Yet another lighting question...

Hello, I'm new to this forum, and to growing.
I originally planned on using flourescent bulbs,
but I would like my harvest to be something I can actually be proud of
so I'd like to find some decent growing lights for a good price.
I keep finding endless good buys on high pressure sodium, and metal halide bulbs on ebay...
But only bulbs...
Obviously there is some type of "lamp"
that I need to screw the bulb into...
Now that I'm forced to start my lighting research all over again
I thought I'd inquire somewhere with people far more experienced than I.
Honestly, I'm completely lost so I can use all the help possible.
Thanks to All

well it sounds like you havent found a ballast lamp system for it and just the bulbs. this is the site where i got my light from hope it helps.

High Tech Garden Supply

i have seen lol buds as big as your arm using 10 4foot bulbs you have to tie the plants over with the top of the plant lower than the rest of the plant.the other top will think thay are the top.anyway it can be done.my last big sativa produced 3 ozs of killer.

HTG has cheap light systems, i just ordered a 150w HPS for only 94 bucks. Im sure you can find somthign to su it yoru need there

dude no choice u must grow with 400watt get this one cuz it gives u a hps bulb for flowering and one metal halid for veging. its perfect and only $160

the only thing is you may want a better reflector than come with it. i ended up getting a bigger reflector to maximize my lights potencial:

HTGSupply Ultimate 400w HPS & MH Grow Light



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ULTIMATE 400 WATT GROW LIGHT SYSTEM BOTH HPS & MH

Here it is, the ULTIMATE Grow Light, a 400 watt High Pressure Sodium grow light system combined with a 400 watt Metal Halide grow light system. This ULTIMATE system includes one fantastic grow light ballast, two specialty horticultural bulbs (lamps), an awesome four-side horizontal reflector and a FREE heavy duty timer. This is a better value in grow lights than you would find at any other hydroponics store.
WHY DO YOU NEED BOTH A METAL HALIDE GROW LIGHT AND HIGH PRESSURE SODIUM GROW LIGHT?!!

Using Metal Halide grow lights and then switching to High Pressure Sodium grow lights is THE way to GROW the BEST PLANTS POSSIBLE. Growers worldwide consider the best way to grow flowering plants is by vegetatively growing them under the bright white light of the METAL HALIDE then switching over to the HIGH PRESSURE SODIUM’s super bright orangish/red spectrum for the flowering stage of plant growth. The MH grow light bulb provides lush, compact plant growth. The HPS grow light bulbs spectrum mimics that of the &quotharvest sun" and promotes explosive, prolific flowering of plants.
LIGHTING BALLAST AND HOUSING

Dimensions: 9" long x 4" wide x 5.5" tall
The grow light ballast is a brand new REMOTE 400 watt HPS grow light ballast, with an innovative design that separates the ballast core away from the capacitor and igniter components to provide high performance and long life. This grow light ballast is made to our specifications with high output lighting results for horticulture / hydroponics / indoor gardening use. The High Pressure Sodium grow light ballast also features a convenient retractable handle with large keyholes for wall or ceiling mounting options. The lighting ballast also has over-sized rubber feet for electrical safety and quiet operation. The 8 foot power cord and 10 foot light bulb output cords are constructed of the highest quality, heavy gauge industrial grade electrical cord usually seen on grow lights costing much more. The ballast is pre-set and ready to plug into standard 110/120 household voltage, but can easily be changed to 220/240 volts. The 400 watt High Pressure Sodium grow light ballast will operate any standard or horticultural 400 watt High Pressure Sodium lamps and 400 watt Metal Halide Conversion lamps (see below). The universal socket set can be used with many other reflectors for future upgrades including air-cooled reflectors, umbrella style hoods or many other grow light reflector hoods, making this system the best value in hydroponic and indoor gardening lighting.
FOUR-SIDED HORIZONTAL GROW LIGHT REFLECTOR
Dimensions: 15.5" long x 12.5" wide x 6" deep
This quality grow light system features a lighting reflector hood that is a highly efficient FOUR sided reflector. This top of the line HORIZONTAL REFLECTOR is made from the HIGHEST QUALITY MATERIALS available! Specifically designed for growing plants indoors, this reflector incorporates a steel socket/reflector bracket, 5kv Pulse Rated Mogul Based socket and highly reflective polished aluminum reflector. The highly polished aluminum reflector has a mirror-like finish rated at 95% reflectivity for MAXIMUM LIGHT OUTPUT. This reflector hood is built to last a lifetime and can easily be cleaned with common household window cleaner. The grow lights Horizontal lamp configuration design allows for the greatest light coverage over the top of your indoor garden area while providing the highest light intensity levels possible. It is widely recognized that the BEST design for horticultural and hydroponic reflectors is the HORIZONTAL REFLECTOR design incorporated with this reflector. Additionally, this versatile grow light reflector can be used as a 4 sided reflector or as a completely adjustable BATWING reflector, your choice. Utilizing all four sides of the reflector ensures that every single lumen produced from the lamp/bulb is emitted downward onto your plants and not out onto your grow room walls. This grow light reflector hood comes with two heavy duty steel hangers to hang your reflector from and a 10’ cord from the reflector to the remote 400 watt High Pressure Sodium ballast housing.

