400w HPS ballast w/ 200w bulb?

Will that work? I'm a little tight on funds at the moment and I was think about only growing 1-3 plants at a time, which I could support with a 200 or 250w HPS. BUT I will probably want to upgrade to a 400w HPS eventually and would like to cut the cost of a new ballast.

So, if I bought a 200w bulb w/ a 400 ballast of the same brand, would it work?

NEVERMIND!

I was looking at the cost of the ballasts and not the bulbs. There's not much difference in the cost of the bulbs from 200w to 400w.

no that wont work

well i am going to try a 400w/ with a 400w ballast for 6-9 plants.

400 watt ballest 200 watt bulb = 200 watt light @ 400 watt power = couple bucks for 400 watt bulb priceless

johnny961 said:

400 watt ballest 200 watt bulb = 200 watt light @ 400 watt power = couple bucks for 400 watt bulb priceless

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what?????

The bulb draw 400W the ballast draws about 10% more, so 40W. A 200W bulb is not going to pull the extra. Its not a constant current system.

The igniter and/or cap will probably be the prob in the system.

if money is the issue go with a home depot 400 watt bulb instead of a $90 hortilux, i would never suggest running a different size bulb in a ballast

I have a 400w bulb and ballast. would that support 9 plants of hydro?