried same thing few years back with the t5 ho bulbs,crazy crazy,ha left them things on over night ,came back to fried dried and cured hahah,i tried going with the blue veg bulbs for firest 2 weeks of veg,then put 1 uvb bulb in on them,they responded ok for vegging,went 2 month on veg before flip ,2 weeks before flip i hit the plants with all 16 bulbs at 50% blue and pink bulbs and done away with the uvb bulbs,went to flower and stayed with the blue bulbs first 2 weeks slowed stretch big time and also seem to slow growth,so went to bloom bulbs,with just 2 pink bulbs at 50% all good first week ,changed bulbs to veg,bloom and pink while on the road for discovery i left ballast at 100% checking for heat with all them on,one to many draws off the medicine went to bed and forgot,why i dont smoke indica hahahah,but ya, fried the whole grow of 16 plants,trying to make them sugar leaves hahah,so went back to old trusty 400 watt hid and tried just the MH bulb all the way to second week of flower,same thing kept stretch to damn near nill,went to HPS bulb and finished out some great smoke
 
jumpincactus

jumpincactus

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Solistek will tell you to only use the finisher 10k bulb the last week or 2 of flower. 10k Will keep your node distance much shorter and compact in veg. Thats why your strain was shorter. Live n learn bro :smoking:
 
jumpincactus

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Solistek high frequency, pulse-start digital lamps featuring low iron (low-e) glass for enhanced UVA and UVB penetration to your plants for higher quality and yield! our special low iron glass allows for more UV spectrums to get to your plants and flowers. Low iron glass is composed of purified materials free from contaminants that make the glass extra clear. Usually glass has a green tint to it, these are impurities possibly from recycled materials. It has been proven that low-e glass allows more UV light to pass through. Preferred for vegetative stages of growth & finishing. Use during last 1 - 2 weeks of flowering to allow better ripening and finishing. Available in 1000w & 600w. 600W specifications for metal halide: initial lumens: 58,000 color temp: 10,000 cri: 96 hot restart 10-15 min ANSI spec: s106/e why digital lighting? the sun is high frequency. In order to make artificial light behave more like natural sunlight it needs to be high frequency. Digital lighting makes for a higher quality of light that is good for all living things. This is only possible if you have the proper lamp and ballast combination. STK lamps contain UVA-UVB and the upper portion of UVC. SolisTek high frequency MH offers: color enhanced full balanced spectrum, superior photochemical reactions , prolonged lamp life, proper UV balance , less depreciation of par and lumen output over time., Precise gas combination for increased blues, reds & UV, advanced hid lamp design , as reliable & efficient as core & coil (magnetic) when paired with SolisTek ballasts, true high frequency technology, best sunlight replication , made for quality, consistency & yield, exercise caution when working around any hid lamp that contains UV, always wear protective lenses.
 
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oldskol4evr

oldskol4evr

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Solistek high frequency, pulse-start digital lamps featuring low iron (low-e) glass for enhanced UVA and UVB penetration to your plants for higher quality and yield! our special low iron glass allows for more UV spectrums to get to your plants and flowers. Low iron glass is composed of purified materials free from contaminants that make the glass extra clear. Usually glass has a green tint to it, these are impurities possibly from recycled materials. It has been proven that low-e glass allows more UV light to pass through. Preferred for vegetative stages of growth & finishing. Use during last 1 - 2 weeks of flowering to allow better ripening and finishing. Available in 1000w & 600w. 600W specifications for metal halide: initial lumens: 58,000 color temp: 10,000 cri: 96 hot restart 10-15 min ANSI spec: s106/e why digital lighting? the sun is high frequency. In order to make artificial light behave more like natural sunlight it needs to be high frequency. Digital lighting makes for a higher quality of light that Us good for all living things. This is only possible if you have the proper lamp and ballast combination. STK lamps contain UVA-UVB and the upper portion of UVC. SolisTek high frequency MH offers: color enhanced full balanced spectrum, superior photochemical reactions , prolonged lamp life, proper UV balance , less depreciation of par and lumen output over time., Precise gas combination for increased blues, reds & UV, advanced hid lamp design , as reliable & efficient as core & coil (magnetic) when paired with SolisTek ballasts, true high frequency technology, best sunlight replication , made for quality, consistency & yield, exercise caution when working around any hid lamp that contains UV, always wear protective lenses.
i had planned on reef lights for next purchase,wanted to give them a try,then the hippie fad came to play and them bulbs are crazy high cost ,have another friend that swear by them and the room is pretty damn cool looking too hahah
 
