Hey Dank Frank your asnwer is very explanatory and is the kind of knowledge I was looking for. Sticking to MH during the weeks of stretch is also new information to me and makes a lot of sense, I will definitely have to give that a try when I have my setup. My plan was to use a cool tube and find a narrow profile metal halide and then switch to a sunmaster hps, however the people selling the cool tubes may not have been aware of the slim metal halides and suggested I go with a dual spectrum hps, I thought this might be less effective so It's very helpfull to have your input, and I do think I'll stick with my original plan. I don't know a huge amount about ceramic metal halides but I do beleive I read they don't work with digital ballasts and I was planning on running a digi so I only require one ballast for both lamps. I have also read similar stuff about altering the outcome of the sex of your plants, and it does make sense, I almost always grow out my seedlings under flouros, one full spectrum bulb and one 6500k bulb and I usually get good male to female ratios, the lowest ever being 50 percent the highest being 100 percent even with larger numbers, averaging 75 percent, but I was always too lazy to run them on 18/6 and just used 24/0 but I do think blue light, lower temps and less general stress does make a big difference from germination until sexing has ocurred, thanks for the help Frank.
Hey Vic 123, thanks for the input, I have been using compact flourescents for over five years now and have experimented with many many different spectrums and different combinations of spectrums and I do achieve good results with compact flouros but the penetrating value just cannot compare to that of even a 400 watt hid lamp. The most common horticultural cfls are 125 watts and I have used 4 at once before and they still cannot penetrate more then six to 18 inches depending on the canopy density, and the 5000-6500k generating such compact growth that the lower branches cannot recieve any light so it can be quite frustrating, the light intensity just doesn't seem to be able to compare, maybe if they had much larger cfls it would be feasible but to be used in place of a 1000 watt lamp I think the cost would outweigh any possible benefits, they don't have a very long life either, and since they are integrated into the ballast your average 125 watt cfl runs the same cost as the best 1000 watt hid bulbs. However I know cfls can grow some super potent herb and have good horticultural value they just don't seem to be able to achieve yeilds anywhere near what an hid lamp can and suffer in penetrating ability, so I'm keen on going with a higher kevlin metal halide for veg, I'll keep my cfls for moms, clones and seedlings though, they will still have their place in my garden, Thanks Vic.
I beleive I read something by the herbaliser stating he/she used 3000 kelvin and 10000 kelvin hid lamps, I'm not sure if in combination or seprately for different cycles but I was under the impression it was in combo, I tried searching for any grows giving info on this by the herbaliser, but wasn't successful, if you wander by theHerbaliser, your input on this would be greatly appreciated, thanks everyone, Kreation
