need some lighting advice/help

Cali Grower

Cali Grower

Member
Whats up RIU? I need some advice/info on lighting. So here it goes.

I'll be growing in a grow tent or fairly large closet, and I wanted to know some of the most cost effective lighting setups. I was thinking of running T5's for vegetative growth, and then a 600w HPS and CFL's for flowering. Now, the questions:

1. Are the CFL's a good addition to the HPS for flowering?

2. What would be a way for me to use only one ballast for a 600w MH and 600w HPS (not at the same time)? And is this a good way to go until I can upgrade?

3. Are lighting systems with a built in ballast any generally any good? (Specifically this one)

thanks for the help peeps!
 
djlifeline

djlifeline

Well-Known Member
Hey,

this is my opinion,

CFL's are always good for supplement lighting to lower buds if your growing big plants. How many plants you growing under the 600W?
You want a dual 600w ballast that takes MH and HPS. Quite a few around. Lumatek ballasts are the best.
be prepared because 600w will give off tons of heat and if you have a internal ballast it will only add to the heat. Its a struggle as it is and I always think give yourself a break and use a external ballast outside the grow room.

Anything else?
p.s. you can veg under the HPS aswell :)
 
racerboy71

racerboy71

bud bootlegger
they make digital ballast now that are called convertible, meaning that they can run both hps and mh bulbs both, and i think that these are a great choice.. you only need the one ballast to run two different bulbs with.. can't beat that in my eyes..
now, i use a t5 to veg with, and think that they do an incredible job ... very low heat and the plants love them.. i even put in bloom bulbs and use them along with my hps for flowering, and it works great..
as far as adding cfls to your hid lighting, i also think its a great idea.. the more lighting the better. and you can always move the fluros to where ever you want, so that you can give more lighting to the parts of the plants that don't usually get a lot of light..
i have a hood with a built in ballast, and it works great, but then again mine is only a lil 250, so the heat is not too much of an issue with it.. i don't think i would go that route with a 600, as i would think that they run plenty hot on their own, and don't need the additional heat from the ballast..
i have heard that 600s are the best value for the money as you get the most lumens per watt over any other watt lamp..
 
Cali Grower

Cali Grower

Member
djlifeline said:
Hey,

this is my opinion,

CFL's are always good for supplement lighting to lower buds if your growing big plants. How many plants you growing under the 600W?
You want a dual 600w ballast that takes MH and HPS. Quite a few around. Lumatek ballasts are the best.
be prepared because 600w will give off tons of heat and if you have a internal ballast it will only add to the heat. Its a struggle as it is and I always think give yourself a break and use a external ballast outside the grow room.

Anything else?
p.s. you can veg under the HPS aswell :)
Click to expand...
I plan on growing about 6 - 10 but that all depends on space distribution and the approximate amount of lighting that each plant will get. Most likely it'll be about 8 first, see how well they do, and then adjust the number up or down.

and i actually do have a few more questions that i forgot to post in the op.

1) what's so great about a Hortilux bulb and is it worth the money?

2) this may be a dumb question, but, is the ballast the only thing stopping a person from running both a MH and HPS light? what i mean is, if I have a dual ballast, do i need anything else that is special or specific to each bulb? i can just pop it in the same socket on the reflector?

just to be clear if i got this (link) kit, all i would need to get would be a MH bulb since it comes with a HPS?



racerboy71 said:
they make digital ballast now that are called convertible, meaning that they can run both hps and mh bulbs both, and i think that these are a great choice.. you only need the one ballast to run two different bulbs with.. can't beat that in my eyes..
now, i use a t5 to veg with, and think that they do an incredible job ... very low heat and the plants love them.. i even put in bloom bulbs and use them along with my hps for flowering, and it works great..
as far as adding cfls to your hid lighting, i also think its a great idea.. the more lighting the better. and you can always move the fluros to where ever you want, so that you can give more lighting to the parts of the plants that don't usually get a lot of light..
i have a hood with a built in ballast, and it works great, but then again mine is only a lil 250, so the heat is not too much of an issue with it.. i don't think i would go that route with a 600, as i would think that they run plenty hot on their own, and don't need the additional heat from the ballast..
i have heard that 600s are the best value for the money as you get the most lumens per watt over any other watt lamp..
Click to expand...
by bloom bulbs do you mean bulbs that are closer to red on the color spectrum?
 
racerboy71

racerboy71

bud bootlegger
yah, cali, that is what i mean when i say bloom bulbs. sorry about that, just that my bulbs for the t5 are labelled veg and bloom, i should have been a lil more clear for you.. the blooms are definitely alot more red and the veg are more of the blue spectrum.. i can really see a big difference in my t5 bulbs color..
and to answer you latest ?'s, so long as the ballast that you buy is made for both mh and hps bulbs, that is all that you would need to run both types of bulbs.. you use the same sockets and hoods and everything else is the same.. i am not exactly sure what the difference is between a mh and hps ballast, but it mayb just how many watts that it takes for them to light, but like i said, im really not sure on that..
i got a hortilux bulb.. but mine is one of their conversion bulbs... these type of bulbs are hps, but are meant to be used in a mh system.. kinda a cool concept as like i have said, i only have the one hood with a built in ballast, so this was my best option...
i just think that hortilux bulbs may put out a few extra lumens over some other brand bulbs and also may have a longer life than other bulbs as well..
 
Cali Grower

Cali Grower

Member
racerboy71 said:
yah, cali, that is what i mean when i say bloom bulbs. sorry about that, just that my bulbs for the t5 are labelled veg and bloom, i should have been a lil more clear for you.. the blooms are definitely alot more red and the veg are more of the blue spectrum.. i can really see a big difference in my t5 bulbs color..
and to answer you latest ?'s, so long as the ballast that you buy is made for both mh and hps bulbs, that is all that you would need to run both types of bulbs.. you use the same sockets and hoods and everything else is the same.. i am not exactly sure what the difference is between a mh and hps ballast, but it mayb just how many watts that it takes for them to light, but like i said, im really not sure on that..
i got a hortilux bulb.. but mine is one of their conversion bulbs... these type of bulbs are hps, but are meant to be used in a mh system.. kinda a cool concept as like i have said, i only have the one hood with a built in ballast, so this was my best option...
i just think that hortilux bulbs may put out a few extra lumens over some other brand bulbs and also may have a longer life than other bulbs as well..
Click to expand...
i think the hps and mh may require different voltages becauase i saw something that said 120v/240v MH/HPS ballast. im not sure if thats all but it could difinitely be the reason ya know?

oh, so Hortilux is a brand? i thought it was a bulb making making technology or something. good job on my part! lol

thanks for the help btw :clap:
 
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