about to invest in an hps system and have a few questions.

Well its time to start planning for flowering and I'm going to switch to an hps system. I am trying a scrog this time I am growing two clones over a four foot long by one foot wide screen. I just don't understand what wattage I'm going to need. This is still a month or two from flowering but I need to get this set up any advice is appreciated.

The first thing that comes to my mind is the footprint of your scrog. If you could make it 2' x 3' it would use the light much more effectively. Anything over about 3' sort of gets left out and 1' wide would be wasting a lot of light.

I could move it to a bit wider. My setup now is just two ballasts with daylight tubes so I was concerned about them not getting enough light for veg. What wattage would you suggest? I'm thinking a 400 but I see a lot of like 150's would a 400 be a waste on such a small grow?

if i were you mate and you can afford it id get some sort of coold hood for your lights...i didnt know shit when i startd out and just bought bog standerd hps lamp hoods when i did my big grow room...hard work keeping the heat lower than 80-90f and thats just 4 lights...dread to think what its gonna b like wiv 6...if your only getting one and you got good ventilation u should b ok but id think ahead...if your gonna get bigger at some point the cool hoods take alot of hassle outa growing

fenderburn84 said:

I could move it to a bit wider. My setup now is just two ballasts with daylight tubes so I was concerned about them not getting enough light for veg. What wattage would you suggest? I'm thinking a 400 but I see a lot of like 150's would a 400 be a waste on such a small grow?

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A 400w would never be overkill. Basically the more light you have, the more bud your plants can produce. It's a grams/watt rule of thumb. The only thing you may regret is not going with a 1,000w.

Me again FB. I agree with potpimp. Try to get it more squared off if you can. I say go for it and get a 400 watt light. It will work for a 4x4 area just fine. You can go smaller with maybe a 200 or so, but the 400 will give better coverage and penatration of light. With the higher wattage does come a higher concern for heat, so a cooled hood would be good too. I havent seen your grow space as of late, but if it's like you started out, the heat could just be dissapated throughout your room.

I kinda figured that would be the answer. Did my first grows with just cfls and tubes really would like a better yield, I'm gonna hop on eBay right now and price check the 1ks

Oh man grumpy that first one was rough lol. Totally new set up now complete with closed walls and a hood reflector. It's still pretty ghetto but its coming along ill put some pics up this weekend got family over now and trying to be as low key as possible for right now.

Check out htg supply. They usually have some great deals. I'll be ordering one or going to one soon for a new 400 . Right. Now I'm in a 4x4 room doing veg then flipping, but after the new light I'm going to have a speedster flower room to try a perpetual.

Here are some quick shots.

Hey man, nothing wrong wth a Mickey mouse set up as long as it gets the job done. But, with your height of yur space I would have to take bAck the 400 water comment.

As was mentioned, the dimensions of your SCROG, 1' x 4' makes picking a wattage and reflective hood a bit more of a task than if your dimensions were different. With a funky cold medina dimension/area to light you will be wasting a lot of light if you try to get coverage by going the mega-watt - major reflective hood size route.

If your dimensions will always remain the same, say due to grow room size/shape, and you will have to stick with a roughly 1' x 4' SCROG you might want to consider a dual bulb Cool Tube, a single Cool Tube but that is longer and will hold two bulbs.

You would need two ballasts but you could go with two 600-watt bulbs with the dual 600-watt Lumatek ballast. and be in like Flynn.












Dual Air Cool Tube 6" x 48" Long


Product Information
Use this larger design over flood tables up to 4' x 8'. Use the adjustable socket rings to slide the bulbs into perfect position for any size area.

• Exclusive adjustable socket rings allow for various positioning of the bulbs within in the tube
• 6" diameter; 48" long
• Included reflector can be removed to use the tube vertically
• Attach your own cord
• Compatible with all major lamp brands

Or you could go with two 400-watt bulbs and not waste so much light to the sides and run two separate ballasts. Either way though you would be covering your 4' of length with good light.

You did mention HPS, and I assumed that was because you are talking about flowering, but whatever you do make sure you get a ballast or ballasts that will let you also burn MH bulbs so you can use the same light for vegging and be giving the proper light spectrum.

How so bud? The box I have set up now is only for revegging I plan on the screen being only a couple of inches off the dirt also I am going to be redoing the whole space yet again once I have the clones ready. As for the poor craftsmanship of it my circular saw took a shit and all I had was an old jigsaw lol. I just checked htgsupply and found a 400 watter for under 120$ you think ill need more?