Jimster

Jimster

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why digital lighting? the sun is high frequency. In order to make artificial light behave more like natural sunlight it needs to be high frequency. Digital lighting makes for a higher quality of light that Us good for all living things. This is only possible if you have the proper lamp and ballast combination. STK lamps contain UVA-UVB and the upper portion of UVC. SolisTek high frequency MH offers: color enhanced full balanced spectrum, superior photochemical reactions , prolonged lamp life, proper UV balance , less depreciation of par and lumen output over time.,
I have the Solistek bulb (I'm pretty sure that's who makes it) but it isn't high frequency pulse/probe start, just a 40 year old magnetic ballast, 1000w. The plants didn't really look any different than they usually did, as the node length didn't seem any more compact, although the plant that seemed most affected also was affected most by spider mites. I have had great results with veg growth with the 6K bulbs, but the 10K bulbs won't be used anymore. I have a few plants under it that will use it as a finishing bulb, so I'll see if it actually makes a difference or is just pseudo science, like some of their sales pitches. I never thought of sunlight as high frequency.
 
MIMedGrower

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I have the Solistek bulb (I'm pretty sure that's who makes it) but it isn't high frequency pulse/probe start, just a 40 year old magnetic ballast, 1000w. The plants didn't really look any different than they usually did, as the node length didn't seem any more compact, although the plant that seemed most affected also was affected most by spider mites. I have had great results with veg growth with the 6K bulbs, but the 10K bulbs won't be used anymore. I have a few plants under it that will use it as a finishing bulb, so I'll see if it actually makes a difference or is just pseudo science, like some of their sales pitches. I never thought of sunlight as high frequency.


Its not psuedoscience. There are many tests online showing adding uvb light during the last two weeks has increased THC (only thc) up to 5% over a clone with only hps.

Dont know weather your old mag ballasts actually drive the full spectrum?

As far as my tests go i compared hortilux 600 super hps, sun systems 315 lec 3100k and hortilux 600w blue and all combinations of above and 2 600 hps and 1 315 lec gave highest yield and frostiest looking flowers.

The ā€œblueā€ bulb gave leafier, looser buds and 30% yield loss but very frosty. And the 315 lec grew better denser buds than the blue but smaller and looser than the hps alone. Also the 315 has a smaller footprint than both others and less penatration for lower buds. It too lost 30% average yield over hps alone. But the added blue spectrum bulbs the plants stayed more compact and healthier (greener) longer and easier. Where the hps plants yellowed earlier. But had more stretch, branching and bigger buds.

I am sorry i dont have lab tests. They were busting caregivers back then and i had stipped submitting flowers for testing. The dispensary i was supplying got busted as well. I lay low in the new ā€œlegalā€ weed world. Seems more are getting arrested and their houses and businesses taken than when it was illegal. Statistics support this assumption.


So the findings are and are supported by nasa grow light testing as well as the university of michigan. Blue leaning spectrum grows leafier, greener plants that ate more compact and more red causes stretch and more flower sites and bigger flowers.

We can combine as needed for best results in our own situations. I like 2 600 hps to one 315 lec for health, yield and bag appeal. Too bad i cant run the 3rd light in summer. Too hot. Temp is still more important in my opinion for quality.
 
Jimster

Jimster

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Its not psuedoscience.
I don't doubt your claims about the 10K bulb, I was referring to the description that they were making about the high frequency sun and stuff, not the effects of the bulb. I'm unsure how much "more" UVA-C is provided by the 10K bulb, as all HID bulbs give off UV, and the degree that it is blocked is unstated. I had an issue with Doxycycline a few years back with a photosensitivity issue. While glass blocks UVC, it doesn't affect UVA or B as much. I got blistered from the UV light coming hru my car windows, as well as under my Low-E skylights. The iron in the glass isn't the reason for the filtering, but it might affect it. The glass that is used is typically high quality with low contaminants.
The bulb works as it is intended, but the claims made in the advertising is a little stretched, IMO. I apologize for any confusion my earlier statements might have caused.
 
