Shoud I make the move?

OG215

OG215

Member
So basically, I have been growing a 91 Chem Dog clone for the past week and she is doing very good under 262 watts of CFL 2700k.

However, I just found out that there is a Hydro store very close to my house and I have been on the phone with them ever since asking questions and prices of different things.

My main question is, I just found out they carry the 150w HPS that I have been looking at on Amazon.com it is only a few dollars more expensive than the one online so I would not have to wait for shipping etc.

I cannot get it off my mind I really want to make the switch to HPS, I know it's only a 150Watt but I am growing in a small closet with only 1 plant at the moment, with plans to grow 3-6 plants in the future, nothing above what my country approves for my prescription.

So basically I would just like to know if I should rush out and get that HPS tomorrow or if I should just finish this current grow off with my CFL's and get the HPS afterwards, do you think it'll be that supplemental to get it now, or should I spend my money on more important stuff like better soil/nutes etc.

Thanks in advance
OG215
 
om3gawave

om3gawave

Active Member
Go to HTGSupply and get the 250 watter and call it a day. But if you want to grow 3-6 plants, get a 400W.

Money well spent. Your plants will love it and your buds will be bigger.
 
OG215

OG215

Member
Wow, lovin that website and lovin those prices. The FLORALUX 150w for 69.99 looks like a STEAL. But the HTG Brand 400w HPS is only 119$!!!!!! That is cheap as hell, does anyone have any experience with these brand HPS's? Also I am very worried about heat if I do indeed get a 400w HPS I think I will have to stay with a max of 250w for now until I can move the grow to somewhere that has a lot better ventilation.
 
yarddog35

yarddog35

Active Member
HPS is perfect for flowering. Not sure, are you flowering the clone already? If not, cfl's are cool to veg with preferably a higher Kelvin # like a 6500k. I have a 250w HPS for flower, it would be tough to grow more then 2 maybe 3 healthy plants under it unless your keeping them small like SOG trimming method. Soil and nutes are very important also so you have to balance the budget a little.

If I was in your shoes (in my opinion only and assuming you are on a budget) and your vegging for now. I would replace atleast half of your 2700k's with 6500k's and make sure she is in good soil (FoxFarm is a fav). Then when its time to flower go out pick up a 250w HPS.

If your flowering already then the HPS would be ideal to get asap. You will be so much happier with your bud size and amount.

Not sure if your in the U.S. but, Craigslist is a great place to pick up grow products.

Good luck with your grow:bigjoint:
 
Dr.RR

Dr.RR

Active Member
OG215 said:
Wow, lovin that website and lovin those prices. The FLORALUX 150w for 69.99 looks like a STEAL. But the HTG Brand 400w HPS is only 119$!!!!!! That is cheap as hell, does anyone have any experience with these brand HPS's? Also I am very worried about heat if I do indeed get a 400w HPS I think I will have to stay with a max of 250w for now until I can move the grow to somewhere that has a lot better ventilation.
Click to expand...
I ordered a Digital Greenhouse 400W MH/HPS kit from HTG and couldn't be happier. I was worried about heat as well because I opted for the regular hood instead of a Cool Tube or whatnot. I'm growing in a room that's 5x4x9 ft. Only have a single table fan blowing air across the lamp & out the door. Temps are around 10 degrees higher than room temp which is anywhere between 72-75*F.

I don't know how good their HTG brand ballasts are but I know lots of people use them on here. I went from CFL to HID and I am NOT looking back! :peace::mrgreen:
 
V

vtguitar88

Well-Known Member
I would say get the 400 watt switchable from HTG supply. I got that one, with the Metal Halide conversion bulb, and it's awesome! So much faster and more effective than using a bunch of CFL's and it's actually less of a hassle. I was put off by HID's for a while because of the ballasts and whatnot, it seemed more complicated. In reality it's far simpler and cleaner than having tons of CFL's, and you get way more light per dollar. I'm using mine in a small closet (1 foot 10 inches by 5 feet by 6 feet) and temps have sometimes gotten high but just leaving it the closet door open as much as possible makes the temps not a problem. I think the best nutrient/fert in the world would make less difference than a great 400 watt Mh/HPS bulb. Just my opinion. Good luck to you, and happy growing!


