Best 600W HPS Bulbs For Flowering

If you are an indoor gardener, you need to understand one vital fact. You must use a high-quality and effective grow light.

Seasoned indoor gardeners know the HPS grow lamp for its quality and effectiveness.

And we know HPS grow lamps for their ability to support high-yielding plants. That is why HPS is still a popular grow bulb among indoor plant growers.

The HPS bulb may sport a basic grow light design. But each of HPS’s grow lights may vary from the other in their light quality.

You must always use a high-quality HPS grow light to grow your indoor plants. In this guide, we will introduce you to the best 600W HPS grow bulbs that are well-suited for flowering plants.

Best 600W HPS Bulbs For Flowering: Top Five Lamps

We’ve consulted with several other expert indoor growers. We wanted to find out which 600W HPS grow bulb they recommend for flowering plants.

Here are the best picks, which include our considerations as well:

IMAGE	PRODUCT	DETAILS
	OUR TOP PICK Ushio HPS Lamp	Best Value Optimized for flowering	CHECK PRICE ->
	Digilux HPS	Best Quality More Expensive	CHECK PRICE ->
	Eye Hortilux HPS	25% more blue light 1 year warranty	CHECK PRICE ->
	Plantmax	Inexpensive Option Slightly less output	CHECK PRICE ->
	VIVOSUN Full Kit	Includes all equipment Get started quickly	CHECK PRICE ->

First on our list is the crowd favorite: Ushio HPS Lamp. This grow light is one of the most recommended HPS lamps. Most experienced indoor plant growers stand by this grow light bulb.

The Ushio 600W HPS lamp’s enhanced 2100K light spectrum is optimized for flowering plants. You cannot find another HPS lamp better than that.

This Ushio lamp also has an enhanced blue light emission. So, you can use it for the flowering phase and your indoor plants’ entire life cycle.

Blue light is essential for your flowering plants as well. That makes this light an excellent addition to your grow tent setup.

The lamp is powerful, and it has a high PAR output of 1,150 μmol/s.

You can use the Ushio HPS lamp in all different grow tent settings—including hydroponics and aquaponics.

With the Ushio 600W HPS lamp, you get what you pay for. We acknowledge it is not the cheapest grow light on this list. But the Ushio grow light is the most affordable grow bulb among the top-rated HPS lamps on the market.

Check Ushio 600W HPS with enhanced performance here.

If Ushio is the most affordable among the best HPS lamps out there, the Digilux HPS bulb is at the other end of the spectrum.

The Digilux HPS is the most expensive lamp on our list. But it is also the best in build quality and durability.

This lamp has one of the most optimized light spectrums among all HPS lamps. The spectrum is exceptionally rich in red and blue light, making this a great grow bulb for a flowering plant.

Digilux also emits high-intensity light with a light output of around 95,000 lumens.

We highly recommend this lamp if you’re searching for a grow bulb. This bulb can give the best results for your growing plants.

Digilux is slightly better than Ushio, but because it is more expensive (check its price here), it came in second on our list.

Next on our 600-watt HPS grow light bulb list is the Eye Hortilux. This bulb is another commended brand of HPS lamps that has outstanding features.

Like Ushio, the Eye Hortilux 600W HPS lamp has an enhanced and optimized spectrum. The company improved it for flowering plants.

This lamp emits 25% more light in the blue spectral range than other less-optimized HPS lights. The brand also asserts that the lights emit 17% more energy than other HPS lamps.

Yes, they are expensive bulbs (check their prices here). But the manufacturer is located in the US, so you know you are getting quality in exchange for your money. As they say, you get what you pay for.

The manufacturer tests the Eye Hortilux lamps before they package them. They also have a full one-year warranty.

With Eye Hortilux you can pull a very high yield from plants, 100% guaranteed.

If an expensive light bulb is not your thing, and you are looking for something that won’t hurt your wallet. We suggest you give Plantmax a go.

This light bulb is a more affordable choice, compared to the other HPS light bulbs listed here.

Plantmax 600W HPS is a decent lamp for flowering plants. With a 2000K Kelvin rating, this lamp has a warm light spectrum. This spectrum can induce blooming and increase yield.

It does have a light output of 90,000 lumens. That is a little less than lamps we mentioned before, but the experts still consider the HPS lamp efficient.

