Switching MH and HPS every week?

[hazyatbest]

is it crazy to think that you could switch the bulbs out of your light every week to get more of a wider range of light spectrum?

my light comes with a MH conversion bulb and a HPS, and i was wondering if it would hurt the plant to change the bulb out once a week? i wasn't sure if this would put stress on the plant or not. seems like a reasonable idea to me...

 

[hazyatbest]

i thought that you could get approx. the same amount from either light, but the buds are just a little different. i thought i heard also that the MH buds are denser and more resinous, while the HPS are a little bigger in size, but not as dense making them the about the same weight? either way, i think it would be a very interesting experinment.

 

[Be Irie]

Actually an HPS used in veg will cause the plant to stretch more compared to the MH which keeps the stacks tighter. I have combined them, a 400 mh and a 400 hps for flower and got good results. I like mixing the lights for flowering, just gotta make sure you rotate them. It's good to try new and different things out, never know what you will stumble on too

 

[311stoner]

Dude you're trying to make everything so much more complicated than it is, like wanting to use hydroton in the soil instead of vermiculite, there's no benefit to it besides costing more, the vermiculite will hold moisture better and drainage isn't an issue for you guys so why change what works... If you know that plants in veg use more of the blue spectrum and plants in flowering use more of the red spectrum, which is scientifically proven, why would you spend a week depriving one from the best type of light in that stage??? I will guarantee you if you did two plants side by side and all things equal, the one with all MH for veg and HPS for flowering will be shorter, with denser, thicker, more resinous buds and yield more than the one switching back and forth. If that weren't the case, you'd hear everyone talking about switching back and forth, but you don't, not in any book you've ever read or any post from any of the gurus on here... Adding a MH to a HPS would be helpful in flowering but I don't think you wanna see that electric bill for two months or buy another ballast. Why would you stick in a metal halide for a week when you know HPS is best for flower and vice versa. I feel like you're trying to invent something or just have this interest in doing a grow that no one else has seen before, I think you guys should just stick with what works and enjoy the great results you're going to get when you do stick with what you know works.... If I told you your car gets the best gas mileage with 87 gas, would you pay more $$$ for 93 grade to get less gas mileage just for more variety?? That's what you'd be doing when you go all HPS during veg, paying more for less results all in the name of variety. K.I.S.S.

 

[Racefan]

is it crazy to think that you could switch the bulbs out of your light every week to get more of a wider range of light spectrum?

my light comes with a MH conversion bulb and a HPS, and i was wondering if it would hurt the plant to change the bulb out once a week? i wasn't sure if this would put stress on the plant or not. seems like a reasonable idea to me...

Sounds like a lot of work but I know nothing ever gets discovered without experimentation. If your not afraid of possibly hurting yield try it and give us a report of how it goes.
I myself run HPS only all the way through but have run MH all the way through as well. both work extremely well and any difference was so small it was not noticeable.

 

[311stoner]

I just feel like you're trying to reinvent the wheel here and I think what I'm saying is pretty common sense. Botanists have proved plants in veg use more of the blue light spectrum which is why they say use MH in veg; plants in flowering use more of the red light spectrum which is why people like to flower with the HPS, why you'd want to take away the spectrum they use the most of I have no clue....

If I told you off road tires worked best on rough terrain and road tires worked best for highways, would you switch every week "for variety" if you're just driving on the highway or use the tires for their specific application???? Would you expect off-road tires to perform as well as the road tires on the highway??? Of course not, the road tires are better suited for it and vice versa, just as MH is best suited for veg and HPS for flower... I really don't know how else to explain it, if that doesn't convince you I don't know what will....

 

[tonystarks]

I thought about buying one of those mh/hps combo bulbs instead of another 1000W HPS So, you switch back and forth for a while and let me see if this shiet works Good luck on your experiment and let us know how it goes

 

[311stoner]

Hazy don't have the plants anymore due to am unfortunate living situation at his place, I've adopted the 3 Bleu Cheese plants and they are loving their new home next to my 2 Strawberry Blue girls under a 600w HPS. Once the 600w MH bulb gets in they'll go under that until flowering where the HPS will be used again. The largets one is maybe 8 inches tall with about 20 budsites thanks to some low stress training...

 

[jronicus]

I don't understand why everyone is trying to shoot down this guy's idea. Everyone is saying "Why do this?" or "Why reinvent the wheel?" but by that logic you could say "Why go to the moon?" or "Why tie a key to a kite during a thunderstorm?". If it weren't for the pioneering individuals who first imagined space exploration or of harnessing the power of electricity and ignored naysayers who doubted them, we wouldn't have a lot of the technological advances that we do.

I've thought of doing the same thing that the OP asked about and it wouldn't be a big deal at all to do since I have all the equipment already and it would take about a minute to switch bulbs. If this could increase yield or quality of the final product I would gladly take the few minutes every month to switch out the bulbs every so often. I wish I could find some more information about this and if I had more grows under my belt I would consider doing a comparison grow with this method. It sounds like it might benefit the plant to me- it gives it more of what it needs by way of different light spectrums and also more closely mimics an outdoor plant's environment. I imagine using more HPS and less MH light as the plant ages would resemble the natural transition of seasons.


But hey- why would you do something against what is known to work? Why would anyone think to use nutrients, co2 enrichment, hydroponics, trimming techniques, or take clones when you could simply throw seeds in the ground outside and let mother nature take its course? (just trying to make a point, not trying to start a flame war )