Plant Grow Lights - Get Rid of That Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium Bulb!

Plant Grow Lights - Get Rid of That Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium Bulb!

People who use high intensity discharge (HID) lamps in their indoor gardens don't change their bulbs often enough in an attempt to save money which only leads to drastically reduced crop production.

Metal halide (MH) bulbs emit more of the blue spectrum of light making them perfect for the vegetative stage in a plant's life cycle.

On the other hand, high pressure sodium (HPS) bulbs emit more orange, making them perfect for the flowering phase.

Although that's common knowledge, many people don't know they have to change their MH bulbs every six months and their HPS bulbs every 12 months.

Growers don't see the point of changing their bulbs when they seem to be glowing as bright as the day they bought them.

This brings us to a discussion of lumens vs. photosynthetically active radiation (PAR).

First off, don't make the mistake of even trying to compare lumens to par as they are two totally different forms of measurement.

Lumens only measure the power of a light as perceived by the human eye while PAR "designates the spectral range (wave band) of solar radiation from 400 to 700 nanometers that photosynthetic organisms are able to use in the process of photosynthesis."

In other words, a light can appear very bright to our eyes but the spectrum of light being given off isn't necessarily what the plant needs.

For example, if you're using a MH bulb during the vegetative period but it's over six months old, the spectrum of light it's emitting is different from when it was new. Again, it looks just the same to the human eye, but your plants aren't getting what you think they're getting.

If you're going to the trouble of using different HID bulbs for different stages of plant growth, then make sure those bulbs are providing the correct light spectrum by replacing them at the proper intervals.

Trying to save money on bulbs at the expense of your crop is like not changing the tires on your Ferrari. Sure, you'll save a few bucks on tires, but when you wreck your ride, it'll cost you a lot more.

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