400w MH Bulbs??

[Boss]

I just got my 2 400w mh lamps, now I need to know what bulb to use.

Cost vs Performance, anyone have any ideas? I want to use them for my 12/12 grows, so i will need some red spectrum to compliment the LEDs, unless i hang more cfls.

Thanks :-)

[green acres]

can you not only use a mh bulb with mh ballast unless it`s a conversion bulb ( mh/ hps in same bulb) or do you mean brand?

[Boss]

Ya looking for brands. :-)

[green acres]

i use a son argo 430watt bulb it has extra 30% of the blue/green spectrum. i have been completely happy with it. son argo i believe is the only brand that has the 430 watt. i am not sure if they will work on a mh ballast though. i have a 400 watt hps ballast.

[Boss]

I found a nice 2700k bulb but man it's 120 bucks.

[Racefan]

Originally Posted by Boss

I found a nice 2700k bulb but man it's 120 bucks.

That's the biggest problem with the specialty bulbs Boss. Cost. They are expensive. When I ran 400watt MH exclusivley I used the regular $9.00 bulb that home depot carried and sold off the rack. Never had a problem and buds grew great. But I always wanted to try a specialty bulb.

[Boss]

I have one regular 4200k, but need another, so depending on the budget, I may get a cheap one for a backup, and I saw one for about 60 that was 3000k. If I can get a good solid grow out of 2 400w cheap bulbs(4000k or 4200k?), that's what I will do :-)

[green acres]

wow bulbs in bc here must be cheap, i only pay $30 to $40 for 400 watt mh or hps bulbs.

[Racefan]

Originally Posted by green acres

wow bulbs in bc here must be cheap, i only pay $30 to $40 for 400 watt mh or hps bulbs.

Actually the prices boss was stating were for specialty bulbs with more red spectrum in them to give more of the flowering spectrum like HPS's have. $30.00 to $40.00 is what I spend on my 1000watt HPS bulbs. Regular MH and HPS bulbs here in the USA go for $7.00 to $12.00 depending on where it's bought at. Of course thereare more expensive places. I try to stay away from most hydro stores for bulbs. I prefer the light stores themselves like 1000bulbs.com for m y 1k bulbs. When I used 400 watt MH's I bought them off the rack at Home depot for like $10.00.

[Boss]

I really only wanted one MH and one HPS, but I won 2 auctions and only paid 50 bucks for them, so I can't complain. I just want to have one of them in the 3k range, so I don't have to have 800watts of HID, AND another 100watts in CFLs and LEDs to get the red :-)

Besides the bulbs that came with the lamps are used, and just one works, and I have no clue how many hors it was used.

Maybe I will just but a 20 dollar bulb and see what happens ;-)

[zolar]

have had good results for the price with growbright and agromax

from htgsupply they's also got some choices on LEDS was looking for a new HPS and might try off the shelf from home depot just for
local convience.

[Boss]

I got mine from used low bay lighting. I am gonna replace the ballasts with Welcome to Cheap Grow Lights! electronic switchables next month.