What lights should I get?

[RediJedi]

Hello all,

I am thinking of getting a 250 watt H.P.S. and a 250 M.H. for my 7x2 sized closet. My local grow store offers these lights. I will obviously use the M.H. for vegging and the H.P.S. for budding. Any suggestions on which M.H. and which H.P.S. to choose from this list would be very appreciated, folks.


High Pressure Sodium-
250W HPS Econogro Mini System $159.95
250W HPS Mini System $199.95
250W HPS System w/ Maximizer Reflector $249.95
250W HPS System w/ Sun Gro Reflector $244.95
250W HPS System w/ Super Sun Reflector $254.95

Metal Halide-
250W MH Mini System $181.95
250W MH System w/ Large Horizontal Reflector $229.95
250W MH System w/ Maximizer Reflector $219.97
250W MH System w/ Sun Gro Reflector $239.95
250W MH System w/ Super Sun Reflector $249.9

 

[moses224]

Unless are is an issue you can get a 400 ballast for 60 for MD Hydro or a thousand with reflector and light for 65 landed off ebay. If you are going two fifty go System w/ Super Sun its only six dollars more. Try www.htgsupply.com and http://www.bghydro.com they both are competative also maryland hydroponics

 

[RediJedi]

Thank you for the feedback, Moses. I will try the Super Suns for both M.H. and H.P.S. Was also thinking of hanging a 150 watt H.P.S. vertically along with the Super Sun 250 watt H.P.S. for the flowering stage. Just a thought. Peace. -Redi

 

[Hydro-Soil]

Have you read up on the Ceramic Metal Halide lights?

I'd look it up and read a few threads and grow reports. Lovely colors and supposedly great great potency. Short bushy plants too!

Less radiant heat is a good thing too! The lamp still gets hot but it doesn't heat up everything around it like the walls and floor and hydro equipment like an HPS or MH do.

Just remember that the more wattage lighting you put in, the more time/money you're going to spend on dealing with heat and airflow.

 

[freeradical]

There is the CMH route Hydro-Soil mentioned, and there is also the route of not getting a MH at all, and using HPS all the way through (which is fine for short veg times).

Another thing to consider is you should size your hps based on the light coverage of a grow at its maximum size (before harvest). Taking this into account, you can have a veg light that is approximately 1/4 of the wattage of your HPS (as long as they are both HID, otherwise you'll want more wattage than 1/4 for veg when using floros).

A third route would be to get a switchable ballast, so you don't need to buy two ballasts.

 

[RediJedi]

Thanks guys for the help. Will now either get the switchable ballast to save money or I will look into getting a C.M.H. Peace.

 

[Mackawber]

Get the CMH. I had a 250 MH and a 600 watt HPS and I like my 400 watt CMH much better. The plants are a lot healthier. CMH spectrum is much closer to sunlight and it's like combining both MH and HPS into one. If you're running a small grow and had only one light to chose, it would be a 400 watt CMH. Be sure you find a non digital magnetic HPS ballast for it (400 watt of course).