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Which bulb to use to continue pod growth? 400w HPS or MH?

Scarlet Fire

Scarlet Fire

So this weekend my dad and I are finally building a frame to hang my 400w ballast to keep about half of my plants going through the winter. I haven't had it up since back in March when I was still living in North Carolina. Anyway, I've got a dual ballast with a switch to support either a MH or HPS bulb. My question is: which bulb should I use to finish ripening my MANY young green pods on the plants?

I raised most of the plants up under my Metal Halide bulb, but my own intuition would tell me to go with the HPS to finish ripening. I've got about 60+ Chocolate Habanero pods, 30+ Bhuts, and maybe 30 Cayennes (all green) that I want to ripen to harvest. I guess my biggest concern is that since night temps here are now in the 50s and the light days have shortened a bit, that the HPS might overwhelm the plants. I've got a Sunmaster Metal Halide bulb and a Hortilux High Pressure Sodium. Which do I use, and after this next big harvest, should I switch back to Metal Halide for a bit and cut the plants back to rejuvenate them?

Barrage me with advice. Thanks!
 
Oh, no way! That was just my pod count. I'm only trying to bring in 6-8 plants. Yeah if I were going that big, I'd be thinking about a dual 1000w setup.
 
Thanks guys. I'm hoping all my immature pods will finish ripening under the MH so I can simultaneously start a few of next year's plants and end up with more monsters like my year-old Bhut. I'd like to bring 8 choice plants inside and start 4 new ones, for a total of 12 plants - 3 rows of 4, all in 5-gallon buckets (eventually). I think that's the most I'd ever push it with a single 400w.
 
Im going to use t5 h.o. very soon for my overwintered plants. to keep them podding and growing since that made them grow very fast indoorsa nd they produced 2 sets of blooms tha ti picked last spring
 
Im in the same boat! I use a 400 watt hps bulb. Hps is better for flowering and fruiting/ pod ripening because it mimics the color temp of the sun more then an MH light. Hope this helps
 
megahot said:
Im in the same boat! I use a 400 watt hps bulb. Hps is better for flowering and fruiting/ pod ripening because it mimics the color temp of the sun more then an MH light. Hope this helps
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Good answer! THe only part i dislike about growing indoors is how my plants reach for the light! They are getting huge and just now podding up.
 
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