Should I go HPS?

Archminister

Archminister

Well-Known Member
I am currently four weeks into a cfl grow. My grow cabinet dimensions are 26"w X 24"h X 18"d. I am thinking that I would like to try an HPS grow next. I found a smoking deal on a 150w Kit for less than $100 shipped.

What are you thoughts?

P.s. I am growing for personal use only and I dont wake and bake. I just smoke to keep shit on an even keel help with some medical issues and relax. So my yields dont have to be stupendous. I just want to get the best bang for my buck.

Arch:weed:
 
finallylegal

finallylegal

Member
HPS is definetely the best. The only things I would be concerned with would be heat and room. If you could vent the light with a strong enough fan that might be ok. Its pretty small dimensions and most HPS reflectors are around 7-9 inches deep. Then when you figure in your pot or planter height of 5-10 inches that only leaves you with 5-12 inches of room for your plant to grow. With that amount of room CFL's might be your only choice.
 
Archminister

Archminister

Well-Known Member
Nice...think Ill make the investment...does the 150w kit seem to be enough for the cabinet I described? More than likely I will never go past that cabinet. If i did make a slightly larger grow..it would be just that..slightly larger..maybe 3'x3'.
 
Archminister

Archminister

Well-Known Member
finallylegal said:
HPS is definetely the best. The only things I would be concerned with would be heat and room. If you could vent the light with a strong enough fan that might be ok. Its pretty small dimensions and most HPS reflectors are around 7-9 inches deep. Then when you figure in your pot or planter height of 5-10 inches that only leaves you with 5-12 inches of room for your plant to grow. With that amount of room CFL's might be your only choice.
Click to expand...
Yeah..Thats why I went with cfls in the first place. Where does most of the heat come from..ballast or bulb itself? The kit that I am looking at has a remote ballast set up.

Arch
 
Archminister

Archminister

Well-Known Member
DSB65 said:
In a 3 by 3 you will need a 400 hps and a good exhaust fan.....
Click to expand...
Right on...These sites that sell them dont know shit. They said a 150w was sufficient, but then again they probably get ya to buy to small so you have to buy another. I just want my next grow to be a one bulb grow..lol.
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
roughly you would need 50w/sq.ft but smaller lights give less lumens per watt so maybe with a 150watt you will be a bit underlit for a 3sq.ft. IMO get the 400w now so that yu dont have to pay for it later when you want to upgrade. oh and make sure not to up your consumption once you got the yields coming because this happened to me once and got me in the bad habit of wake and bake. good thing i went out of it but it was a bit crappy for the first few months. now i only grow like once every year or so and smoke occasionally
 
Archminister

Archminister

Well-Known Member
zem said:
roughly you would need 50w/sq.ft but smaller lights give less lumens per watt so maybe with a 150watt you will be a bit underlit for a 3sq.ft. IMO get the 400w now so that yu dont have to pay for it later when you want to upgrade. oh and make sure not to up your consumption once you got the yields coming because this happened to me once and got me in the bad habit of wake and bake. good thing i went out of it but it was a bit crappy for the first few months. now i only grow like once every year or so and smoke occasionally
Click to expand...
Ha..I hear ya. I havent wake and baked in years..lol. Weed these days is for chilling at the end of the day. I dont do alcohol anymore and since I vape, weed has been really good to my lungs.

Thanks for the post.

Arch
 
Snow Crash

Snow Crash

Well-Known Member
Take a serious look at the Phillips TruColor Ceramic Metal Halide bulbs.

I've seen some really impressive grows with these bulbs. The color spectrum on them is OUTRAGEOUS! Might cost you another $40, and I've never personally used them (don't work on digital ballasts, or over 400w), but I think it is worth the research. Might just be the best 150w bulb available.
 
Tym

Tym

Well-Known Member
HPS is a good choice, but in your box, room and heat will be an issue, you can do more with CFL's in a small box. You can get more light in a small box using CFL's than you can using HPS.

Your box is basically 2ftl x 1.5ftw x 2fth. That's quite small for a HPS. I would stick with CFL's or get a bigger area to grow.
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
Tym said:
HPS is a good choice, but in your box, room and heat will be an issue, you can do more with CFL's in a small box. You can get more light in a small box using CFL's than you can using HPS.

Your box is basically 2ftl x 1.5ftw x 2fth. That's quite small for a HPS. I would stick with CFL's or get a bigger area to grow.
Click to expand...
actually cfl's give more heat less lumens per watt than HPS
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
Tym said:
Per Watt yes.. but not per bulb.
Click to expand...
your 2 posts dont add up.... your sayin he can have more light with cfl's then your sayin he must put less light(watts)? anyway, a 150w hps is better in lumens and heat emission than 150w cfl's and to go with less than 150w cfl he will be seriously underlit..
 
