Question's About HPS

The Light i am going to get is HPS 400 watt. Am i going to want to use a different type of light during the initial sprouting and growth stage? or will it be sufficient all the way thru the plants life cycle? This is the one im gettin. I am going to be growing in a small metal locker. Would I need some kind of ventilation for this? Heres my light take a look, Thanks High Tech Garden Supply

I have the same light, many of us here use it.

To be safe start your seeds under a floro or cfl's, you don't want to burn them, when the first set of leaves appear, i am going to put mine directly under it, maybe 24 inches away at first, and work my way down to 12 inches or less..

this light produces pretty good buds/yields.. but it only lights up about the first 15 inches of your plants... so anything taller is somewhat of a waste..

Alright cool, what kind of flourescent lights do i need? can i just get the regular ones that look like as big as bulbs but they're all spirally or what? and what do you think about LST, i am not working with much space, so im not sure if i should grow my plant upwards or grow it LST like a Big Bush.

i would top/lst you plants to get as many branches meeting up, this is what im going to do, IMO, for a 400w hps this will produce 1000watt like yields haveing all those tops closer to the lights. especially if height is a concern...

for seedlings, you can get tubes, or the spiral energy saving bulbs (CFL's) they look like the attached pic.

Yeah thats what i was tlakin about the spiral ones.... alright man thanks for the info. If i am gonna grow some dank is it gonna be PRETY tough? and will it stinkbad? im already expecting it to stink cuz its dank, but does it stink more while its on the plant or something?

depends on strain.. i grew some bagseed that didnt smell too bad, but did smell, i got rid of the smell with simple ventalation.

well, i def want my grow to be better than regular probably going to do HIGH mids for the first time, but when i decide to grow some kb what strain do you suggest?

my first op was bagseed as well, pretty decent shit, now i will be growing white widow.

Just curious but, can someone use a 400 watt HPS for the entire grow. I understand it's not as good as using HPS and MH but can you still get a good yield if you cared for it right?

well sure, practically its sufficient enough to grow with, but i doubt that this will produce good yields. HPS are quit in the red spectrum of light which has from that side lee energy to it than blue spectrum light, like from cfl's. but that's just the theory...

off the topic russ0r, United States Army Missile Detachment, do you grow in a rocket silo?? that would be one cool and damn safe place to grow

LOL, where the f did that come from?

russ0r said:

LOL, where the f did that come from?

Click to expand...

USAMD = United States Army Missile Detachment

do you figure it now?

lol.......

okay, for what stands USAMD in your case? if you aren't growing in a silo

Nugz101 said:

The Light i am going to get is HPS 400 watt. Am i going to want to use a different type of light during the initial sprouting and growth stage? or will it be sufficient all the way thru the plants life cycle? This is the one im gettin. I am going to be growing in a small metal locker. Would I need some kind of ventilation for this? Heres my light take a look, Thanks High Tech Garden Supply

Click to expand...

I would get a switchable ballast. That way you just flip a switch on the ballast and change the bulb from MH for Veg to HPS when flowering. No expensive conversion bulbs are needed.

I have dual 1000 watt switchable ballasts and they rock. They get hot so heat needs to be considered and controlled.

400 watters give off a little bit of heat so watch air flow for cooling. You need air flow or the heat will kill your babies.

They have full spectrum HPS alot of poeple use them the whole grow.That's after they grow for about 3 weeks and are ready for nurts. Peace

Hortilux makes a bulb that is a full spectrum bulb cant remeber if it was MH or HPS but I think they make it in a 400 watt.

Ok. Well I have two 400 watt HPS bulbs coming soon. And the Home Depot down the road sales HPS and MH bulbs, so I'll get myself a switchable ballast and reflector for both bulbs and I think I should be good then.

cajun said:

Ok. Well I have two 400 watt HPS bulbs coming soon. And the Home Depot down the road sales HPS and MH bulbs, so I'll get myself a switchable ballast and reflector for both bulbs and I think I should be good then.

Click to expand...

Both bulbs should fit in one reflector or hood. The selection of a switchable ballast is a great idea.

Now for the hard part, the more light the better. I started with a 400 watt and then made the jump to 1k watters. Nothing beats the canopy punching power of a 1,000 watt light. Nada except the sun. The heat is a bitch but I use air cooled and sealed hoods (adds to cost) but I also use metered and monitored CO2 in a sealed room.

May the ganja god smile on your grows !!!