What color tempeature MH lamp?

[Bush Doctor 77]

After not growing indoors for years because my greenhouse supplied a surplus, I decided to grow indoors again for variety. Just got a new digital 1000W MH/HPS DE light. It came with a HPS lamp, and it's the sun! I want to get a MH lamp for it, and I see there are 6000K and 10000K lamps with enhanced blues. I see they also say run the 10000K in the last 2-3 weeks of bloom. What color temp should I get, and if it's 10000K should I use it during end of bloom. Do I need a 6000&10000K lamp?

 

[TorturedSoul]

Okay, this was way before double-ended HIDs, but I used to use 6500K metal halide during the growth phase, then switch to high pressure sodium in flowering phase. Then I had to use HPS all the way through one time - and what do you know, lol, yield went up. Wasn't extreme, but it was quantifiable (and, as it turned out, repeatable). That was with single light setups, so there was no opportunity to run a mixture of lighting all the way through and vary the ratio according to which phase the plants were in.

If you really want to use multiple bulbs (singly), 6500K MH is still a common bulb for the growth phase. But I'd do a run with (just) the HPS to use as a baseline; then, you can run (clones of) the same plants the next round for a comparison (possibly with brand new bulbs so age cannot be a factor).

The high Kelvin MH bulbs have been used as finishers. Supposed to add to the visible trichome count. On the other hand, those last couple, three weeks can be the time when one's buds are putting on their last bit of weight. And the trichome heads are not created fully-mature, lol - so it's not so simple, IMHO. Any that appear very close to harvest might even be considered to be "window dressing" (which could, I suppose, be significant if you're a dealer, IDK).

Some say you can influence trichome production via UV supplementation. A couple of relatively low-wattage tube type fluorescent reptile bulbs, maybe four foot ones, considering the likely size of your grow space. The jury is still out on that one, though. How much is enough? How much is too much? Does it work with every strain, or just with the ones that have one or more ancestors that evolved in a high-altitude location? (And, if the latter, is the grower "adding extra goodness" - or just getting the buds up to what they could naturally become if they were grown outdoors at a high altitude?)

So, yeah, still lots of debate with UV. How many watts, hope much time (it's common to use a separate timer for that), et cetera. I guess you could consider me to be cautiously optimistic on that one. But if the DE HPS is like the SE ones (IOW, no UV), I'd definitely consider it; after all, lol, it's found in sunlight.

There are numerous threads about UV supplementation on this and every other cannabis-related forum that may provide some knowledge (along with a lot of speculation ). The best part of going this route is that you get to provide maximum light all the way through - by using the HPS right up to harvest.

 

[Bush Doctor 77]

Okay, this was way before double-ended HIDs, but I used to use 6500K metal halide during the growth phase, then switch to high pressure sodium in flowering phase. Then I had to use HPS all the way through one time - and what do you know, lol, yield went up. Wasn't extreme, but it was quantifiable (and, as it turned out, repeatable). That was with single light setups, so there was no opportunity to run a mixture of lighting all the way through and vary the ratio according to which phase the plants were in.

If you really want to use multiple bulbs (singly), 6500K MH is still a common bulb for the growth phase. But I'd do a run with (just) the HPS to use as a baseline; then, you can run (clones of) the same plants the next round for a comparison (possibly with brand new bulbs so age cannot be a factor).

The high Kelvin MH bulbs have been used as finishers. Supposed to add to the visible trichome count. On the other hand, those last couple, three weeks can be the time when one's buds are putting on their last bit of weight. And the trichome heads are not created fully-mature, lol - so it's not so simple, IMHO. Any that appear very close to harvest might even be considered to be "window dressing" (which could, I suppose, be significant if you're a dealer, IDK).

Some say you can influence trichome production via UV supplementation. A couple of relatively low-wattage tube type fluorescent reptile bulbs, maybe four foot ones, considering the likely size of your grow space. The jury is still out on that one, though. How much is enough? How much is too much? Does it work with every strain, or just with the ones that have one or more ancestors that evolved in a high-altitude location? (And, if the latter, is the grower "adding extra goodness" - or just getting the buds up to what they could naturally become if they were grown outdoors at a high altitude?)

So, yeah, still lots of debate with UV. How many watts, hope much time (it's common to use a separate timer for that), et cetera. I guess you could consider me to be cautiously optimistic on that one. But if the DE HPS is like the SE ones (IOW, no UV), I'd definitely consider it; after all, lol, it's found in sunlight.

There are numerous threads about UV supplementation on this and every other cannabis-related forum that may provide some knowledge (along with a lot of speculation ). The best part of going this route is that you get to provide maximum light all the way through - by using the HPS right up to harvest.

I went ahead and bought a 400W 10000K to use in my two lamp reflector. They are only $14 on sale. Thanks for the info.