Best Grow Light?

[XxNinjaxX]

Just wondering what sort of lights people out there have been using to grow with?

I currently have a 1000Watt MH to Grow and Bloom under a 1000Watt HPS..

Im happy with the HPS, but wasnt so happy with the results i got from the MH on the grow side.. Plants grew nicely bushy, but growth was very slow as i think the light was a bit strong for them in the beginning..

I hear people on here talk about CFLs, LEDs & different wattages of MH & HPS - just hoping someone can fill me in with some Lamen Term info as to a good idea that i can replace the MH light with.

 

[Boneman]

LOL double post here fellas....

 

[Brick Top]

Stick with what you have, the MH, you will be better off. Don't trade a Mercedes for a Yugo by going CFL just because so many others here have made that mistake.

 

[xogenic]

dont knock the cfl mate

i do all my veging under clf's cause of hight restriction
i use a 200w envirolite and to t5 stip lights down the sides to veg and 2 400w hps to flower i have never been let down yet but guess its a matter of personal opinion

but as above with ya 1000 watters you would be better with 4x 250 mh and hps for a more even distribution of light
just a thought

 

[Brick Top]

but as above with ya 1000 watters you would be better with 4x 250 mh and hps for a more even distribution of light
just a thought

Interesting theory …... give up light penetration for added light distribution.

I guess that would be fine if growing a sea of green .... maybe.

 

[9inch bigbud]

dont knock the cfl mate

i do all my veging under clf's cause of hight restriction
i use a 200w envirolite and to t5 stip lights down the sides to veg and 2 400w hps to flower i have never been let down yet but guess its a matter of personal opinion

but as above with ya 1000 watters you would be better with 4x 250 mh and hps for a more even distribution of light
just a thought

the 4x250s being better than a 1000w is a myth let me explane.

you want to use 2 hps and 2MH for a better mix of light. 2x250hps put out 50,000 lumans 2x250MH put out 38,000 lumans total of 89,000 lumans. 1x600w puts out more light than that 95,000! 1000 watts put out around 140,000 lumans and that is from 1 point sorce of light and not 4 = deeper light penotration. thats why you can add a 1000w of CFL's and still not grow bigger or yeild more than a 1000w HPS, its to do with the light intensity not how much electric watts of light you add. on here someware? there is a grower that grew 90-100g using a number of small CFL's now that sound good, but what you have to take in is he used over 700w of CFL to grow 90-100g of bud.

also the cost of a 250 is almost the same as larger lights i.e 400, 600 and 1000s you will have to pay for 4 of them $$$'s and then when you need to replace the bulbs that 4 more bulbs you have to pay out for more $$$'s bulbs should be changed every 9-12 months of use to get the most lumans out of them for the electricity being use.

what is the best lighting to get 4 x 250w or 1 x 1000w?? the 1000w every time

 

[Brick Top]

but as above with ya 1000 watters you would be better with 4x 250 mh and hps for a more even distribution of light
just a thought

A 250-watt light will cover 3ft. X 3ft., which is a grand total of 9sq. ft.

A 1000-watt light will cover 8ft. X 8ft., which is a grand total of 64sq. ft.

64sq. ft. divided by 9sq. ft. is 7.1

9sq. ft. times four is 36sq. ft.

Something does not add up that way when you talk about even light distribution over an equal sized space, does it?

Oh, don’t forget to factor in the greatly reduced amount of light penetration by switching to multiple 250-watt lights instead of a single 1000-watt light.

Can you say popcorn?

Something else to factor in is you would then need four outlets to plug into instead of one single outlet … not everyone has four outlets to plug into and using power strips and running extension cords for HID lighting is not really the best option to pick.

You also would then have four bulbs to replace periodically instead of one bulb to replace periodically. Of course if only one burned out you would still at least have the other three to rely on until a replacement could be purchased.

You would also have four ballasts that might need to be replaced periodically instead of just one ballast. Of course if only one went out you would still have the other three to rely on until a replacement could be purchased so that would be a plus.

But he has both a MH and an HPS so for a short time he could just switch out one light for the other so he would still be covered if a bulb or ballast died.

You also have nuisance of raising and lowering multiple lights instead of just raising and lowering one single light. You also have four ballasts taking up more space than one larger ballast and you have four light cords to walk around/through and deal with instead of just one light cord.

The more I think about changing from one 1000-watt light to four 250-watt lights the better it sounds to me.

 

[la9]

I tried MH to veg and didn't care for it, I know a few other people that share the same opinion, my MH was only a 175 so maybe that was part of it.

If you are going to use flourescent I'd stick with 4 foot bulbs, seems to work a lot better, CFL's are to focused and the plants seem to do better with the longer bulbs.

If you are getting good results with 1000 watt MH and already invested in it, I'd probably keep using it.

