This is my first grow even though ive been thinking about and reading books on the subject for years. i started my seed off last friday, they have opened up and the first leaves are there right now, i only have 1 floro on it and their in a ventalated box lined in foil. they look promissing as of right now. i am in the process of buying a hps light. Can i just use the hps through the whole life of the plants? or do i HAVE TO buy a mh? im kind of tapped for dough.
HPS will do fine, MH is just better for the vegging stage. Just dont have it to close to the seedlings
Pitch that foil - it's no good. If you want reflective, go mylar. HPS will do fine for your entire grow. As yu get more money, add a MH to it or buy a MH conversion bulb that will work in your HPS.
not for the amount of results it produces. foil sucks. you get too much refraction from all the crinkles. on top of that, you have to use the dull side. you're better off painting somethign flat white (not gloss) than using foil.
ill agree with you on the flat white paint,,, although any reflection is better than none, and since hes allready stated hes using the foil, just wanted to make sure he had the right side facing out,thats all
a steady hand and a stapler gun will,, result in no wrinkles,,,foil is ok if done right,,,, we arent all pros,,, a little homemade shit is better than store bought stuff any day,,,, i love saving money,,,and making my own stuff that does the same as a store bought item,,,anything homemade is more appriciated than a bought item pulled out of the box an d hooked up...
thanks for the tips. i have the foil on the dull side. Oh and another question for the hps light, its a 150w to i need a ballast or will it be fine alone boes it save money on the electric bill or no whats the deal with that.
What exactly do you have when you say HPS "light" -- do you just have a bulb? I think of the term "light" for an HID referring to a socket and ballast and most likely reflector, along with a bulb. I don't mean to be snide, but...compared to what? The cost of your electric bill is directly a function of wattage x hours used x kilowatt rate you pay.
when i ment light i ment light bulb im buying one for like $16 and i have a socket my question was do i need a ballast. And yes i know the formula how your wats say how much you pay i just thought there might have been another way.
yeah they all work as 1 unit,,,, you need the bulb [ i think u got the wrong type of bulb,, a true growing hps bulb is more than 15$] socket,,BALLAST , and reflector,,[ although optioal] check this site out,,,, good package deals on lights here,,, pretty good prices,,,,,,,, htg supply .com they make hps bulbs to light up a parking lot i think this is what you got,,,,, you need a horticulture hps bulb,,,,,at htg supply .com you can get a complete 400 watt hps,with a mh conversion bulb added,,, ballast and a good batwing reflector delivered to your door[ discretely, thier privacy vs shipping is excellent] for 205.00 $ thats a good deal,,,,for a complete unit with both bulbs,, all u do is plug it in,,,, good advice is not to go under 400 watts,,,a 250 watt unit will do nothing but quench your thirst,youll be wanting to upgrade after the 2nd grow,,,,, do it right the first time,,, invest in a 400,,,,,,,,,,if you know someone who has a huge outside light,,,{ a street light} give them that bulb you bought its useless to you,,, do some research you done wasted 15$ lets not do that again,,, good luck
oh 4 sho i feel you on that getting the 400w right from the jump but im kind of stuck for the moment i got the light from light mart.com they have all kinds of lights for the low low check it out and tell me if thats the one.
Hey chicken I know where you're coming from. But... If you have limited grow space like mine (2.5x2.5 footprint = 6.25 sq ft) a 250w will serve well. Bumping up to a 400w could increase heat to problem levels and you may not be able to have enough plants in there to benefit from the extra lumens even though you are paying 60% more in electricity costs. If you have above about 8 sq ft, though, I agree 110%.
but remember with every 400 watt you need good ventilation a good exhaust fan is the legendary vortex blower heres a link to the cheapest place you can get it www.mdhydro.com and if you have a P.O Box get it from here www.cheaphydrponics.com if you have 300 bollars to blow your best bet is too get the one from mdhydro with can Filter included
Sea of green is waste of time and energy forget about it if your concerned about height put LST in the search engine thats all you'll ever need never grew before but it looks very easy
thanks for the advise man i looked up the lst and im thinking about using it on a couple of the plants im just hoping im not wasting my light on males. is there anyway that you can increase the posibility of having a female.
Reduce the stress on your plants. Other than that, nothing you can really do. Feminized seeds are good. They should give 99% females.