MrChemovar

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Solistek will tell you to only use the finisher 10k bulb the last week or 2 of flower. 10k Will keep your node distance much shorter and compact in veg. Thats why your strain was shorter. Live n learn bro :smoking:


This would be great to measure with a meter that can capture hues of color to PAR ratio readings if that exists ha, I just listened to this really great podcast with KIS organics and bioslighting. Great converstation about DLI (Daily Light Intergral) of acceptable light by the babies and much more. Also called legacy lighting (MH, HID, HPS, and others that require a ballast to control) are mainly using gas to light the chemicals in the bulb resulting in the output of inefficient heat and light. Under Dr. Rebecca Knight Ph.D., Sr. Application Engineer for bioslighting it was explained that UV-A plus UV-B provided the highest THC to CBD increase compared to just UVB. The 1987 research paper that studied this as well only tested for UV-B that also let in some UV-A.
 
MrChemovar

MrChemovar

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This would be great to measure with a meter that can capture hues of color to PAR ratio readings if that exists ha, I just listened to this really great podcast with KIS organics and bioslighting. Great converstation about DLI (Daily Light Intergral) of acceptable light by the babies and much more. Also called legacy lighting (MH, HID, HPS, and others that require a ballast to control) are mainly using gas to light the chemicals in the bulb resulting in the output of inefficient heat and light. Under Dr. Rebecca Knight Ph.D., Sr. Application Engineer for bioslighting it was explained that UV-A plus UV-B provided the highest THC to CBD increase compared to just UVB. The 1987 research paper that studied this as well only tested for UV-B that also let in some UV-A.

 
Jimster

Jimster

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This would be great to measure with a meter that can capture hues of color to PAR ratio readings if that exists ha, I just listened to this really great podcast with KIS organics and bioslighting. Great converstation about DLI (Daily Light Intergral) of acceptable light by the babies and much more. Also called legacy lighting (MH, HID, HPS, and others that require a ballast to control) are mainly using gas to light the chemicals in the bulb resulting in the output of inefficient heat and light. Under Dr. Rebecca Knight Ph.D., Sr. Application Engineer for bioslighting it was explained that UV-A plus UV-B provided the highest THC to CBD increase compared to just UVB. The 1987 research paper that studied this as well only tested for UV-B that also let in some UV-A.
A discriminating photometer is what is needed to measure the various components and intensities of the light. They are pretty expensive but you can sort of hack one by using specific filters to eliminate certain frequencies of light, then you sort of add them up to figure out how much of reach color you get. The problem is that UV reacts differently than regular light, and even acts different between UVA, B, and C, so determining the UV output with filters would be difficult.
 
Jimster

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There are many tests online showing adding uvb light during the last two weeks has increased THC (only thc) up to 5% over a clone with only hps.
Does this mean that the THC level in a normally 20% THC plant could be expected to increase to 25%, or is it a 5% increase in the 20% THC level? The difference is pretty major, but I'm unsure that a 5% overall THC increase is likely. A 5% overall increase would be major, but I would think that you would hear more about it if it was the case.
I'm not being a smart-ass, I am just trying to get to the actual promises/recommendations that sometimes hide behind misleading details.
 
MIMedGrower

MIMedGrower

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I don't doubt your claims about the 10K bulb, I was referring to the description that they were making about the high frequency sun and stuff, not the effects of the bulb. I'm unsure how much "more" UVA-C is provided by the 10K bulb, as all HID bulbs give off UV, and the degree that it is blocked is unstated. I had an issue with Doxycycline a few years back with a photosensitivity issue. While glass blocks UVC, it doesn't affect UVA or B as much. I got blistered from the UV light coming hru my car windows, as well as under my Low-E skylights. The iron in the glass isn't the reason for the filtering, but it might affect it. The glass that is used is typically high quality with low contaminants.
The bulb works as it is intended, but the claims made in the advertising is a little stretched, IMO. I apologize for any confusion my earlier statements might have caused.

Well you asked for different k results.


They use low iron glass to let through as much uva and uvb as possible but uvc is harmful even deadly to us and plants and the only bulbs that emit it are used in sterilizing equipment I thought. But i dont really know. I cant imagine any uvc allowed. They used to filter out even the a and b for our safety before modern grow lights.

And i forgot to say in my post that under the bluer fuller spectrums of 315 lec and the blue mh some plants finished up to 10 days sooner than hps similar to what you saw.
 
