I just bought a nice 1000w hps light. First i need to know how good this light sounds, and if i made a good choice on the light/accessories i bought: Hydrofarm Powerhouse 1000w HPS ballast (8 year warranty) Hydrofarm Valuebrite 6" Aircooled Reflector (24" X 21 X X 8" tall, has flanges already installed) 1000w Hortilux HPS Bulb Glass lens for the reflector Obviously i am going to aircool it. I plan on using a dayton 265cfm blower to aircool it. Will this work: The fan will have duct tubing going from the intake of the dayton fan to the flange on the reflector (one farthest from the light) It will be sucking air from outside the light into the reflector and exhausted into the air outside. So i will leave the flange closest to the bulb open so air can get sucked through the reflector. I just need to know if that it how it is supposed to be setup. Also a few more questions: I will be growing 12 females under the light, since it's aircooled i hope to have it about 18-20 inches away from the tops of the plants. Will i yield alot more per plant as opposed to a 400w hps about 12 inches away? Will the 1000w light in general increase my yield? IS 12 females too many to put under it? Will my buds be fatter and more dense with this compared to my 400w hps?
NO you need a conversion ballast so you can do mh during veg and hps durring flower. or both for best results.. you can add as many flourecents to your grow as possible to encourage the under growth aswell
Well i'm using a hortilux bulb..which should be fine for both vegging and flowering. I'm not going to spend another few hundred on a mh bulb and conversion ballast. Why would i add fluros? The 1000w will be able to penetrate pretty far down to the lower branches, i'd also new several hundred watts of fluro's to make a difference, considering they aren't very efficient.
You don't need another ballast. IF you want to add MH to your setup you can get an MH conversion bulb that will work in the ballast you have.
I know, but the conversion bulbs for a 1000w are like $100+. I'd rather just use the hortilux, since it has blue and red spectrum in one bulb.
I'm not saying you should do it, I'm just addressing the earlier comment that you need to buy a new ballast. You don't. Whatever the cost, buying a conversion MH bulb is less than buying a new ballast and "regular" MH bulb.
i wasn't factoring in a new ballast..i was talking about a switchable ballast upgrade, which was about $50-$60 more. A whole new ballast would cost more than a few hundred with the bulb. At least of the light i got. I was thinking about the switchable ballast upgrade, but decided against it. The upgrade plus MH bulb would of been close to $120, maybe more if i got a enhanced spectrum MH bulb (hortilux, sunmaster, etc.). I figured i can just use the 1000w hortilux HPS since it works great for vegging and flowering.