There are so many options out there nowadays. I remember when all we had was HPS and mh. We were just beginning to use cfl bulbs and 4 foot shop light florescent bulbs.
I started growing again and am blown away by the options. I have used most of these and am waiting to begin to use a CMH light. Here is a quick note on what I have noted.
Mh great for vegative growth. The old school fav. Uses lots of electricity lots of heat. Not sutable for young plants unless from a distance.
HPS still the best bulb for flowering. Like mh produces heat and not energy efficient.
Led many variables with difference in spectrum diodes wattage of LEDs cob style different lens and reflection. There are a ton of options. Energy efficient low heat and daisy chainable without a controller. Burple light is not natural and some may dislike it also may make plant trouble diagnosis a little harder. My main negative in dealing with the tech is 1 the lack of canopy penetration and 2 the lack of spread or hot spot spread. What I mean by that is super high lumuns in the center but drops on the outer edges of your grow area. A directional beam with little penetration. That being said start to finish they work just work best for sog or scrog.
Florescent or cfl is in my opinion the absolute best for tight internodal growth for seedlings clones and small vegative stage. Light penetration is an issue aswell. The are cheap and energy efficient. In a sog with enough of them you can successfully bud a plant however in my experience the buds were loose and not sale quality.
I just purchased a CMH light they are only available in 315w bulbs a 630 is just two bulbs or some strange 2 ended bulb that is essentially 2 bulbs. Supposedly 50 percentage cooler than HPS. Energy efficient more than HPS less than led. Also apparently produces a better spectrum. At 315w that already 85w less than your standard 400w mh or hps. I think light penetration may be an issue. The bulbs are expensive 60 to 90 USD. They need to be replaced every 20000 hours but supposedly hold there lumuns for longer.
There are other advantages and disadvantages not mentioned. I read somewhere on here that it really is what suits your needs.
The other thing I noticed is they all work. Some better than others. What are your thoughts? Has anyone successfully used a CMH?
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