Need advice on lighting. Any help would be appreciated.

[KronicBudxSMKRx]

Hey everybody, so I had an idea and i wanted to come here to see what you all thought. I have a 4ft x 4ft grow tent with a 6in and a 4in

an/filter combo, and wanted to get a 600 watt ballast and dual socket cool tube with a 400MH/200HPS bulb to veg and a 400HPS/200MH

bulb to flower. Assuming that I'll be able to keep the temperature down, is it a good idea?? bad idea?? or a better way to do this? Right now

I'm running a 400watts with MH to veg and HPS to flower.


cheers

 

[budleydoright]

probably be more cost effective to just go single bulb and HPS smokes MH IMHO. Maybe spending less on ballasts and bulbs will afford a bigger fan to help keep it cool.

 

[BlueBalls]

It's not going to work like that. If you want 2 lights. You need 2 ballasts.
Other than that. Using multiple spectrums is a good improvement.

 

[KronicBudxSMKRx]

ahhh so it would need two ballasts. Thanks for the input.

 

[nuglets]

i agree, a mixed spectrum especiially in flower leads to better yields and healthier plants. also, you can't run all that on just 1 ballast...like the post above says. get an MH bulb for veg and a HPS bulb for flower. use CFL's or T5's for yourmixed spectrum.

 

[KronicBudxSMKRx]

budleydoright: I already have the 400 watt MH for veg and 400watt HPS to flower. I was just trying to think of ways to give the veg a little

of the red and the flower a little of the blue spectrum.

nuglets: I'm a noob in the CFL side of lighting since I've never used it before. What type of fixture will do the

job for 4 plants? They're about 4-5ft tall. http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-FLT24-2-Foot-Fluorescent-System/dp/B002JQBQZQ < would

something like this work along side my HID light or are there bigger T5's out there?

 

[sfttailpaul]

It's not going to work like that. If you want 2 lights. You need 2 ballasts.
Other than that. Using multiple spectrums is a good improvement.

For Veg'ing, SUNPULSE (sunpulselamps.com) has a "splitter" that I have been using for over 2 years with good results. You use one (1) 1,000 Watt HPS ballast and this device splits it into two (2) @ 600W MH. They will really operate @ a bit below 500 watts each because it is impossible to get 1,200 watts out from 1,000 watts in. This device saves on bulb life too as well as electricity, and they offer several spectrum's so you can blend the spectrum to suit your needs. Available in: 3.0, 4.0, 6.4 and 10K. They cost about $60.00, but this sure beats another ballast cost. Also, Hydrofarm (almost all Hydro stores sell the products they represent) has a "Growzilla" reflector. This has two HID sockets in one reflector. Love them; wish all my reflectors were these...

 

[KronicBudxSMKRx]

wait wait wait...so does the Growzilla need two ballasts or just one? That's exactly what I was looking at getting, lol.

 

[unohu69]

This is the device:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ALRZLW

best price iv seen also.


SoftailPaul, what kind of results are you getting compared to say a straight 600 or 1000 watt bulb. Are the two 600's ( running a lil below 500 watts) giving you good results in your yields?

I want to run the two 600 bulbs off a 1k ballast, over an area about 4'x7' air cooled hoods of course.

This is what i plan on doing wiht my 1k ballast.

 

[budleydoright]

wait wait wait...so does the Growzilla need two ballasts or just one? That's exactly what I was looking at getting, lol.

It needs two. Like stta said, you can use a splitter on a 1k ballast to run 2 600's at 500w ea. but that is the only exception I am aware of. Also keep in mind, if one bulb doesn't fire or burns out, it will take the other one out. Sunpulse guarantees it will work if you use their bulbs and will replace bulbs under warranty.

 

[dvs1038]

I'd say if u wanted to do sumptin like that with multiple spectrums I'd run ur 400w MH during veg and then u could check around for some cfl bulbs, u can get some 105w cfl bulbs they say they are about equal to a 400w light and u could get a 2700k color light to add to ur grow during veg and if u really wanna use ur hps hid light for flowering just switch it up with the cfl and u could get a 105w, or 125w, I think its easier to find a 125w cfl at grow shops not alot of places carry the 105w cfls but I found em on 1000bulbs.com the 105w bout $27 each and u can get pretty much whatever spectrum bulb u want. I'd say if u really wanna run 2 lights but r worried about heat cfl/T5 is the best way to go in combo with ur HID.

