CFL & HPS housing

I have a 400w HPS light which i got with a 400w ballast. I notice my plants aint vegging to well under the HPS. Im wondering if it would be possible to change the bulb to a 400w CFL for vegging? or would i need to buy a new housing and ballast for the 400w CFL? Your help would be much appreciated

Regards

Im thinking The CFL would plug into mains (no need for ballast) so all i might need is a 400w cfl bulb and a cable to plug into mains power instead of plugging into ballast. Please correct me if im wrong


IMPORTANT. Please never mess around with your electrical items as its very dangerous, get someone who knows what there doing.

I've never seen a 400w CFL (not actual wattage anyways).

I think you'd have better luck vegging with the HPS than CFLs, even if the light spectrum is on the warmer side.

if i take the ballast out the loop and plug direct to mains via kettle lead or something i dont think it would matter if its 400w CFL or 250w cfl.

Thanks for your advice though, i probably stick with HPS for now but i can tell that when i put 10-15 day old babies into 400w HPS from there 36w incubator they are not growing much especially so in vegging stage.

I just want optimum growth from day 1 and first 10-15 days im doing great then it sort of winds down when put into big tent under 400w hps

BladeRunner1983 said:

if i take the ballast out the loop and plug direct to mains via kettle lead or something i dont think it would matter if its 400w CFL or 250w cfl.

Thanks for your advice though, i probably stick with HPS for now but i can tell that when i put 10-15 day old babies into 400w HPS from there 36w incubator they are not growing much especially so in vegging stage.

I just want optimum growth from day 1 and first 10-15 days im doing great then it sort of winds down when put into big tent under 400w hps

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No, you're right, it won't matter what wattage it is. Those big CFLs can get kind of pricey though, I bought a couple and wish I would had just gotten an MH.

I would buy this

http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-HTGSupply-250-watt-Metal-Halide-Grow-Light.asp

before I would buy this

http://www.amazon.com/Feliz-Watt-Grow-Light-6500K/dp/B003E2GF0U

Feliz are as expensive as you're gonna get, so you could find cheaper 250w CFLs, but still. That's my take on it. I can just about guarantee you'd have better results.

cfl's come with the ballast built in, they're one unit usually, though there are some that have replaceable bulbs
cfl's really are nice performers for veg, and the 23w-26w bulbs are dirt cheap
you will need to buy regular light bulb sockets, but wiring them is pretty straight forward, plenty of instructions out there, there are 2 wires you need to get in the right order
or you could by some prewired fixtures, which is more expensive

thanks for info BillyBob, well appreciated. I think i will stick with the hps escpecially for flowering, just need some help with the vegging light and i think cfl might be the answer. Those pricey bulbs do put me off though.

I think i will source some 26w bulbs and fittings and see what i can build. Even if i put CFL's in to compliment hps during veg stage hopefully can acheive optimum growth throughout the plants life cycle. Thank you both for your advice, at least i know my options now. Very much appreciated.

You can go to lowes and get the 300w equivalent cfl's for 15$ a piece and plug in as many as you want..

Well i dont know for others but mine are growing fine under the HPS in vegetation.