Help With Lighting

[Bobs16]

I am in dire need of some help in lighting. My seeds should be coming here in the next couple of weeks and I have yet to set my stuff up. For lighting I was thinking about CFL's as my room mates are sort of skeptical of the electricity bill.


I plan to grow 4-6 plants for vegetating and 4-6 plants buding. (Hope I said that correctly) I was planing on 6 CFL's for 6 plants. 2 in front 2 in the back and 2 on top. But then I would need around the same on the buding phase.


6x40w bulbs = 240W 24 hours a day

6x40w bulbs = 240W 12/12

Or could I just do 4 plants at a time and do HPS and HID lights.Them being the 250 W. But the problem is here the watts for one and I don't know what Ballasts I need for them.

http://www.1000bulbs.com/250-Watt-High-Pressure-Sodium/


Here is an example Ballast but what else do I need with that? Or is that all I need? Seems like 1HPS + 1HID 250w's > 12 x 40w CFL's
Please correct me if I am wrong. Major concern here is the bill second is making 4-6 plants grow no problem.


Thanks for ANY HELP.

[CaliCoast]

If you want to grow with CFL's I would suggest reading up this thread
http://forum.grasscity.com/general-i...cfl-guide.html
It's a good starting point. You can flower with CFL's however ideally you would want to flower with an HPS setup.

As far as HID lighting goes yes you are going to need the proper ballast for whatever wattage you are going with. You can't just screw in an HID bulb into a normal socket! That will result in fire and a lot of bad stuff, don't even think about it lol. You are going to need a mogul socket for an HID bulb. Another thing with HID lighting is that it creates a lot of heat so think about how you are going to evacuate hot air. Read up on HID lighting, what precautions you need to take and what size and wattage best fits your needs.

This answer is choppy so if you have any other ?'s just post em up.

[Bobs16]

Ya I read that thread but leaves you kind of wide open as he does not state how many are recommended for plants. Now for HID and HPS I posted the ballast well i think that is what I need. Or do I need any other hardware other than that ballast to install those bulbs?

And would like to know what would I benefit from going to CFL's or going with HID's and HPS.

[CaliCoast]

Originally Posted by Bobs16

Ya I read that thread but leaves you kind of wide open as he does not state how many are recommended for plants.

I took this from Camel's thread

How many watts should you get? There's no real answer, just the rule that more is better. Try 100w for 1 plant, any more can usually share the light already there, so maybe 30-50 additional watts each, depending on your situation (remember, look at actual watts used, not incandescent equivalent). You can tell when you need more light, when parts of the plant are in shade and buds are barely coming in. Those areas need some direct light. Once all bud sites are well lit, you shouldn't be disappointed. You can add as many lights as you can fit, respecting power, heat, and space. But don't leave parts of the plant in shadow, get another 26w CFL and stick it in that hole.

Now for HID and HPS I posted the ballast well i think that is what I need. Or do I need any other hardware other than that ballast to install those bulbs?

I don't even want to touch wiring as I'm no wiring expert so I usually go for the ready to go plug in type ballast they sell at hydro shops and what not. Like a Lumatek ballast. You really want to make sure the ballast, bulb and socket/cord are compatible before firing up any bulbs so maybe some other wiring expert can chime in on that. But yes besides the ballast you need a mogul socket and a reflector.

And would like to know what would I benefit from going to CFL's or going with HID's and HPS.

The benefits of HID lighting over CFL's is that HID lighting is a lot more intense thus providing more light for your plants. The drawbacks of HID lighting is that it's more expensive, creates more heat and uses more electricity to name a few off the top of my head. But in the end HID lighting produces higher quality buds. So if you have the money and the means go HID, if not CFL or T5 setup.

[Bobs16]

Looks like I missed that when reading the CFL guide. My bad. Thanks for pointing that out. Looks like CFL is the way I am going now. HPS and HID sounds like it is for hardcore growers I just want some for me and to sell to a couple of friends. 4 Plants should be plenty for that but still he thinks 400 watts for 4 plants thats still a lot I hope I can get by with 250's - 300W.

Kudos to you!

[BKKG]

Damn! CaliCoast beat me to it! I'd complain, except he's a better adviser than me in the first place... and since the information's about the same, you can just ignore this post...

Originally Posted by Bobs16

Ya I read that thread but leaves you kind of wide open as he does not state how many are recommended for plants. Now for HID and HPS I posted the ballast well i think that is what I need. Or do I need any other hardware other than that ballast to install those bulbs?

And would like to know what would I benefit from going to CFL's or going with HID's and HPS.

The thing with CFL's is that you don't really have to worry about bleaching your plants with them (unless you're using a TON of them), so the more the better. The number of bulbs you listed should work just fine, but more light will result in bigger, fuller plants and a significantly better yield.

As for the HID and HPS, I don't have any practical experience but the ballast and the bulb will be all that you need, just make absolutely sure you know what you're doing when you wire it, burning your house down would not be fun at all.

The benefit you get from using a HID and HPS is that you have way, way more light, and more powerful light. This means bigger better plants, and you won't have to keep the plants super close to at, as you would with the CFL's. The downside of course is that those kinds of lights produce a lot more heat than CFL's, so you'd have to adjust your air circulation and room temperature accordingly. Plus you'll have a higher electric bill, and the grow will be less stealthy. But you'll be able to grow with either setup, so it really just comes down to your preferences.