Lights---my nightmare

so Im starting my first growroom and i've spent months researching things to do and my main problem is cash flow.....i need to find some lights that dont require a $150 hood and a $200 ballast
anyone have some recommendations as to what light i can use thats not as expensive as HPS for flowering? (flowering specifically i have a good light set up for vegetative growing)
i keep reading that flowering wants a lot of light and red spectrum idk which way to go if its not going to be HPS

any advice will be much appreciated

Have you tried E-Bay?? $85, if you can't afford that then you probably shouldn't try growing.
Hydroponic Economy 400 Watt HPS Grow Light - eBay (item 170263300280 end time Nov-16-08 11:24:57 PST)

what about cfl's?

CFL Growing

or HTG

High Tech Garden Supply

Yeah i picked up a 400watt hps for $100 off ebay.And some t8 shop lights work well for veg 6500k.

or you can go to home depot, in the security lighting section u can pick up both metal halide (for veg) and hps (for flower) fixtures and lamps for, they both work well and for a 400 watt hps at home depot ur looking at 90 dollars

For the cost of CFLs or ripping up a home depot security light you can have a HPS with bulb ballast and hood from HTGsupply.com

thanks alot everyone im going to look on ebay....im no electrician i forsee trouble trying to dismantle a security light

all u need is a couple of wire nuts dude but go ahead and spend away ...if i owned a hydro store i would reccomend exactly that ...but for the same outcome and obvioously a lil creativity ...ur setup... and a lot less money u can achieve the same thing....check out stickys thread for beginners

i will look into that deffinatly thanks for the advice man

i also found a 400 watt HPS with a 400 watt ballast on ebay for $85 it'll come out to around 110 with shipping but well worth the money! thats almost $150 cheaper than i priced at the hydro store today

another question......PVC or straight wood for the frame of a flwoering room?
im thinking PVC for cost/versatility

just make sure u are actually getting what u pay for on ebay! i know they are selling all kinds of things claiming to be hps or halide but put out about as many lumens as a standard light bulb man just be carefull...for 90 at homedepot u can get a 600 watt equivalent, all u have to do is attach it to something and hang it up ...its as easy as that...

lol i have everything from hangers to kite string in my grow room dude...so use whatever u want really just follow all ur main concerns to growing and u will be fine

i was a little worried but i mean the seller has a 98.3 percent positive rating....

could you possibly give me a little more detail on how to convert a security light from home depot?

pics would be awesome if you got em

thanks again for the help man

get a piece of wood and a screw gun and a couple screws , take it out of the box and attach it to the wood with the screws...using ur wire nuts attach the other end to a plug..99cents at home depot and plug it in to the timer or wall its as aesy as that..theres only 2 wires to attach it really that easy..just look at it this way.. u could have equivelant to 1800 watt hps for less than 300 bucks...

check out my girls man tell me what u think based off a 150 dollar setup compared to thousands they want u to spend

see thats what im talking about right there im going to check into home depot and see whats up with all that

thanks a lot man

how many plants do you have and whats your light set up?

dont get me wrong a nice 1000 or even 400 watt hps would be nice all im saying is ur going to spend alot of money! when u dont really have to if ur growing small , discreet etc... not only do the lights cost less but they oporate at much more efficient costs...

i really dont know how many plants u want to grow..

lets say for 3 plants= i think i would start of with a few cfls hanging just above the tops almost touching until they were 6 inches tall ...maybe 5 or 6 nodes


from there i would set them up under a 400 watt equivelant halide lamp from hd for about 60 bucks until about a foot tall..

then i would put them under a 70 watt equivelant to 600 watt hps from hd for69 bucks until done flowering..

during flowering i do hang cfls above those tops that grow lower away from the main lamps and by doing so u will also gain at least 30 percent per yield


tyhis is only a ghetto grow like we talked about ...realisticly u want to get some high power stuff for a real grow but indoor u can save serious money by keeping it compact and smart

yeah dude small is pretty much what im looking for 6-7 plants the seeds i will start out and which ever are males i will kill and replace with clones so i guess i will have 15-16 plants at any one time (7 flowering 1-2 mothers 7 clones)

im trying to keep a continual harvest every month or 2 im hoping....
afgan kush are the seeds i have, any ideas as to what i can expect with a relatively cheap light set up(with a few added of course) in the ways of yield?

7 to 14oz i depending on how tall they get, how close the lights are ... how are u growiing?

im growing in soil this is my first real grow and im starting small and working up to bigger things i.e. hydroponics