Single 600w vs multiple 250w ???

Hi Peoples,

This will be my first post, looking for some help regarding my grow room setup.

I grow autoflowering plants in soil, current crop is Easyryder (AK-47 x Lowryder #2) and am thinking of also growing Automatic Ak-47, a.ll organically soil grown

I have a 1.2 meter square mylar tent with 2 meters of headroom, currently I am running 1 air cooled 600 watt dual spectrum HPS. This is great but what Im wondering is would it be better to have more smaller lights, would the better spread of light be preferable to a single more powerful lamp.

I am thinking of using 3 x 250 watt lamps, all air cooled and maybe using a mix of 1 x metal halide and 2 x HPS to achieve a better spectrum and distribution of light.

Please let me know what you think

The light you have is fine - just use a blue enhanced HPS.

Well I do, I have a 600w SUnmaster dual spectrum, its not so much the increased spectrum benefit that might be achieved but the actual spread/distribution of the light over the area...?

More lights with better distribution and spectrum would be better for your plants. But with a good reflective tent, can more lights make a difference in coverage ? My guess is no, but even if it did, I think it's a question of cost, since the benefit is relatively small. In fact, I would think that the spectrum enhancement would be a better argument for the 3 light setup, but still not worth the additional cost.

Man o' the green said:

More lights with better distribution and spectrum would be better for your plants. But with a good reflective tent, can more lights make a difference in coverage ? My guess is no, but even if it did, I think it's a question of cost, since the benefit is relatively small. In fact, I would think that the spectrum enhancement would be a better argument for the 3 light setup, but still not worth the additional cost.

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Agreed IMO the 600 would outweigh the 250s everyday of the week just for its superior light penetration, and it should cover a meter just fine.

out.
PurfectStorm

Ok thanks, thats soem food for thought, the othe question I have regards ballasts, I have a basic magnetic ballast at the moment and am thinking of upgrading it to a digital/electronic is this a wise move?

Also would the addition of a couple of Vegatative spectrum CFLs be beneficial, in addition to the main 600w light?

zenza said:

Ok thanks, thats soem food for thought, the othe question I have regards ballasts, I have a basic magnetic ballast at the moment and am thinking of upgrading it to a digital/electronic is this a wise move?

Also would the addition of a couple of Vegatative spectrum CFLs be beneficial, in addition to the main 600w light?

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I bought an electronic ballast, and am very happy with it, its supposed to promote longer bulb life, and be slightly more power efficient, however idk if the efficiency is worth the cost of the upgrade.

..and i think ur cfl's would probably be just drops in the bucket when compared to the hps.

out.
PurfectStorm

my understanding is lights over 400 watts are more effecient. checked 1000bulbs for specs and here is what I found using 1st ballast listed for 200,250 &600watt.same for the bulbs.
1 600 watt ballast draws 5.5 amps and produces 90,000 lumens.
3 200 watt ballasts draw 6 amps and produce 66,000 lumens.
3 250 watt ballasts draw 7.5 amps and produce 87,000 lumens.
the spread might make up for the 3000 lumens lost but it will cost you an exra 2 amps to do it so my vote is against switching.
electronic ballasts are alot more money and still not proven to have the life of a magnetic core -my parents have a 400 watt MH on a pole outside that was in the house when they bought it in the late 60s. I have replaces the bulb many times but never the ballast
1 good thing about electronic ballasts is the ability to run MH or HPS & most can handle any watt bulb up to its rating.
I have considered 1 to start a crop w/ 200w MH for seedling, switch up to 400w mh to veg and then switch to 600 watt HPS to flower.all w/out switching fixtures.

two 400w CMH is the best!

lumens aint shit people see lumens not plants CRI and PAR spectrum is where its at.

Conversion metal halide and metal hailed are the same thing, just a legacy of a time when ballasts would only run HPS or MH, so you could buy MH bulbs that would work with HPS ballasts, seeing as almost all ballasts are capable of running both seems a bit obsolete. Sunmaster make a 7200k (Cool deluxe) MH lamp that comes in 400/600w think ill get one of these for the intitial veg stage (30 days) then move over to HPS for bloom (40 days)