I am completley clueless when it comes to lights. help me please??

[Geeyouknit420]

Ok so i searched and searched and searched and only had my question partially answered in one thread but I would be very appreciative if someone could A.) help me with this idiotic dilema brain fart or B.) show me the thread that will do A. Here goes, and thanks in advance!

Ive decided to do my first grow. I am bouncing between 2 places to grow. My closet (roughly 5'w x 2'd x 8't) or, gutting a fairly good sized dresser(5'w x 4'h) from goodwill, putting plywood coverd with flat white paint or Panda film (?) around the inside, and cutting various exaust holes and fan holes and what not but heres the big question. Im using bag seeds so i went to home depot today and they actually have HPS lights anywhere from 75w-400w (no ballasts though) and they also have CFL's (Compact flouro's, right?). Which do i chose and why, and should i change lights at a certain time during the growth? and if so, why. I plan on germ'n all 5 of my bag seed, but being my first i only expect like 1 or 2 to survive. So for 1 plant, possibly growing in a closet, what would be the best? again sorry for the newb question and mad karma points for whoever helps me out. THANKS ALOT GUYS!!!

[senior_ganj]

HPS is your best bet. They are the best for growing. There are a couple problems with them though. They cost a decent amount of money. They produce a lot of heat. So if you are going to invest in one of these, make sure you have decent ventilation to get rid of all that excess heat. If you are growing a decent number of plants, HPS lights might actually be more economical then buying a bunch of CFLs. The HPS light is also bad for seedlings and clones seeing as it is hot and very powerful.

There are a couple good and bad things about CFL's too. You need a lot more of them to keep a plant healthy. For my mother, I have 4 23w CFLs on one plant. That keeps her from stretching. CFL's produce very little heat, so they can be very close to the plants and lessen the need for ventilation (of course they still need some fresh air though, it just takes care of some of the temp issues.)

If you plan on growing for a while and upgrading, I'd say go with the HPS now and buy yourself a few CFL's for seedlings and clones. Otherwise, you can get by with just CFL's. A lot of people on here have had very successful grows with just CFL's.

To give you and idea, I use 6 23w CFLs for clones, normally 4-6 at a time, and I have a 250w HPS for veg and flower. Good luck with your grow.

[Geeyouknit420]

Hey man thanks a lot. I dont think anyone could have hit that more dead center. So for one plant, possibly 2, you say the CFL's would be the way to go? and aprox how many? I would like to buy a nice HPS setup with one of those air coolable reflectors in the future, but this grow is more or less to prove to myself i can do it before i invest the big $'s in this game. Again, thank you senior.

[chimera]

Anyone can grow, you just have to read first, ask Q's 2nd, plant 3rd. There is no getting around it HID lights work best(hps/mh). I can tell you when I started out I went through the whole progression of lights in the first grow. If I had it to do over, I can tell you I'd have got the 400hps switchable light right off the bat. Seems your doing it right, read/ask/grow, so why would you want to go with less than optimal lighting? The difference you will experience in end product will more than pay for the light's cost.

[Geeyouknit420]

Yea and that was the other thing kinda tossing my decision around more. While it seems hard and im new to it, it cant be extremely hard and your right ive read a shit load, now im workin out the kinks. Thanks a lot bro and if i could ask a question, is there a good place online to get 400hps setup? The setup should include a bulb, ballast, misc. wires, and the reflector around the light, correct? the only reason i ask is some people locally (colorado) are selling lights on craigslist and i would just like to make sure i get everything. I know i would need a timer aswell, and when i was at home depot i also decided a Humidity/ temp/clock would be helpful. Sorry for the one question turning into 5 haha. If you cant get to them no worries im sure there in a thread somewhere on here. Thanks again Bro

OH and also you mentioned HID lights? are we talking like the HID in cars? I also have a way to get almost any LED on the market dirt cheap. Are there certain ones you know of that are bright enough to supply the plant through growth?

[senior_ganj]

smknvtech is doing an experiment with LED lights, except you need a lot of them. Check out his thread for info about that.

HID is just a term that encompasses both MH and HPS lights.

For a HID light, you will need a ballast connected to an ignitor which houses the bulb. You'll want a reflector too. I reccomend them to everyone, check out insidesun.com for some cheap lights.

[cueballs]

Ok another ? I have a 400w mh/hps switchable. The mh seems to put of a whiter light as to the hps putting off more of an orange color. Both bright as hell, I have been told that mh is best for veg and hps is great for the flowering. I would like to stick to just one or the other not that it matters because i have both but cutting down costs on bulbs is whats on my mind!! Any recomendations or just stick to using both for veg and flower? Also i have read alot about running the light 24/7 then going to the flower? What happend to the 12/12 is it that it takes longer that way? Or is it a 24/7 then to a 12/12 for flowering? New to the indoor thing and is alot different then outdoor growing just outdoor growing is gotten to be too darn risky here in WI so i have decided to take it inside!!! I pretty much went all out with materials and now a tad nervouse im going to screw all of this up lol
Cue

[Homergrower]

Don't buy the HPS lights from home-depot... They usually have to be hardwired , so if you want to move your light one day and your not a electrician don't get them...

Find yourself a grow light on ebay or a grow shop.
These HPS lights have the package of Light fixture, Bulb, Ballast and reflectors.......and plug str8 into your wall power socket !

Good Luck