400 WATT HORTICULTURAL GROW BULB (400 WATT HIGH PRESSURE SODIUM BULB )
This quality grow light system features an awesome light bulb made especially for hydroponics. This is not your ordinary 400w HPS lamp/bulb. This is a specialty high output 55,000 lumen 400w HPS bulb which is much brighter than standard bulbs which emit only 45,000 - 50,000 lumens. This grow light lamp is custom made plant grow light bulb for indoor gardening, with extra blue spectrum added for improved indoor plant gardening growth. This spectrally enhanced bulb will make your indoor or hydroponic garden into a tropical jungle! This bulb starts out brighter and stays brighter longer than your cheap run-of-the-mill standard HPS bulbs. A brighter bulb means more plant growth and higher plant yields. This grow light bulb has a long rated life of 24,000 hours.

400 WATT HORTICULTURAL METAL HALIDE CONVERSION LAMP

This is a top of the line, high output, specialty horticultural Metal Halide Conversion bulb. This is a specialty bulb made to operate specifically with the 400 watt High Pressure Sodium ballast that comes with this ULTIMATE grow light system. This Metal Halide grow light conversion bulb will promote strong, lush, compact vegetative growth for all green plants. This special high output Metal Halide Grow Light conversion lamp pumps out an amazing 38,000 lumens, compared to only 30,000-36,000 lumens for standard 400 watt Metal Halide lamps. Remember, HIGHER LUMEN OUTPUT equals HIGHER YIELDS. The Metal Halide grow light conversion bulb provides a balanced light spectrum of 4100 Kelvin, imitating natural sunlight?. This quality grow light bulb has a rated life of 20,000 hours.

If you can afford something like the above and have a way of dealing with the heat go for it ..... you will get beauty buds .... no doubt.

Hello, I'm new to this forum, and to growing.
I originally planned on using flourescent bulbs,
but I would like my harvest to be something I can actually be proud of

Click to expand...

It's not hard to do a fluorescent grow that you'll be proud of, you just have to do it right.

if your only using one light hps is the one to get, but now a days a lot of the digital ballasts will strike both lamps so that advice is almost out dated, as far as what light to get you need to go by how big the grow room is and how many plants your going to grow, i would suggest a 600 hps because thats my favorite light and you can pull over a half pound with ease with one, or for say 4 medium sized plants a 400 will do just fine.... but to answer your question for any hid you need ballast,bulb and reflector, some of the smaller 150 watt halide bulbs will have the same size socket as a regular light bulb but there is no way around the fact that you need a ballast with it to

Herre is what I recommend, 4 foot flourescent lighting for veg, then 400 watt or larger HPS for flower, you'll have something to be proud of. I recommend HIDHUT digital ballast setup, their stuff is dependable and won't let you down. 400 watt setup with ballast, reflector, bulb and easy to connect wiring for around $150. You can have a whole light system for under $200 that will be good enough as you progress. For the flourescent lighting you can use standard cool white bulbs but if you have the extra money the gro lux bulbs work extremely well. If you get 2 shop lights I'd use 2 gro lux and 2 cool white bulbs. You'll veg some pretty healthy plants.