Brick Top

Brick Top

New Member
I always tell people to go with HID lighting, I hate cfls, but are you sure you can use a HID light in that space unless maybe it is a CoolTube?

You have 24 total inches of height, 2 feet, right? By the time you subtract the height of your pots and the minimum amount of distance from the top of your cabinet that your light will need when fully raised and then subtract the minimum amount of distance you will always need to maintain between your light and the tops of your plants that 2 feet has shrunk a good bit leaving very little space for plants to grow in.

If it is a small cheap batwing design hood it will likely be at least 6 inches tall and maybe up to 9 inches, but lets say 6 inches. Unless you bolt it directly to the top of your cabinet, which means you will then not be able to raise and lower it, you can add no less than 3 inches for hanging it as close to the top of your cabinet as you could hang it. Right here you are up to about 9 inches of your total overall height used up by your lighting.

I don't know what pot size you will use but if your pots are 6 inches tall that's another 6 inches of your total 2 feet gone and you will need no less than 4 inches minimum between the tops of your plants and your light at all times so added together that's another 10 inches of your total overall height eaten up.

10 inches and 9 inches added together come to 19 inches. That leaves 5 inches for your plants to grow in before they get too close to your light.

Did I miss something somewhere in your total overall height? Was the 2 feet actual usable growing height, as in what you would have left after pot height, height of the light you are considering and the minimum amount of space needed to be maintained between your bulb and the tops of your plants, or is 2 feet the total height inside of your cabinet?

Unless I am missing something somewhere you just can't use a HID light in there, unless MAYBE you get a CoolTube and can hang it so it is just about touched the top of the cabinet, and maybe even touching it, but that would only save you somwhere around 4 to 7 inches, max. Even if you could use a CoolTube I would say got to a 250-watt for a better light footprint. But you would have to add ventilation for the CoolTube so that would likely mean you wouldn't want to choose one.

As much as I HATE to say it, I just don't see you being able to use a HID light in the space you have to work with. I don't see there being the room you will need for your equipment and plants.

As for the price you mentioned, you can purchase a 150-watt HID HPS light with a magnetic ballast for $69.75 plus shipping from HTGS and if you call and order over the phone and to a little negotiating sometimes you can get them to eat the shipping or reduce the shipping costs and a 250-watt HID HPS would cost $117.95 plus shipping. Either way you will lose a good bit of space/height to either one.
 
zem

zem

Well-Known Member
Brick Top said:
I always tell people to go with HID lighting, I hate cfls, but are you sure you can use a HID light in that space unless maybe it is a CoolTube?

You have 24 total inches of height, 2 feet, right? By the time you subtract the height of your pots and the minimum amount of distance from the top of your cabinet that your light will need when fully raised and then subtract the minimum amount of distance you will always need to maintain between your light and the tops of your plants that 2 feet has shrunk a good bit leaving very little space for plants to grow in.

If it is a small cheap batwing design hood it will likely be at least 6 inches tall and maybe up to 9 inches, but lets say 6 inches. Unless you bolt it directly to the top of your cabinet, which means you will then not be able to raise and lower it, you can add no less than 3 inches for hanging it as close to the top of your cabinet as you could hang it. Right here you are up to about 9 inches of your total overall height used up by your lighting.

I don't know what pot size you will use but if your pots are 6 inches tall that's another 6 inches of your total 2 feet gone and you will need no less than 4 inches minimum between the tops of your plants and your light at all times so added together that's another 10 inches of your total overall height eaten up.

10 inches and 9 inches added together come to 19 inches. That leaves 5 inches for your plants to grow in before they get too close to your light.

Did I miss something somewhere in your total overall height? Was the 2 feet actual usable growing height, as in what you would have left after pot height, height of the light you are considering and the minimum amount of space needed to be maintained between your bulb and the tops of your plants, or is 2 feet the total height inside of your cabinet?

Unless I am missing something somewhere you just can't use a HID light in there, unless MAYBE you get a CoolTube and can hang it so it is just about touched the top of the cabinet, and maybe even touching it, but that would only save you somwhere around 4 to 7 inches, max. Even if you could use a CoolTube I would say got to a 250-watt for a better light footprint. But you would have to add ventilation for the CoolTube so that would likely mean you wouldn't want to choose one.

As much as I HATE to say it, I just don't see you being able to use a HID light in the space you have to work with. I don't see there being the room you will need for your equipment and plants.

