What would be a good grow light KIT for a newb from amazon?

Looking at all the kits on amazon around 500-600 watts, that come with both kind of bulbs.

There are to many to choose from and i was wondering which brand is good.

Just want one that would work as advertised and last awhile.

Just looks at the reviews. There really aren't that many, and they all are basically the same especially since you're going the HPS/MH route. Just grab a cheap one that comes with a hood/ballast and has 5 stars with plenty of reviews. People here will have different opinions and will argue into a thread hijack about what lights you need. I'd go with what's in your budget in the end.

CaliSmokes said:

Just looks at the reviews. There really aren't that many, and they all are basically the same especially since you're going the HPS/MH route. Just grab a cheap one that comes with a hood/ballast and has 5 stars with plenty of reviews. People here will have different opinions and will argue into a thread hijack about what lights you need. I'd go with what's in your budget in the end.

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Pretty much.... get as much as you can for the money you're spending that will set you up to start.

Get the ballast off eBay, it'll save you a ton of money.

I got 3 600w lumatek's for $50-75 a piece. Then just grab your hoods and bulbs. Cost around $200 a light tops. Just my experience. They have no resell value and I've never had a problem w a used ballist.

Maxibright is a good mid range digi ballast, i run the 600w switchable super lumens and easy to find on amazon. A ballast is an investment so dont go mega cheapo, gavita, lumatek and maxibright are three great makes that wont let you down. Not sure which combo mh and hps though.

Past this many hydro shops list their kits from their shops so if you want a ballast coolshade and bulb package then they are their too. Id avoid digis with cooling fans favouring traditional cooling fins generally and i like switchable 600w ballasts as you get 250w 400w 600w and superlumens all from one ballast and bulb.

Theres a lot of cheap shit led on amazon, id just completely avoid it unless you know what your looking for.

Most times the difference in prices are based on the kind of hood you want. Don't go cheap on this if you can help it. The hood is as important as a ballast. A vented hood will distribute the lighting much better than a wing style hood or cooltube. The timers and accessories included in many kits are usually total junk; they will burn out fast. I've been using Thunder ballasts from Amazon the past 3+yrs & they seem to work well. I also agree eBay is a good source for lighting equipment and you might actually get a better deal pieceing it all out & buying everything separately instead of bundling.

Dragonsyph said:

Looking at all the kits on amazon around 500-600 watts, that come with both kind of bulbs.

There are to many to choose from and i was wondering which brand is good.

Just want one that would work as advertised and last awhile.

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Mars led less cost for first try at it ,less to run.No heat issues go for it.Its not like it wont come in further along the line perfect for vegging once you up grade along side flowering plants

I have had great luck with Apollo stuff. Not top of the line but I'm on my 8th grow, some quick math suggests I have 10,000 hours on the ballast and not a single problem.

I got my kit with a cool tube but upgraded after a couple grows to a square hood like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001O1V634/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I would get this one: https://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-GLK600LS24-Digital-Dimmable/dp/B005ECZQTY/ref=sr_1_2?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1481402084&sr=1-2&keywords=600+W+GROW+LIGHT+KIT&refinements=p_89:Apollo+Horticulture

Anyway it has been a workhorse for me. IPower and others sell similar kits and I can not help but think these ballasts are all coming out of the same Chinese factory, so other "brands" be just as good. Just supposition, might be wrong on this.

Damn thing paid for itself first run many times over. Also the timer with the kit is not "Crap" in my opinion. 8 runs later it still works as it did new. Hangers are nice and solid. Bulbs OK. Bulbs long gone, I replace every 2nd grow on the HPS.

Also, initially had an Apollo bulb blow pretty quick and I called the Co (In California) and they confirmed my Amazon purchase and shipped me another on my doorstep in 3-4 days. So my experience with cust service was great.

Best of luck.

PS Here's your fan:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002JQ14F8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

VIVOSUN,

r.i.kid said:

VIVOSUN,View attachment 3850418

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Ya i seen that one and the apllo one. Just have to roll the dice i guess, alot of reviews of ballasts going bad.

On the DON'T BUY list for 2017;
1. SE HPS- obsolete, power hungry, bad spectrum, lamp replacement every 6 months.

2. MH of any kind; very inefficient, power hungry, lamp life even shorter than HPS.

3. T5 for anything but UV supplementation; short lamp life, inefficient, hard to get enough light to be effective.

4. DE HPS; still not efficient, HOTTER THAN FUCK, lousy spectrum.

5. Any Blurple LED; poor spectrum, generally low efficiency and they don't last- often because the units are made cheaply and therefore run hot enough to limit longevity.

CONSIDER THESE INSTEAD;
1. 315W CMH lights- more efficient, decent spectrum, lamp replacement interval is up to 2 years, low cost of purchase.

2. COB LED- can be highly efficient, great spectrum, well designed units don't have replacement intervals.

3. Quantum board LED- highly efficient, long lasting, great spectrum.

Your wallet and your grow will thank me if you follow this advice.

ttystikk said:

On the DON'T BUY list for 2017;
1. SE HPS- obsolete, power hungry, bad spectrum, lamp replacement every 6 months.

2. MH of any kind; very inefficient, power hungry, lamp life even shorter than HPS.

3. T5 for anything but UV supplementation; short lamp life, inefficient, hard to get enough light to be effective.

4. DE HPS; still not efficient, HOTTER THAN FUCK, lousy spectrum.

5. Any Blurple LED; poor spectrum, generally low efficiency and they don't last- often because the units are made cheaply and therefore run hot enough to limit longevity.

