well i have 4 plants growing outside, about 10 inches tall each, and iv been thinking of getting some lights and i got a couple of questions. should i buy a 250 watt MH/hps conversion light system (balast built in) or just fork out another 30$ for the same thing except 400 watts? What is the usual yeild per plant of a 250 watt sytem, of a 400 watt system? Is there a significant diffrence of bud quality and quantity if using a 250 rather than a 400? also this is my first grow trying to flower my plants(so many plants...wasted Thanks for the help!
i use 250 watt MH/HPS setup for my personal grows and i usually am able to pull 2-3 ounces per plant (sativa-dom strains in soil). i have only done a fistful of 400/600 grows. the 400 watt grows were negligibly higher in yield but to be fair they were some of my initial grows when i was still wet behind the ears...i think the last one i pulled roughly 3-3.5 ounces per plant. 4 plants is doable under a 250 watt HID (you'll have roughly 7,500-8,500 lumens per plant), but if you think you may want to do a 6+ plant grow in the near future ... then i would suggest investing in the 400 as you will have the lumens you need for dense buds. There's a great calculator that can give you a since of what the difference would be between a 250 watt grow and a 400 watt grow: http://www.angelfire.com/cantina/fourtwenty/yor/yieldcalc.htm you'll need to know the square footage of your grow area for the calculator, but that's pretty easy to figure out (L x W ... and if you are using inches then divide by 144).
yes def go for the 400 my friend as in the future you will only toss the 250 to the side and buy a larger wattage lamp ! to be honest id just go for a 600 as you then will have some real productive plants !! then you can grow 4 real nice fat girls or 15 small ones !! i use 600 hps with a 400 mh . i use the 400 mh for there first 2 weeks then i ad 600 hps along side the 400 mh !! lots of conneseur growers grow with purley mh as aparantlly gives you a smaller bud but superior quality . and as i have a good sized atic room converted . growing 8 afgan kush plants and 2 critical jack . the 8 kush are 7 days in on 12 12 and the 2 critical jack i receaved from soft secrets for a plant pic they published a while ago so there veging under the main lamps in the day and under 200cfl for 6 hors at night . must say the difrence in 600 will please you i can ashure you of that ! huge dence colas of good strong sticky buds!! maby its just me but i also have another 600 hps and was thinking of throwing that in with the 1000 mixed hps and mh !! am i nuts ? i think not as ive seen some huge yeilds with people using as much light as pos even some with 1000 watts per plant!!! if i were you and you can aford a extra 20 or 30 bucks id def go for a 600 hps mh converting ballast and a couple of 600hps bulbs and a couple of mh as you dont want to be half way through flowering and you lose a bulb . take car and happy growing ! peace