As for the price you mentioned, you can purchase a 150-watt HID HPS light with a magnetic ballast for $69.75 plus shipping from HTGS and if you call and order over the phone and to a little negotiating sometimes you can get them to eat the shipping or reduce the shipping costs and a 250-watt HID HPS would cost $117.95 plus shipping. Either way you will lose a good bit of space/height to either one.
Click to expand...
i have to contradict, cuz i think he can do it. the area is too narrow he could actually get a good glass sheet cut 1.5x1.9 or so and use it like a false ceiling below the light. that would be a cooltube by itself when exhaust fan is above it. the bulb by itself should take no more than 3" and it should be away from plants like 2" minimum. thats total 5" gone. for the buckets, i have been able to grow quite big plants in 6" deep perfectrly rectanular, for smaller plants under a 150 he can easily go with 4" deep tote single rectangular pot which can be lowered away from light as plants grow with couple of plants that are topped and trained in there and flowered small. they still got like a foot+2" in height before theyr too close and with a scrog and proper spreading of top colas he's got a cool microgrow. i'm only assuming thats his only place he can grow
 
elduece

elduece

Active Member
Just add some T5 tubes in that little space otherwise HPS/MH is just one thing you'll need. You'll also require space, ventilation fan, fans, maybe a proper tent and source of fresh air for the HID. And you should keep that little space for your veg tank.

I think cool tubes/ventilated hoods just plain sucks, I never returned to them since my earlier days. Get an open wing hood reflector = much better pot if you switched to MH on the last two weeks. btw typically HPS and digital ballasts can use both MH and HPS lamps but MH ballasts can only use MH.
 
Archminister

Archminister

Well-Known Member
Brick Top said:
I always tell people to go with HID lighting, I hate cfls, but are you sure you can use a HID light in that space unless maybe it is a CoolTube?

You have 24 total inches of height, 2 feet, right? By the time you subtract the height of your pots and the minimum amount of distance from the top of your cabinet that your light will need when fully raised and then subtract the minimum amount of distance you will always need to maintain between your light and the tops of your plants that 2 feet has shrunk a good bit leaving very little space for plants to grow in.

If it is a small cheap batwing design hood it will likely be at least 6 inches tall and maybe up to 9 inches, but lets say 6 inches. Unless you bolt it directly to the top of your cabinet, which means you will then not be able to raise and lower it, you can add no less than 3 inches for hanging it as close to the top of your cabinet as you could hang it. Right here you are up to about 9 inches of your total overall height used up by your lighting.

I don't know what pot size you will use but if your pots are 6 inches tall that's another 6 inches of your total 2 feet gone and you will need no less than 4 inches minimum between the tops of your plants and your light at all times so added together that's another 10 inches of your total overall height eaten up.

10 inches and 9 inches added together come to 19 inches. That leaves 5 inches for your plants to grow in before they get too close to your light.

Did I miss something somewhere in your total overall height? Was the 2 feet actual usable growing height, as in what you would have left after pot height, height of the light you are considering and the minimum amount of space needed to be maintained between your bulb and the tops of your plants, or is 2 feet the total height inside of your cabinet?

Unless I am missing something somewhere you just can't use a HID light in there, unless MAYBE you get a CoolTube and can hang it so it is just about touched the top of the cabinet, and maybe even touching it, but that would only save you somwhere around 4 to 7 inches, max. Even if you could use a CoolTube I would say got to a 250-watt for a better light footprint. But you would have to add ventilation for the CoolTube so that would likely mean you wouldn't want to choose one.

As much as I HATE to say it, I just don't see you being able to use a HID light in the space you have to work with. I don't see there being the room you will need for your equipment and plants.

As for the price you mentioned, you can purchase a 150-watt HID HPS light with a magnetic ballast for $69.75 plus shipping from HTGS and if you call and order over the phone and to a little negotiating sometimes you can get them to eat the shipping or reduce the shipping costs and a 250-watt HID HPS would cost $117.95 plus shipping. Either way you will lose a good bit of space/height to either one.
Click to expand...
"Diamonds...What do I know about diamonds? Im a boxing promoter."

Love it Brick,,,,nice tag.

Yeah..after seeing this, I have been thinking alot and that cabinet will used for vegging and i will make another cabinet or find another in a thrift shop like i did with this one with some more height. The foot print I have currently will work, I just need more height.

Thanks for all of the input, your the best and I have much to chew on. Look forward to continued learning from all of you.

Peace,

Arch
 
R

r3dn3ck

Active Member
150 is plenty for 2 plants in a small area like yours but heat will be an issue. Worry about the heat and FWIW, get a bigger area and just use a 400. I went through the whole cfl, 150, 2x 150, 400, 2x 400 thing. If I had it to do over again, I'd just make the bigger area and have bought the 400's. You can pick up a 400W remote kit with bulb for 225 or less. Some places WAY less.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top