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Metal-Halide HID Grow Lamps

The metal-halide HID lamps ensure the growth of the plants almost like under the natural sunlight: their white light ranges from 2700 to 5500 Kelvin with a color rendering index of 65-75. No wonder they are most often used at the places where color rendering is essential: at the supermarkets, manufacturing plants, stadiums, malls, etc. Metal halide lamps, depending on the wattage, may have the usable life span from 10,000 to 20,000 hours. Horticultural metal halide HID lamps feature red light spectrum, which promotes blooming and fruiting.

 High-pressure Sodium Lamps

High-pressure sodium lamps have yellow light (2200K) and are characterized with low color rendering index (22). Nonetheless, they are very long-lived: the life span in some cases may be about two years. High-pressure sodium lamps radiate six times more light per watt   of the consumed energy than the incandescent lamps. Their main benefit, however, when used in the horticulture, is the ability to hasten the reproductive stage of the plants growth cycle, improving flowering and fruiting, as well as promoting better and richer yields. This is achieved with the help of the orange/red spectrum of the given bulbs. At the same time, plants grown under these lamps may look unhealthy and pale due to the mentioned color rendering index, which is quite poor. Still, these lights are often used in the greenhouses and indoor gardens (usually as supplemental lights), besides their frequent usage for lighting street and parking lots.

The drawback of these lamps is that they produce much heat, which can cause insects multiplying and diseases development on the plants. To reduce heat production, specifically designed air cooled bulb reflectors/enclosures may be used.

Combination HPS/MH lamps

Another type of grow lamps is combination high pressure sodium (HPS) and metal halide (MH) lamps, where both bulbs types can be enclosed either with two separate ballast assemblies or with a single integrated ballast assembly. Such lights are said to give the perfect spectral mixture of red and blue light along with very good performance.

Switchable, Convertible and Two-way Lamps

A gardener may use either a metal halide lamp or a high pressure sodium bulb with the similar wattage in the same fixture (still, not together) in the convertible, switchable, and two-way lamps. Just insert a metal halide bulb in the fixture when propagating or starting seeds, and then change it with a high pressure sodium bulb during the flowering period of plants growth. Do not forget to place the switch to the necessary setting.

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