 

[xogenic]

corrected i seem to be lol

oh well

but the light raising is easy, you get yourself an old roller blind or two , some chain for the lights and a drill and presto mcguyver that shit add the chain to the roller blind and the other ends to the lights and when it comes to raising the lights use a drill and slowly pull the trigger instead of the string you use to lift the blind up and down

also i go for the whole water below the waist and electrics above running them accross the celings and walls to stop any accidents as im a stupidly accident prone idiot also the ballasts i have are stored outside of the grow rooms with a slate bottom rack and some lill cpu fans to help cool em i see your point though mate and the light penetration of a 1000w would be better but not every one will realy have the height for the 1000w lightings thats the only reason i dont go over a 400w cause it would just get to hot to dry and probly burn everything i grow but with my 400w i get temps of 70 to 75 and at nite its round 57 to 65 humidity is round 50 45 in the flower rooms constantly i usualy manage around 12 to 14 ounces a cycle and manage to turn a cycle every 4 to 5 weeks

 

[madskillz]

Good topic, I had a similar question. I know people usually recommend HPS if one was going to purchase only one type of light for the entire grow. My questions is would HPS be better or CFL for the veg time as I see a lot of HPS owners using CFLs for veg and I already has them at home w/o the need to purchase.

 

[la9]

Good topic, I had a similar question. I know people usually recommend HPS if one was going to purchase only one type of light for the entire grow. My questions is would HPS be better or CFL for the veg time as I see a lot of HPS owners using CFLs for veg and I already has them at home w/o the need to purchase.

If it was going to be one light I'd stick with the HPS, still not much of a point when you can get a 4 foot shop light for $20 to veg with. That's what I recommend 4 foot flurescent shop lights and the biggest HPS you can afford (400 or bigger if you can afford it) and you will have enough light and get results you are looking for. CFL's are bright and everything but seem too focused and I get better results with the longer bulbs, just like they used in the old days..................

 

[xogenic]

cfl's can be great for veging if you can get the watts i use a 200w envirolite to veg and ive been very satisfied with the results and the node spacing is great shall throw up a pic when i find one

 

[madskillz]

Maybe I wasnt being clear enough. I have a 400 watt HPS already and my plants are in there 2nd week but I see that a lot of HPS owners use CFLs or floros for veg and use the HPS for the flower. So, my question is as I know the blue spectrum is best for veg, would CFLs or floros be better for the veg period compared to the HPS? For now, I have added 2 23watt 6700k CFL with the 400HPS for the 3 plants to see if they grow better
Thanks for the input guys and I hope i didnt jack this thread as I thought it was relevant...

 

[9inch bigbud]

cfl's or clone light fixtures as i call them http://www.greenshorticulture.co.uk/Propagation-23/Propagation-T5-Lights-154/ are the best to start your plants off with. they dont use much power and not so much heat but once the plants get bigger or you want to flower kick them in to touch and stick your 400w over them.

 

[xogenic]

i use the 200w envirolite to veg 10 plants get good results and good node spacings

 

[OregonMeds]

To the OP, you should start vegging under basic 4' t8 flouro's. Once the plants are 2' tall or so then you toss them under the 1kw halide and veg them to 3' or so in a heartbeat and then you move them under the hps finishing bigger than you are. If you aren't growing monsters then you don't need a 1kw light to veg and could just use flouro's. Try 4-6 lamp basic t8 shoplights over a couple of your ladies and compare growth to the ones under the 1k. When they're too small the 1k can be overwhelming, but if you want to stick with what you got you just start little ones off 2 maybe 3 feet away from the lamp.

Flouro's I'm sure you know need to be right down within an inch of the tops of the plants too btw.

I prefer flouro t8's for clone and early veg or small plant veg, and for taller plants then you need halide. The taller, the bigger the halide.

 

[OregonMeds]

And as for the other guy with the 400hps, that will veg better than a flouro as long as you aren't too close with it and cooking them. But I would suggest you also get some t8 flouro's so you do have a seperate veg light and can flip crops faster or go perpetual. The high output flouro's that are more expensive aren't really needed. It takes so long to flower that even t8's can veg your babies to be ready in time for when the flower room is opened up.

And I do find that flouro's will do a good job of keeping them bushy. Perhaps more dense/squat than even the 1kw halide or maybe that's because of how far away you have to keep the 1k when they're little.

 

[XxNinjaxX]

Cheers for all the great advice guys..
I think i will give the CFLs a go aas i have to return the 1000Watt MH to my mate.
Is it ok to veg them 4 only 4-6 weeks then flip them to flower with my HPS?
I dont care so much 4 massive plants as i do a quick turnover..
When using a CFL wat is the best lighting schedule? I used 16/8 with the MH, and currently use 12/12 with the HPS?

 

[xogenic]

just stick with 16/8 but if you can go for 24 or 20 also that should be enough veg time i usualy wate till my plants reach 1 foot also i either suppercrop or fimm for max cola growth

 

[XxNinjaxX]

SuperCrop Or Fimm?? I have heard of topping, but dont know how to do it.. but i have never even heard of those 2..