 

[wheels619]

For Veg'ing, SUNPULSE (sunpulselamps.com) has a "splitter" that I have been using for over 2 years with good results. You use one (1) 1,000 Watt HPS ballast and this device splits it into two (2) @ 600W MH. They will really operate @ a bit below 500 watts each because it is impossible to get 1,200 watts out from 1,000 watts in. This device saves on bulb life too as well as electricity, and they offer several spectrum's so you can blend the spectrum to suit your needs. Available in: 3.0, 4.0, 6.4 and 10K. They cost about $60.00, but this sure beats another ballast cost. Also, Hydrofarm (almost all Hydro stores sell the products they represent) has a "Growzilla" reflector. This has two HID sockets in one reflector. Love them; wish all my reflectors were these...

running ur bulbs at less than full wattage lowers ur bulb life. also ur only supposed to use the splitter on magnetic ballasts. it will fry digitals over time. also it kills the life of ur ballasts from having to ignite two bulbs instead of one. people have been having their igniters fail on perfectly good ballasts due to the extra bulb its having to fire during warm up. the splitters are over rated in my opinion unless u have a big grow and need supplemental lighting. and in that case u would go with a chain of like 5 bulbs that are400 watt in a 2000 watt ballast. or 4 150 watt bulbs in a 600 ballast. for the smaller guy.

 

[wheels619]

105w cfl bulbs they say they are about equal to a 400w light

um? cna u say that again? i think i read wrong. a 105 watt cfl is no where near a 400mh. lol. clfs dont have the penetration or lumens to even come close to a 400 watt mh. only time u get close is with a nice 8 bulb 4 foot t5. and u still get less penetration but get about the same lumens. 125 watt bulbs are 8,500 lumens my 400mh is 32000 lumens and the mh can be purchased in almost the same spectrums. u would still need 4 bulbs to get the same output as the 400 plus u would use almost an extra hundred watts. cfls are only good in numbers and really close to ur plants

 

[wheels619]

get an xxxl hood and shove it in ur tent inches above the tops. with a 1000 or a 600hps in it for flower and when u want to veg just throw a 400 bulb in it and swith the ballasts. also if u want dual spectrums in such a small space ur better off using a few cfls chained together with construction lighting cords or something in my opinion.

 

[dvs1038]

um? cna u say that again? i think i read wrong. a 105 watt cfl is no where near a 400mh. lol. clfs dont have the penetration or lumens to even come close to a 400 watt mh. only time u get close is with a nice 8 bulb 4 foot t5. and u still get less penetration but get about the same lumens. 125 watt bulbs are 8,500 lumens my 400mh is 32000 lumens and the mh can be purchased in almost the same spectrums. u would still need 4 bulbs to get the same output as the 400 plus u would use almost an extra hundred watts. cfls are only good in numbers and really close to ur plants

Well 1st when did I ever mention lumens? Not to mention the fact that lumens really don't mean shit when it comes to growing herb, if they did then no one would be using LED lights now would then? Plus when u say u can buy a MH bulb in any spectrum it really proves u don't know what ur talking about, ur telling me u can go out and buy a 6500k MH bulb? Ur the one that should read more. And y don't I give u a lil math problem here, if 26w cfl bulbs say they are approx equal to 90-100w incandescent bulb then what is a 105w equal to? ummm carry the 1 "TIMMY". How many times does 26 go into 105?

 

[nuglets]

Well 1st when did I ever mention lumens? Not to mention the fact that lumens really don't mean shit when it comes to growing herb, if they did then no one would be using LED lights now would then? Plus when u say u can buy a MH bulb in any spectrum it really proves u don't know what ur talking about, ur telling me u can go out and buy a 6500k MH bulb? Ur the one that should read more. And y don't I give u a lil math problem here, if 26w cfl bulbs say they are approx equal to 90-100w incandescent bulb then what is a 105w equal to? ummm carry the 1 "TIMMY". How many times does 26 go into 105?

i'm not getting in the middle of this cat fight but a 105w CFL does not put out even half the footcandles that a 400w HID light does. you might wanna rethink that.

 

[dvs1038]

[h=2]Consuming only 80 watts of power and producing virtually no heat, it boasts light intensity and growth rates exceeding that of a 400W HPS[/h]
Now that right there is talking about a 80w LED light, should they say that again?

 

[dvs1038]

OMG u ppl really aren't that smart are u, when did I ever compare foot candles/lumens that an HID light puts out to a CFL bulb really damn. Learn how to read!!

 

[dvs1038]

And nuglets Y don't u read that 1st sentence of my post that u copied, that make ur post seem kinda pointless.

 

[nuglets]

Consuming only 80 watts of power and producing virtually no heat, it boasts light intensity and growth rates exceeding that of a 400W HPS


Now that right there is talking about a 80w LED light, should they say that again?

if you believe that then i've got a bridge i wanna sell you. message me. i'll give you a great price. .....