Don't be cheap like me

[Small time]

For the last nine months I've been using an old metal halide bulb for starting vegetable seeds for my garden. It's an old bulb, but I'm cheap and didn't think it mattered much. I started a few female seeds recently with the light because it worked. Problem I noticed though was that I got bad stretch with anything further away than 8". Well, last week I ordered a new bulb because the old one was old 20 years ago when I put it away. Needless to say, I'm freaking blinded with the candle power of the new bulb. Never thought I'd see such a huge improvement. From now on, if it's a year old, it's getting replaced.

 

[Skyrancher]

hahaha...time for some new sunglasses too !! Thanks for the heads up

 

[Skyrancher]

If you are going bare bulb, yes really.....check this out.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?threadid=153770

A plee for your health

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After having grown vertical for years now and many years of flat before that, I now need glasses and my vision has been ruined.

As vertical growers, you especially are vulnerable to eye damage. I highly suggest turning your HID's off when working in your room/s. If you can't be bothered by that, then get at least 2 pairs of really good sunglasses that can overlap each other.

Metal halides put off UV but HPS don't. If running MH vertically, this will degrade your eyes rapidly. You must wear UV protected sunglasses if working in your room/s with the lights on.

Please listen and learn from my mistakes.

Edit:

Since the creation of this thread, many people have shared their knowledge and experience. A lot of us have purchased Shade 5 welding goggles and it has helped drastically. I still recommend turning your lights off if you need to do some work, but again, if you can't be bothered, goto amazon.com and type in shade 5 (or IR 5) welding goggles. I got the fancy "fly" ones, so it was $13.00 with super saver shipping, but they have a pair that is $7.00.

People spend way more then $7.00 on any other aspect of their grow, invest in yourself.