do you have use separate bulbs with dimmable ballast?

or can you use one bulb and tu8rn the watt down from the ballast?

i have a dimmeable ballast, and from what i understand and what i've been doing is using a 400 watt bulb for the 400 watt setting, and a 250 for the 250 setting.. and i don't touch the turbo setting at all..

i see, well i was thinking that was how it was done properly, do you run a 250 mh ? or can your ballast do both?

thanks racer

You still use the same bulb. When you turn the ballast down it just changes the output to a lower setting. I have a Lumatek 600W dimmable ballast. I usually turn it down to 400 for a few hours if my plants are looking a little droopy.

yah, my ballast runs both mh and hps,, i went with a digital ballast for that reason and the dimmeability of the unit.. i use the 250 mh for veg, and than flip to a hps and bump her up to 400 watts for the flowering period..

So, what ph range should I get my water before watering my plants in soil?

6.8 to 7.0 is ideal although pretty much any water you get will already be at the correct pH. No real need to test the water you water with. If you fertilize often you want to test the water running out of the soil. Fertilizing makes the soil more acidic, so you might need to raise the pH of th soil at some point. There are a few different ways to do that.

EC (Electrical conductivity) sometimes referred to as ppm, is a measure of the electrical conductivity of something. You should buy an EC meter or a PPM meter at some point. Test the water you water your plants with that. As you put chemicals in your water the PPM will increase, to high and you get nutrient burn.

Griffin, you're awesome, thank you!!! Also I'm tempted to get a 5x5x6.5, would that be okay to veg with a 400w and flowr with a 600hps? Anyone?

u dont need diif bulbs just lower ur % on the ballast is all u do unless u have a mh/hps like mine then obvsly u need 2 but u just buy whatever ur ballast is for