MH and HPS or Dual Arc?

[Andris]

Hey, this is my first grow, and while shopping online I came across the Dual Arc by Hortilux. I was planning on doing this the traditional way, that is vegging with a MH and flowering with a HPS.
However, now that Ive seen that it produces a more full spectrum for plants Im going with the Dual Arc. My question is this:

Is the Dual Arc good for both vegging and flowering all the way through to harvest? Or should I still veg with a MH and then bring in the Dual Arc for flowering?

Thanks

 

[Skunkenstein]

Veg with the Metal Halide{Hortilux Super Blue..Rocks}Then I would Bring in the Dual Spectrum later..The Blue Light will induce Rooting and keep the plant compact and Bushy, wheras the Multi spectrum would lead to unnecesary stretch in the Veg phase.I knew a very Knowlegable grower who was running a MH/HPS Combo light for flowering 20yrs ago..So it's not a bad Idea at all..Good Luck!!

 

[scrapiron]

Myself, as well as a few other farmers on here use the Hort Dual Arc through the entire grow. It is the only bulb I own, and until new tech comes along it is the only one I will use. Here is an informative thread on the dual arc.

 

[homebrew420]

I have friends that claim these dual arc lamps, which I had been very excited about, did nothing more for them, possibly even less, than a standard HPS. I do know that if one goes to Canadian ebay, the dual arcs where almost half the price of the cheapest one I found here in the US. Knock off brand of course.
Like I said, I want to believe in these lamps, but the few people I know that do or have used them, after a few runs they have consistently noticed a loss in weight and no real dicernable difference between flowers grown in full spectrum over the HPS. And dispite what I have been told. I would still like to find this out for myself. Maybe if I ever have the room to run 1000w Hope this helps.

Peace

 

[scrapiron]

You will see a slight decrease in weight. IMO the enhanced flavor, smell, and potency make up for the couple lost grams. I am in it for personal use though. If you are out for quantity, straight HPS is the way to go.
Also, dual arc comes in 600w and 400w, that I know of. Mabey more.

 

[Andris]

I imagine that the loss of weight is due to the fact that the HPS part of the bulb uses 600 watts, and the MH part of the bulb uses 400. But, I do think that the extra spectrum provided by the Dual Arc does help a lot simply because it closer replicates the sun.

I think I might try running a regular 1000 watt HPS with an additional 400 watt MH instead of the dual arc during flowering.