Thanks bricktop I think I'm gonna have to readjust my original idea and go more square with it. I really don't have to go go four feet long I was just trying to make a box fit the tube ballasts I am using for veg. That like almost all of my plans can easily be changed.

fenderburn84 said:

...you think ill need more?

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LMAO!!! Does a man ever have too much horsepower? Can a woman ever have "too big" of boobs? Can a person ever be too rich, too beautiful, or too healthy? Haven't you ever seen Tim Allen say "What this thing needs is more power, rrrr rrrr rrr"? More is better. If you get a dimmable ballast you can always dial it down and, if you're like most here, you'll want a bigger light for your next grow; it's just inevitible.

I like to have at least a 3 foot "window" from what I expect my fully flowered plants height to be. So if I veg till 2 feet my room light can be about 1-2 feet above the canopy with a little extra height for extra heat to rise away. A cooled hood helps greatly (as anyone can tell you) with keeping your room shorter. I have 8 foot ceilings in both my veg and flower spaces so have lots of room to play with.

The room is ten feet high. I installed hooks and chains already so I can go as high or low as I need I've also got a few sheets of plywood that I'm going to be using for the new walls wich will ne covered in this mylar I got on sale at ace. This is going to be another learning curve for me so bear with me guys. As some of you know I'm a firm beliver in the only dumb question is that left un-asked.

fenderburn84 said:

Thanks bricktop I think I'm gonna have to readjust my original idea and go more square with it. I really don't have to go go four feet long I was just trying to make a box fit the tube ballasts I am using for veg. That like almost all of my plans can easily be changed.

Click to expand...

Changing to a different shape/dimension, if feasible, would be the most judicious choice to make. I just thought you might more or less be locked into a certain basic shape/dimension and have to make it work and if that would be the case the Dual Cool Tube would be an answer to your lighting questions.

If you have some aversion to a 1000-watt light and just won't go with one I would suggest you go with a digital ballast 600-watt dimmable HID light. If you can warm up to the idea of a 1000-watt light, go with a dimmable 1000-watt light.

Not making a suggestion for purchase here and instead just using this light for an example, though it is a more than just a decent value for the dollar:

DIGITAL GREENHOUSE DIMMABLE 600 watt BALLAST

• Run at 50%, 75% or 100% FULL POWER
• Operates both Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium Bulbs
• UL LISTED for SAFETY & RELIABILITY!
• Accepts 120v (Household) to 240 voltages (120v cord included, 240v cord can be substituted at no extra cost)
• Allows 50 Hertz to 60 Hertz (US or EURO voltages)
• OPERATES well with GENERATORS!
• Runs 15% cooler than other digital ballasts on the market!
• High Power Factor of 99.9%
• The most stable output frequency of any ballast
• Higher lumen output and more efficient than magnetic ballasts
• Light weight and trouble free
• 5 year warranty

What is up with DIMMABLE Ballasts?
Dimmable Digital Electronic ballasts are the latest innovation in High Intensity Discharge (HID) Horticultural Lighting Technology. The Digital Greenhouse DIMMABLE Digital Ballasts allows you to operate your 600 watt lamp at 50%, 75% or 100% Full Power! This is especially useful when you have young plants that do not need and cannot withstand the full output of 600 watts. You can start your plants under 50% power, then as they grow move up to 75% and finish them off with 100% full power. This saves you money on your electric bill and more importantly fullfills the lighting needs your plants require at specific stages of growth. It's all about CONTROL! You control the output of the light your plants need when they need it!
Being dimmable you have options, you can use it in different ways at different stages of growth. It is like being able to use multiple light systems all in one. It's well worth considering.

You could go with a 400-watt that does the same thing but for the very small difference in price (only $15.00 in this brand of light/ballast) and how much more you will get from a 600-watt the little extra would be money well spent.

But remember, regardless of what wattage you pick, a reflective hood can make or break a lighting system. It can be the difference between any given wattage being perfect or not nearly enough due to both the size/shape and the efficiency of the footprint.

Just found a 600w mh hps ballast with both bulbs for under $200. Jumping on it. Will it hurt my girls to just jump from the tubes I'm running now to a mh bulb?

And it has a cool tube as well as a dimmer. Telling the old lady about this little late night purchase ought to be fun lol. I think ill just call it my early present to myself. If I'm not on for a few days she probably killed me lol.