How many plants under 400 watt MH & how many bulbs?

Discussion in 'First Time Marijuana Growers' started by DaDude77, Nov 18, 2008.

  1. I have two questions regarding indoor lighting.
    I was planning on purchasing a 400 Watt Metal Halide system from Inside Sun.
    This system includes:
    New 400 Watt MH Bulb
    New 400 Watt MH Ballast w/ Rubber Feet for Quiet Operation! Chrome Batwing Reflector
    Electrical cable - Wall to Ballast 3.5 feet (standard 3 prong plug)
    Electrical cable - Ballast to Light 10 feet
    3 year warranty (except on bulb)

    My first question is:
    1)How many plants could I possibly sustain healthy under this system? (If it makes any difference, I plan to use low stress training as well!)

    Second question:
    2)What is the avg. life span on one of these bulbs? or How many should I look at purchasing to ensure a successful grow from sprout to harvest?

    Thanks in advance for any help! :smoke:
     
  2. #2 mad4reef, Nov 18, 2008
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 18, 2008


    4-6 comfortably.



    The bulbs will last for thousands of hours. You will not need a new bulb until after you have succesfully harvested your first grow. (maybe even your second)

    One note. While MH is a great spectrum for vegging your plant. It is not ideal for flowering. Not saying it can't be done, but HPS is much better suited to the task.

    If you can afford it. I highly recommend investing in a switchable ballast. They run both MH and HPS bulbs. They are very effective for all stages of your grow.

    Good luck.
     
  3. now what if you had a light mover??? I would think that would allow you to get away with about 6-8 plants since you could cover more area than a stationary light.
     
  4. Slightly off topic but how do the Inside sun kits compare to the HTG kits?
     
  5. Nice Hijack. ;)

    They are of similar quality. If I remeber correctly Inside Sun uses a refurbished ballast. Other than that there probably isn't a huge difference.

    I have a 400W HPS from HTG. Never had a problem with it. I highly recommend it.

    Good luck.
     
  6. I run a light mover over my veg area...mainly cause its 5'x2'x5'(and I had it left from an old reef tank I had along time ago)...with the light mover I get great coverage and my light is able to hang a little closer to the tops of plants...but I only veg out 3-4 plants cause its all I really need per grow. But yes it does expand your area some...dont go crazy thinking your gonna fit 12 plants and youll be fine. Or use the cash from the lightmover and buy a 600w...
     
  7. cool thanks for the reply yeah I know the mover won't extend a lights capability too much more but it should help since my area is 7 feet by 4 feet and 9 feet tall. That way I can put plants 2 by 2 in a row so 8 should work nicely. Eventually I will be upgrading the light but until then the free light mover I got from a friend should extend the use of my 400 watt considerably.
     
  8. thanks for all responses! I noticed a post about an HTG kit? have to yet to purchase from inside sun and am wondering if the HTG kits are better?
     
  9. I don't know if they're better or not, post above seems to imply the biggest difference is inside sun uses a refurbished ballast. They appear to be the same price and HTG has come reccomended time and again on here so that's the main place I knew of.
     

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