MIMedGrower

MIMedGrower

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Does this mean that the THC level in a normally 20% THC plant could be expected to increase to 25%, or is it a 5% increase in the 20% THC level? The difference is pretty major, but I'm unsure that a 5% overall THC increase is likely. A 5% overall increase would be major, but I would think that you would hear more about it if it was the case.
I'm not being a smart-ass, I am just trying to get to the actual promises/recommendations that sometimes hide behind misleading details.


Yes. One specific test showed 17 to 22 percent increased. And they got the same results running uv full cycle as the last two weeks for lab tests.

Sorry i dont have links. They were in old phones. I studied all this when i started growing and in the first couple of years.
 
jumpincactus

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i had planned on reef lights for next purchase,wanted to give them a try,then the hippie fad came to play and them bulbs are crazy high cost ,have another friend that swear by them and the room is pretty damn cool looking too hahah
Any bulb related to reefkeeping is gonna be sky high, was a reefer (no pun) for years. got out of the hobby due to astronomical maintenance costs. In a lot of ways it isn't unlike growing cannabis all the parameters have to be perfect to grow those gorgeous stony and soft corals.
 
jumpincactus

jumpincactus

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I don't doubt your claims about the 10K bulb, I was referring to the description that they were making about the high frequency sun and stuff, not the effects of the bulb. I'm unsure how much "more" UVA-C is provided by the 10K bulb, as all HID bulbs give off UV, and the degree that it is blocked is unstated. I had an issue with Doxycycline a few years back with a photosensitivity issue. While glass blocks UVC, it doesn't affect UVA or B as much. I got blistered from the UV light coming hru my car windows, as well as under my Low-E skylights. The iron in the glass isn't the reason for the filtering, but it might affect it. The glass that is used is typically high quality with low contaminants.
The bulb works as it is intended, but the claims made in the advertising is a little stretched, IMO. I apologize for any confusion my earlier statements might have caused.
its really more about the low iron glass envelope used in the 10,00 k bulbs. I have talked to tech reps at solistek a lot and its the low iron glass and the proprietary gas they use in the bulb that allows more transference of the uva /uvb spectrums. Again they are NOT intended for vegging of cannabis anything in the 4-5 k range will suffice.

I used the 10k finisher for 2 seasons and wasnt really impressed that much. Used on tried and true same mother clones and other than a tad more frost not too much to write home about
 
Jimster

Jimster

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its really more about the low iron glass envelope used in the 10,00 k bulbs. I have talked to tech reps at solistek a lot and its the low iron glass and the proprietary gas they use in the bulb that allows more transference of the uva /uvb spectrums. Again they are NOT intended for vegging of cannabis anything in the 4-5 k range will suffice.

I used the 10k finisher for 2 seasons and wasnt really impressed that much. Used on tried and true same mother clones and other than a tad more frost not too much to write home about
I have a couple that were under HPS and now under the 10K, so I will see any differences fairly quickly if they are quoting a 2 week finish. I am still curious about the claim to add 5% THC, as to if it is an increase of 5% overall, or 5% of the original THC content, which would avg about a 1% overall increase in general, some more and some less. Id there any definitive info on that?
I tried a few different things this time, so it is more difficult to determine what effects are from what. The 10K bulb didn't impress me, but the other recommendation I was given seems to have worked out very nicely, if the smell is any indication.
 
MIMedGrower

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Many tests on the internet. This one shows thc only increased. Also shows the far red light shortening flowering is a myth. Lots of other light spectrum and light type info and results.
 
OldManRiver

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the sun is high frequency. In order to make artificial light behave more like natural sunlight it needs to be high frequency. Digital lighting makes for a higher quality of light that Us good for all living things.
I was listening until I got to this. I don't think you understand this word, "frequency". If you don't understand the fundamentals of spectrum, which you just demonstrated you don't, your conclusions are suspect.
 
MIMedGrower

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I was listening until I got to this. I don't think you understand this word, "frequency". If you don't understand the fundamentals of spectrum, which you just demonstrated you don't, your conclusions are suspect.


I think he meant full spectrum. But even with the wrong terminology it looks like he is correct. The article i linked above has tons of info and led made for healthier and higher canabanoid content plants.

Uvb added only increased the thc and not in a linear fashion.
 

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