PS. I find that a similar wattage of CFL's actually releases a comparable amount of heat in a room, it's just more widely dispersed, whereas the HID lamps themselves get very hot. In the same closet, I switched from having 11 30 watt CFL's to one 400 watt HPS and the heat went up only 4-5 degrees, still within the manageable 80-85 range, and that was adding 70 watts and like 30,000 lumens.
 
OG215

OG215

Member
yarddog35 said:
HPS is perfect for flowering. Not sure, are you flowering the clone already? If not, cfl's are cool to veg with preferably a higher Kelvin # like a 6500k. I have a 250w HPS for flower, it would be tough to grow more then 2 maybe 3 healthy plants under it unless your keeping them small like SOG trimming method. Soil and nutes are very important also so you have to balance the budget a little.

If I was in your shoes (in my opinion only and assuming you are on a budget) and your vegging for now. I would replace atleast half of your 2700k's with 6500k's and make sure she is in good soil (FoxFarm is a fav). Then when its time to flower go out pick up a 250w HPS.

If your flowering already then the HPS would be ideal to get asap. You will be so much happier with your bud size and amount.

Not sure if your in the U.S. but, Craigslist is a great place to pick up grow products.

Good luck with your grow:bigjoint:
Click to expand...
Yes, I am currently flowering the clone only vegged for a few days and she was the size that I wanted to start flowering at. I didn't use the 2700k for her veg. I only just recently switched them over. I am on a very tight budget and I will be able to have enough to get the 250w hps and some flowering nutes. I am going to have to continue using my Miracle Grow for the rest of this grow at least. However I did just go pick up some Miracle Grow Moisture Control and Perlite, I'm not sure if anyone has used the Moisture Control over the regular potting soil which I initially used, but I am interested to try it out I just really do not want to transplant my baby any more than she needs as she is already in the pot I will finish the grow with so I do not want to add any stress and I am not very experienced and I am not really sure how to just swap out the soil in my pot without much stress hehe =)

Anyways.. I think I will just be buying the 250w HPS w/ some FF Nutes and well go from there =)
 
OG215

OG215

Member
Doesn't include a bulb however, I just called him. Whats a bulb on one of those guys cost?


Edit: Wow, I never thought about the remote ballast removing majority of the heat! that's pretty awesome. I am very interested in HPS, CFL's are just so lame gotta buy 500 bulbs to grow decent nugs :P
Edit again: I think I might just however be getting the 150/175w HPS and adding my 2 68w CFL's for side lighting. I think that will do sufficient for 3 12/12 from seed plants as they will fit in a small area. Can't wait to get everything up and running its gonna be great. I will finally be able to start my thread on this side of the Forum and move along from the CFL side!
 
OG215

OG215

Member
Ok, so I made my decision to go with the 150w HPS. Turns out my budget is a little lower than I thought. I wanted to get the 150w HPS and FFBB but I was not going to have enough as shipping is almost 40$! I had about 100$ to spend, so in the next week I will buy the FFBB since I wont really even be needing it just yet anyways as I am not technically flowering YET. My lights have just been switched my plant is still adjusting :) So yeah the HTG 150w HPS w/ Remote Ballast. I think its going to be great in my closet and the fact that it has a remote ballast basically sold it in my eyes, even if the reflector may be a bit cheap as I have read through a small amount of research. In the end the heat issue with the ballast being able to be outside of my closet will be A LOT MORE BENEFICIAL because even with the amount of CFL'age I've got right now my closet stays at about 82F and I imagine with the HPS it may be about 85F as I heard it goes up 3-4 degrees. But we will see it may even go down as it is only one bulb and there is alot less area to cover for my two osculating fans. They are both a bit old and cranky so they dont move too much air.

One Question I did have was: If I eventually wanted to hook the light up to some sort of ducting to a vent or something do you think that I would be able to modify the hood and create a smaller size duct to hook up to a small air conditioning unit or fan or whatever I may do in the future (I am still reading many posts trying to perfect the idea of my closet grow), hell I may even be in a different house in short time so we'll see!

But I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that helped me with my decision, I know it would probably be smart to get the 250 or 400w right away but I think the 150w will be a great starter and it is not much money so really I'm sure I will be upgrading rather shortly after this first crop harvests ;)

All in all thanks guys I appreciate it, dont know where else I would go for information on this subject, its glad to find a home:bigjoint:bongsmilie

Over-n-out
OG215®
 
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