mh vs HPS

Justin510

Well-Known Member
i finally got some money,
so i want to buy a better light for my 8 plants
5 of them are under this one 38" fish tank light with a sunbright bulb
and 3 of them are under 3 cfl's,

i have enough to hey a mh light or a HPS from High Tech Garden Supply

i can only get a 400watt light, (price)
what would be the better one to get?

and how soon can i go from clone to harvest with
one of those lights?


-justin
 

Toking Tide

Well-Known Member
thats the exact one I just bought videoman. I also ordered a 430 watt phillips son agro bulb that should be here any day now.
 

videoman40

Well-Known Member
Yeah, it is a nice light, and you can aircool it if needed. I just placed acouple of PC fans on it to help get the heat out.
Peace

thats the exact one I just bought videoman. I also ordered a 430 watt phillips son agro bulb that should be here any day now.
 

hearmenow

Well-Known Member
Justin, if you are like me and are only growing for personal use, I'd consider getting this High Tech Garden Supply

"the ULTIMATE Grow Light, a 400 watt High Pressure Sodium grow light system combined with a 400 watt Metal Halide grow light system. This ULTIMATE system includes one fantastic grow light ballast, two specialty horticultural bulbs (lamps), an awesome four-side horizontal reflector and a FREE heavy duty timer. This is a better value in grow lights than you would find at any other hydroponics store"

For $200 (S&H included) you get a 400 MH for vegging and a 400 HPS for flowering. That's what I am planning on getting. More than enough for a 5'X5' area. Ideally, I'd invest in a digital ballast and an air cooled light but now you are talking about $400 and for this amateur grower, that's just too much. If I were growing to sell, I'd easily invest $2k. You'll make that back on your first harvest alone. Good luck.
 

pntballking01

Active Member
I have the HTG ultimate package MH/HPS light kit, but upgraded the reflector to the supernova reflector. It works great, and I'm totally happy.
 

hearmenow

Well-Known Member
pnt, you grow for personal use or to sell? Also, what was your deciding factor in upgrading the reflector?
 

SmokerE

Well-Known Member
I bet it's because you get a piece of shit reflector with the economy one. I have it, with intentions on getting a better one to distribute the light better.
 

Gygax1974

Just some idiot
Justin, if you are like me and are only growing for personal use, I'd consider getting this High Tech Garden Supply

"the ULTIMATE Grow Light, a 400 watt High Pressure Sodium grow light system combined with a 400 watt Metal Halide grow light system. This ULTIMATE system includes one fantastic grow light ballast, two specialty horticultural bulbs (lamps), an awesome four-side horizontal reflector and a FREE heavy duty timer. This is a better value in grow lights than you would find at any other hydroponics store"

For $200 (S&H included) you get a 400 MH for vegging and a 400 HPS for flowering. That's what I am planning on getting. More than enough for a 5'X5' area. Ideally, I'd invest in a digital ballast and an air cooled light but now you are talking about $400 and for this amateur grower, that's just too much. If I were growing to sell, I'd easily invest $2k. You'll make that back on your first harvest alone. Good luck.
I use the same light, works for me. I also upgraded the reflective hood.
 

videoman40

Well-Known Member
That light will never cover 5x5
Do the math
5x5=25
400W ÷ 25ft²= 16
50W/ft² is the minimum recommended for flowering.
Peace
 

beenthere donethat

Well-Known Member
Yup..a 3 x 3 area is all a 400 is gonna cover and produce decent bud.

And why did you buy a 430 lamp if you have the same 400 system, tokin? You'll still only get 400 watts of light from it....not that the 30 extra watts makes any difference anyway....

I hope those switchable ballasts have a good warranty. Switchables always go bad first....we sent more of those (OK, almost all of the warranty work we handled was on switchables) back than anything else...

cus cheap is only cheap if it lasts or you can get a new one with no questions if the old one fucks up.

good luck

bt dt
 

SmokerE

Well-Known Member
That light will never cover 5x5
Do the math
5x5=25
400W ÷ 25ft²= 16
50W/ft² is the minimum recommended for flowering.
Peace

Wouldn't he reduce his square foot if the bulb was placed 1 foot above the canopy? Your factoring it by the plants being 5 foot tall, I doubt they will be that tall.


Babygro has a hell of an explanation on here somewhere.
 

videoman40

Well-Known Member
The bulb SHOULD be 1 foot above the canopy, the math has nothing to do with plant height.
3x3 is the proper coverage for a 400 watt light, the "5x5" is the size room that was previously suggested, not plant height.

Babygro has never even used an hps light.
Peace

Wouldn't he reduce his square foot if the bulb was placed 1 foot above the canopy? Your factoring it by the plants being 5 foot tall, I doubt they will be that tall.


Babygro has a hell of an explanation on here somewhere.
 

SmokerE

Well-Known Member
ok say i have a room 5 x 5 right? I put some plants in there but only grow it to say 3 foot tall. The width of the growing area for the plants is say "3" foot wide, but the room is 5 foot wide. It's still not enough light? I had my plant that I grew and got about an oz and a half in a room that was 8 foot wide by 7 foot high. Didn't have a problem with it. I would have to assume this is because I kept the light right above the plant.
 

videoman40

Well-Known Member
Your room may of been 5x5, but your growing area was only 3 feet, which is the correct size for a 400 watt light.
Peace
 

nongreenthumb

Well-Known Member
The bulb SHOULD be 1 foot above the canopy, the math has nothing to do with plant height.
3x3 is the proper coverage for a 400 watt light, the "5x5" is the size room that was previously suggested, not plant height.

Babygro has never even used an hps light.
Peace
You dont have to have used a hid to understand light and the theories behind it.

I know what smokere was on about its a shame you dont even bother to read other peoples posts properly before putting down your opinion on it.

If you put your 600w hid light on the floor, so there is 0 inches between it and the floor, your going to get 600w per square foot, because its not going to cover any more than that. Raise it up a bit and then maybe you'll cover 4 sq foot, then you will be getting 150w per square foot.

It would be far better to go off some of babygros posts on how light deminishes and work out how many lumens cover the area and how much you need per square foot and how much space you want to cover.
 

beenthere donethat

Well-Known Member
Ok..we got that coffee mess all cleaned up. It was really easy because we had so much light from these massive CFL's we use here...

and if we're getting down to tossin shit, suckin E...it would be far better to READ than to ask stoopid little noob questions that have been answered a 100,000 times before here in a million other threads generated by 12 year olds on the very same topic....

kids...they think they know everything...
 
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