Welcome back to the Epic Gardening Podcast everyone. Today we're talking about a concept

that is super important if you're growing indoors under artificial lights.

Yesterday's episode was about similar topics, but today we're talking about one specific question.

And the question is this, how do I know when to replace my bulbs?

It's a really important question because since we are actually paying

for the light, unlike outdoor growers who are just growing with the sun and that of course is a

free energy source, it's really important to get the

most out of our bulbs and the most out of the money that we pay for electricity.

So it's important to understand when the bulbs that we're using need to be replaced.

Today I'm going to talk about three different types of bulbs and when they need to be replaced.

First, H-I-D bulbs or high intensity discharge, second, T-5

fluorescence, and third, LEDs or light-emitting diode systems.

First let's tackle H-I-D.

Now, H-I-D includes metal halide, ceramic metal halide,

and high-pressure sodium, but I'm going to talk about these as a unit because the

principles are relatively the same.

When an HID lamp is first fired, it receives a huge voltage pulse, which is much higher than what it uses

when it's just on and running normally. That initial voltage pulse actually damages the lamp

every single time it's fired.

The initial voltage is the main reason why if you use an

HPS bulb or an HID bulb for a long period of time, you will see blackening within the arc tubes.

Now over time, which is typically around 6 to 12 months, turning it on and off over and over again, actually damages the bulb to the point

...