I've been asking questions about Aerogardens and CFL's. Well I guess I finally figured out what I am going to use. Let me tell you about my grow room I have an empty room that's about 11x13. I want to grow about 5 plants each time. I am going to start out with some auto AK47 and auto White Russian. I am going to use CFL's for the veg which is the first 2 weeks and HPS for the last 6-7 weeks or maybe just HPS for the whole grow. Now my question is what wattage and how many HPS would I need for my 5 plants? Does anyone know the yield of these 2 strains?
Really depends, you could put a lot of light in there and grow 5 trees, if you can odor-scrub and ventilate that much heat. Why not get a 400W HPS magnetic ballast and a Ceramic Metal Halide lamp? (Phillips Retro-White Lamp) Grow one or two plants using LST or Scrog. You'll learn all about growing. You'll grow some kick-ass meds for yourself and you'll already have the perfect veg/clone lamp if you want to go bigger later. You'll also learn all about odor control and things like that where fixing a problem will still only be a hundred bucks or so. Once you get up into 600W and more you're usually looking at several hundred dollars to properly fix any issues that crop up. You'll never regret getting a 400w CMH and you'll actually thank yourself in the long run. Good luck!
What is the difference between a combo light and a seperate HPS and MH light. Why do u suggest a ceramic MH light. Have any beginners used combo lights with any success
CMH isn't a combo light. It's a retrofit bulb is all. It has a Ceramic element with Metal Halide gasses (among others) It's called CMH. They only come in sizes up to 400w so far and use a HPS magnetic ballast for sizes from 250w to 400w. The smaller ones I don't know about but there's tech out there on what to use. Pulse start MH ballasts for some I believe. Simply buy a 400w HPS system with a magnetic ballast. Buy a Phillips Retro-White CMH bulb and screw it in. Just as simple as anything else.