BEST Lighting for flower,

Hey guys so i was just wondering if i could get some input from what lighting you use for your flower rooms, and what would be my best decision for my flower room

i cant remember the measurements right now but its a large enough room where i can fit about 6 plants comfortably, it is also from the floor to the roof so plenty of height,

Suggestions?




(this is how i have a few plants i wanted to just push into flower and get them over with before i set up properly)



(estimate price would be appreciated aswell kiss-ass)

the best is an hps I got 2 600w digital ballasts that can run hps(high pressure sodium) or MH ( metal halide) I'm running one of each the ones I got where cheap under $200 each came with ballast reflector and a hps bulb. I'm running a lumatek 600w hps and a digilux 600w mh bulb but the cheap ones they come with will work just keep a spare on hand one of the bulbs that came with my system blew pretty early but that was a really cheap bulb it had no brand name or warranty. I got mine from http://specialtyhydroponics.com/.
the only reason I'm running a mh is cause of a thread on icmag.com a guy did a side by side and I think it was 40% more weight from the mh but 90% of growers swear by hps but I'll know soon enough but either way a mixed spectrum is the best.

As long as you have proper ventilation I would suggest a 250W or 400W CMH (ceramic metal halide), there a full spectrum HID that's the closest thing to summer sun than any other artificial light, arguably the best (artificial) horticulture light available today, they can be used for both veg and flower, one bulb dose it all, however Ive heard that supplementing HPS with CMH produces the best results. Ive been working on a project for several months (gathering parts/supplies on a budget, PITA!) where I'm going to be doing a SOG grow using a 6" air cooled hood customized with two bulbs end to end, a 400W CMH and a 250W HPS, I CAN'T WAIT TO GET THIS CRACKIN!! If your skeptical about CMH you don't have to take just my word, check out what others have to say about them: (--->CLICK HERE<---) Here's a CMH grow from start to harvest, grower said it produced the best results yet, must be doing something right: (--->CLICK HERE<---) If your interested this is the cheapest price Ive found on the best CMH bulb available: (--->CLICK HERE>---)

Most people use high pressure sodium lamps. There great for flower. i think a 400 watt would be good enough for what you have going there. i got one fro 150$ off amazon.com it was even a conversion ballast. Which mean you could run Metal halide and hps bulbs, off the same ballast (not at the same time btw)

Okay so by everything you guys have told me its either the high pressure sodium, metal halide of cmh? but my only further question is , what is the difference between metal halide and hps?

crashdevil said:

Okay so by everything you guys have told me its either the high pressure sodium, metal halide of cmh? but my only further question is , what is the difference between metal halide and hps?

Click to expand...

Well you could have easily googled this and got an answer in 2min, anyway, MH (Metal Halide) produces a white light with a slight blueish tint, they typically peak at 6500k so there generally a full spectrum bulb most commonly used for vegging, HPS (High Pressure Sodium) produces a orange/yellowish light, they typically peak at 3000K in the red spectrum which is typically used for flowering, CMH (Ceramic Metal Halide) again produces a white/blueish light and is considered a more true full spectrum bulb than MH because they have all the blue needed for veg and all the red needed for flowering, there basically MH and HPS in one bulb but not the same as dual arc bulbs. This is just a general description but you could find a much better more specific/accurate explanation of them on Google.

One thing that hasn't been addressed...with HID lighting (HPS or MH), you get a lot of heat to deal with. If you can deal with it then, HID lighting gives excellent results with MH being better for veg and HPS better for flower. IF you can't or don't want to deal with the intense heat of HID there are alternatives which can provide excellent flowering (T5,LED) since you will not get good plant/bud development if you don't deal with the heat however great the light is.

600-watt High Pressure Sodiums are the best. When you get any bigger than that, like a 1000-watt, you start losing efficiency.