Ceramic Metal Halide

In case ya hadn't heard the news, metal halide is no longer just for veg. I wasn't sure how many growers are familiar wth ceramic metal halide light, so I figured I'd do an introduction to one of my favorite, pretty-recent cultivation innovations.

You might also know them as "light emitting ceramic"(LEC), but that is actually a trademark of a specific brand of CMH. These lights have taken the horticulture industries by storm, especially large, indoor cannabis facilities. Let me explain why!

_{Growers Choice 315 CMH}

The best way I can describe CMH lamps is as a mixture of both metal halide, and high pressure sodium. They use a ceramic arc tube, just like in HPS lights, instead of the quarts that has always been used in MH lamps. This allows the tube to operate at higher pressures, which allows a more ideal mixture of gases, which in turn allows the light spectrum to be really dialed in. CMH lamps have the best PAR spectrum of any HID lamp, making them closer to the sun than any lamp available. They have higher output than LED's, and lower energy costs than HPS. They are advertised as at least 10% more efficient. That is a very conservative estimate in my personal experience.

Intensity + spectrum

To put it simply, cannabis needs mostly blue, red, and green light to grow. Blue light inhibits growth, so is used in veg. Red inhibits flowering, and the green ensures penetration needed especially when the canopy gets thick. HPS lights have very little blue light, and are therefore not used in veg. Traditional metal halide lamps have very little red light, making them useless for flower. With the more ideal gas mixture, CMH lights allow for a fuller spectrum from a MH lamp, with more output than even HPS, and less energy. This equals greater efficiency, even in flower. best of all, the higher output makes resin production explode

Although CMH lights are full spectrum, they are still slightly lacking in the ideal red light(usually, more on this later) so most growers use them in combination with LED, or HPS with incredible effect. Growers are able to achieve a fuller light spectrum, with more output, and significantly less heat.

_{315w CMH Spectrum}

CMH vs LED

But what about LED's you say? They create less heat and are cheaper to operate, and you can adjust your spectrum with turn of a knob? LED's simply do not have the UV wavelengths found in CMH, or HPS. This helps with penetration, and yield obviously, but a lot of people don't realize how much that helps fight, mold and mildew too. I didn't until recently. LED's can still get impressive yields, but must be kept close to the canopy, this is why a lot of large facilities are unable to use them still. While CMH boasts high UV wavelengths, and is full spectrum.

LED's best attribute is their lack of heat. CMH's are a great compromise with even more output that HPS, with 1/3 of the heat. 1000w HPS light puts out 4000btu, while 630w CMH has equivalent output, bu with only 2500btu.

Now there does seem to be one CMH bulb being advertised as being sufficient for flowering alone, with no supplemental lighting. Here is the chart they share below. Here is a link to it on Amazon. I personally have only used CMH with HPS.

I also wanted to mention that CMH have a more natural color rendering index(CRI). This makes your plant look more natural to the eye(and easier to take decent pics), without the overpowering yellow tint. This can be deceiving though because CMH lights can be even more damaging to your eyes than HPS, because of more UV radiation. So keep your sunglasses handy.

Now ever grower has their personal preferences on everything, including lighting. Every situation is different, and I would never say one is always better than another. CMH fixtures have many benefits, but the most significant is the significantly lower operating costs, without sacrificing yield or quality, and the increase in resin production. This does come at a slightly higher upfront cost, but the energy savings will make up for that quickly. LEDs certainly are perfect for many grows, but you might investigate it to see if your tent could benefit from a switch. For commercial purposes, I would suggest anyone trying to stay competitive n cannabis should take a serious look at supplementing with CMH lights.

Keep It Real WeedCash
-Daniel

Source One
Source Two
Spectrum Chart Source

Buy Growers Choice 315/630 CMH
Buy Phantom 315/630 CMH

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