You can get three Plantmax 600W HPS lamps for less than the price of one Ushio, Eye Hortilux, or Digilux.

So, if you are searching for an affordable HPS lamp, Plantmax is the perfect grow bulb. It will please your wallet and your flowering plants (check it here).

VIVOSUN is another inexpensive brand of HPS grow light. The company sells its products at prices comparable to Plantmax.

The brand also offers a complete, high-quality HPS light kit. It makes indoor plant growing much easier for beginners.

Choosing a ballast for your HPS lamp can be tricky (more on that below). So, if you’re a starter, the VIVOSUN 600W HPS kit will work well. It has a ballast that is compatible with the lamp.

The kit also includes a reflector fixture, hanging equipment, and a timer.

The lamp found in the kit has a light spectrum that is rich in red light. But it emits less blue light than other HPS lamps on our list.

VIVOSUN 600W kit is very inexpensive—especially considering all the equipment it contains (you can check it here).

What You Should Know Before Buying An HPS Lamp

Have you decided which HPS grow light to buy for your indoor plants? Before you click that checkout button, here are a few tips you should know when buying an HPS lamp.

1) You Need A Ballast To Run An HPS Lamp

To keep your HPS lifespan as long as possible, you will need a ballast.

A ballast regulates the electricity coming into your lamp, so it doesn’t get damaged.

HID lamps, including HPS, need less electricity after warming up. Because of this, they will stop working without a ballast.

There are many ballasts on the market, and to choose the right one for your HID lamp, you need to do some research.

The main two types of ballasts are magnetic and electric. Each type has its pros and cons.

Electric ballasts can come in a digital form nowadays. Digital ballasts include a microprocessor that can regulate electricity better.

If you don’t know which ballast will work for your HPS light, buying an HPS grow light kit is the easiest solution. Kits usually include a compatible ballast HPS light in the kit. Confirm if the company includes a ballast before buying a kit.

2) Most HPS Lamps Aren’t Suitable For The Vegetative Phase

HPS lamps that aren’t rich in blue light aren’t suitable for the vegetative phase of your plants.

Most HPS lamps don’t emit enough quantities of blue light. You will need to avoid using them before the flowering stage.

If you use HPS during the vegetative phase, your plants will grow spindly and weak.

You need to use MH lamps that emit enough blue light to fuel the vegetative phase.

MH lamps also need a ballast to run, so choose a ballast that can work for both your MH and HPS lamps.

Learn more about growing plants with lights.

3) LED Grow Lights Are More Optimized For Growth Than HPS Lamps

Some growers believe HPS lamps are better than LED lights for plant growth, but that is not true.

First, LED grow lights are far more efficient than HPS lamps. The PPF efficacy (PPE) of an HPS lamp is below one μmol/J (around 0.9 μmol/J), while most modern LED grow lights have a PPE above two μmol/J.

That means an LED grow light emits two times more light than an HPS lamp with the same wattage.

So, if you want to save energy and money, you should use LEDs.

The light spectrums of LED grow lights can also be more optimized than HPS lamps. Although not all LEDs have better light spectrums than HPS lamps, many do.

HLG Quantum Boards have better spectrums and are more efficient than HPS lamps, for example.

Since HPS lamps are not very efficient, they emit much more heat than LEDs. Too much heat can be a massive problem for an indoor plant grower.

Remember that while LED grow lights can be more expensive than HPS lamps, this is not always true. In some instances, LEDs come cheaper than whole HPS kits.

Also, you will spend more money when using HPS light bulbs in the long run. They have shorter lifespans and need more energy to run compared to using LED grow lights.

So, think twice before buying an HPS lamp today.

Finals Words

There are many high-quality 600W HPS bulbs on the market that can make your plants happy.

We know HPS lamps can produce excellent results. But LED grow lights have emerged to become more optimized for growing.

Many great LEDs will work for your plants. They could replace your high-maintenance HPS lamps.

Yet, you may have achieved great results under HPS lamps in the past. If you want to replicate your success, you can choose one of the HPS lamps we recommended above.

So, which 600w HPS bulb is your favorite? Are you still using an HPS bulb for growing indoor plants, or have you upgraded to an LED grow light kit?

We would love to hear what you think. Share your thoughts and suggestions in a comment below. Happy growing!