Give him the basics guys: HPS lights are the light of choice for flowering the plant. They produce more of the red spectrum that budding plants like. Metal halide lights are typically used for vegetative growth because they contain more blue spectrum. CFLs in my opinion are better off being used in your kitchen, bathroom, living room or anywhere else except your grow room. I know there are some rebels that stand by their CFLs but the truth remains that CFLs are not true "grow lights." they are not designed specifically for growing plants. The amount of space you have and the # of plants you want to grow will help you choose the wattage of your HID growing lamp. For a small area; say 2x2 go with a 250 watt. for a larger area; say 4x4 go with a 400 or 600 watt light. Getting a HID light that has a built in "switchable ballast" is the best option for a beginner. This mean one lamp and two bulbs: metal halide for veg and HPS for flower. You could just use an HPS for both veg and flower if you want. I think HPS is the best dual purpose lamp you can get. try searching ebay for "grow light" in order to find a grow light which includes the lamp and bulb. once you find a light, post back here with a link and someone will tell you if its a good deal or not. Sun systems is the brand to look for. HTG supply on ebay has many Sun systems lights to choose from.

I'm currently using CFLs on my seedlings as they can get real close to them without being too hot so they don't stretch. The CFLs are sufficient for the light needs of seedlings until they're a couple of weeks old. Then if you want something to be proud of then you want to stick them under some better lights. Once my seedlings get big enough I'm going to stick a 400w HPS in my closet (2.5 x 3.5 area). A 250w is enough for your space to get some decent results.

I cant find a good thread to post this question in and this one is the closest i haev found to my problem...
I am using a 400W MH light and am currently in my veg phase. this is my first grow and im not sure exactly how far away the bulb should be from the plants. Other people have said that if you put your hand under it and its too hot then its too close, but i want to know if anyone who has used this light before has a better idea because im pretty far away to the point where i feel no heat at all and i think i could be closer but dont want to burn the plants. Anyone able to help?
Thanks

insidesun.comThey have new and rebuilt ballast setups 250W $90.00,might be something to look at

Hey how often should I change my bulb?

matthew1988 said:

well it sounds like you havent found a ballast lamp system for it and just the bulbs. this is the site where i got my light from hope it helps.

High Tech Garden Supply

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That is where I got my setup from. I went with their 400w mh/hps system it was $200 shipped. They were out of the standard MH buld so they sent me an upgraded one free of charge.

Happy Growing to you.

Rbomb said:

I cant find a good thread to post this question in and this one is the closest i haev found to my problem...
I am using a 400W MH light and am currently in my veg phase. this is my first grow and im not sure exactly how far away the bulb should be from the plants. Other people have said that if you put your hand under it and its too hot then its too close, but i want to know if anyone who has used this light before has a better idea because im pretty far away to the point where i feel no heat at all and i think i could be closer but dont want to burn the plants. Anyone able to help?
Thanks

Click to expand...

I am in the same place you are right now to a T. I have mine about 15in away and it does not feel very hot at all. I got some info from a member here on RIU and he said maybe around 10-12in. What I am doing is putting it about 12in above the canopy and watching for heat stress. (tips of the leaves will start to curl up) I can't seem to find a pic of heat stress.

what watt hps whould be good for 5 plants

very interesting to read all the comments about lights but nobody will disclose the actual harvest weight-come on guys-the one i'm using is 600watt HPS over 24 clones and for every 600watt lamp i do get + - 1lb of dry weed.

buddy russo said:

Hey how often should I change my bulb?

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everyother run depending on bulb for highest cfl