i went to a local electrical store that specializes in used stuff. i purchased a mogul base socket and a 400 watt hps bulb.i wired the socket into a cord and re-checked for power at the socket.everything seemed to be o.k. but when i screwed in the bulb it did not come on. i gave it about 45 min. and still no light. i took it back today and got an exchange.when i tried the new one it did not work and he even checked it for continuity at the store and said it was good.the socket terminals are all good. my question is, do these sockets require 220 voltage and does it matter if the polarity is reversed? thanks for the help.
Um...no You need a cap system to actually start the HPS/MH bulb.... Basically it's a transformer (thus they DO NOT work on AC of any sort from direct current) a cap to strike up the sodium envelopes arc a base and a bulb... You need the cap and the transformer else it'll never strike an arc...
thanks for the help. i was able to buy an entire ballast kit on ebay for about $50.i actually bought one for mh and one for hps. now would it be better to use the mh for vegatative and switch over to hps at the beginning of the flowering cycle.also my plants are about 2 weeks old and they are on the 3rd set of leaves.the cotyledons are starting to turn brown and die off. should i be watering these every day? and about how much when i water?this is my first grow and i'm really excited because it's turning out pretty decent.
I'm really baked right now...so I'll just try to answer each question as best I can without care to rhyme or reason. lol If memory serves the only difference between the MH an HPS kits is the cap..MH doesn't need one I think. I could be wrong tho Just make sure the transformers are well cooled (a PC 300w or better power supply with a few DC fans will work well) and all the transformers are above any possible water level. MH is best for veg but as you know the sun doesn't pick an choose depending on month so you may want to toss a few flourescent lights in of the soft red specturm in veg along side the MH then do the same with cool whites in flower. Add them along the sides/anywhere you think might not get a good covering of light and you should be gifted with a nice even covering of stickies no airbud Only water if the soil starts seeming dry or they look a bit frazzeled. You want to see at least a bit of toughend root (brown with spotty knotish looking things or close) and at least a nice 5-7 run of stems growing before you start watering even close to daily. You'll know down the road when they need an want water...over watering can really screw you by fucking the PH up (get a PH meter..cheap as possible for now) or if you screw it up you can flush it..then you have to balance it again tho. Basically just keep on top of PH make sure they aren't under or over watered and only feed them any nutes when it's obvious they have a nute def.
^^^Good advice^^^ You beat me to it I don't know all the technicle stuff about the lights though. I just know the MH is good for veg and HPS is good for flower (due to the spectrum and whatnot)... BEST would be to run both at once, though... That is if your space permits.
so if i needed to flush it at some point how do i do that? also i heard it was good to flush it just prior to flowering to remove salt content in the soil. after the plants start to get big is it good to spray the leaves with water to help get water to the leaves?i'm hoping for a first timer that i can reap some good crops but being a first timer i pay extreme attention to everything and have to fight the urge to constantly watch them.i was thinking about buying a co2 tank and using that once a day or so.is it possible to give them too much co2?what about using hydrogen peroxide, water mix sometimes.sorry about all the questions and thanks for all the tips and it's very much appreciated.
I think this will really help you... http://www.geocities.com/quickgrowguide It will answer a lot of your questions. It's broken down pretty good so you can jump around to sections that you have questions about without having to read through a bunch of stuff to get to it.