artificial lights

I'm confused about the different kinds of artificial lights. Can anybody tell me what gives me the best bang for my buck. I'm really poor and needy.

small watt HPS dual spectrum start to finish IMO

green.budz said:

small watt HPS dual spectrum start to finish IMO

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I would agree with this statement!

You can grow all the way through with a dual spec HPS however i wouldnt use a strong HPS on a young plant. For a young plant you need to take care early on. I use a 200w ECO CFL for a good week to 2 weeks before switching to my 600w HPS dual spec.

If you plan on growing from seed i would recommend maybe a 125w ECO CFL 6400k then your chosen HPS for 2weeks+ until you finish.


Dual spec lamps are the way forward if you are on a budget.

J

The sun is free and dumps 10,000 lumens per square foot. How is that for bang for your buck? Oh artificial lights.

Found this and it might be helpful.

View attachment 1058436

Silverthin said:

I'm confused about the different kinds of artificial lights. Can anybody tell me what gives me the best bang for my buck. I'm really poor and needy.

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Yeah whatever kind of lighting you choose just make sure that it has roughly 3000 lumens for veg and 10000 for flowering.

Best bang for the buck is a 600W HPS. That's a bit too much power/heat unless you're serious about growing (proper air, filtration, circulation, etc). I have a 400W and it's perfect for about 4 plants. I use it on two, so it's very efficient.

On a side note, if you want to use CFL's, the 42W CFL's have the highest lumen/watt ratio, but still put off a little heat. A 23W CFL puts off little heat.

Yes it has been proven that the best light for the all around money is the 600 HPS.

thanx everyone - very useful info.