CONSIDER THESE INSTEAD;
1. 315W CMH lights- more efficient, decent spectrum, lamp replacement interval is up to 2 years, low cost of purchase.

2. COB LED- can be highly efficient, great spectrum, well designed units don't have replacement intervals.

3. Quantum board LED- highly efficient, long lasting, great spectrum.

Your wallet and your grow will thank me if you follow this advice.

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I use hps and yeah my electric bill is higher but my bud is excellent...but I'm running 3200watts of electricity in my grow..my bill is up 200$ a month...but i grow 5k a month sooo....

Its a little smaller than you are looking for, but I have a 400watt Ceramic Metal Halide from HTG you can get on amazon. Spectrum is excellent on CMH.... Light is unbelievably crystal clear to the human eye... I use mine in veg and the girls love it. There are many people that use em start to finish and I know others say that they grow better than the wattage reflects due to their really broad spectrum, I can't testify to that part. But I am happy with mine.

ttystikk said:

On the DON'T BUY list for 2017;
1. SE HPS- obsolete, power hungry, bad spectrum, lamp replacement every 6 months.

2. MH of any kind; very inefficient, power hungry, lamp life even shorter than HPS.

3. T5 for anything but UV supplementation; short lamp life, inefficient, hard to get enough light to be effective.

4. DE HPS; still not efficient, HOTTER THAN FUCK, lousy spectrum.

5. Any Blurple LED; poor spectrum, generally low efficiency and they don't last- often because the units are made cheaply and therefore run hot enough to limit longevity.

CONSIDER THESE INSTEAD;
1. 315W CMH lights- more efficient, decent spectrum, lamp replacement interval is up to 2 years, low cost of purchase.

2. COB LED- can be highly efficient, great spectrum, well designed units don't have replacement intervals.

3. Quantum board LED- highly efficient, long lasting, great spectrum.

Your wallet and your grow will thank me if you follow this advice.

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You can add ph meters from Amazon....sometimes the meter isn't included. As in sorry employees with sticky fingers. T5 still cant be beat for seedlings and sativa clones.

redzi said:

You can add ph meters from Amazon....sometimes the meter isn't included. As in sorry employees with sticky fingers. T5 still cant be beat for seedlings and sativa clones.

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Interesting, good to know!

BTW, that's a baa aaad ass sig line... lmao

r.i.kid said:

I use hps and yeah my electric bill is higher but my bud is excellent...but I'm running 3200watts of electricity in my grow..my bill is up 200$ a month...but i grow 5k a month sooo....

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@ISK link for you both;

Matching Drivers and COBs

ttystikk said:

On the DON'T BUY list for 2017;
1. SE HPS- obsolete, power hungry, bad spectrum, lamp replacement every 6 months.

2. MH of any kind; very inefficient, power hungry, lamp life even shorter than HPS.

3. T5 for anything but UV supplementation; short lamp life, inefficient, hard to get enough light to be effective.

4. DE HPS; still not efficient, HOTTER THAN FUCK, lousy spectrum.

5. Any Blurple LED; poor spectrum, generally low efficiency and they don't last- often because the units are made cheaply and therefore run hot enough to limit longevity.

CONSIDER THESE INSTEAD;
1. 315W CMH lights- more efficient, decent spectrum, lamp replacement interval is up to 2 years, low cost of purchase.

2. COB LED- can be highly efficient, great spectrum, well designed units don't have replacement intervals.

3. Quantum board LED- highly efficient, long lasting, great spectrum.

Your wallet and your grow will thank me if you follow this advice.

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So only leds are good these days, pretty damming considering folks are throwing some good numbers with most of them lamps.....

Kingrow1 said:

So only leds are good these days, pretty damming considering folks are throwing some good numbers with most of them lamps.....

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Just wait until you see the numbers from COB and Quantum board LED.

I didn't say you couldn't get good results from the old school stuff. I did. I'm saying that they're obsolete going forward.

You aren't winning a modern road race with a '69 Camaro.

ttystikk said:

Just wait until you see the numbers from COB and Quantum board LED.

I didn't say you couldn't get good results from the old school stuff. I did. I'm saying that they're obsolete going forward.

You aren't winning a modern road race with a '69 Camaro.

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Triple, double. Why avoid the others when you can pull great weight with them at a low price? Do you have any grows where you did a side by side with both systems? How much more are we talking here? I'm doing great with hid hps and even got a couple of those blurples viparspectra for veg and am loving them. The whole puttting it together really puts me off cob. I would recommend the vipar spectra for any beginner!

ttystikk said:

Just wait until you see the numbers from COB and Quantum board LED.

I didn't say you couldn't get good results from the old school stuff. I did. I'm saying that they're obsolete going forward.

You aren't winning a modern road race with a '69 Camaro.

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Kind off struggling to see how leds are going to move forward as well, the obvious problems with larger watt leds have left the market with 3 and 5 watt leds for sometime now. You can tech and tune theseall you want but sooner or later some major breakthrough is needed or i see little future for them as well. Quite a few see that leds have hit a bit of a wall and10watt leds arent as efficient.

Maybe they do have something for the future but i struggle to reference any science that will allow it yet.