Im thinking of returning my overhead fixture and bulbs, I would get like 50 dollars back, and im thinking about just using this light for vegging and flowering, would it be better than using CFL's and tubes especially for vegging, I know I can flower with this kit. It seems like a good investment, only for 2-3 plants max 400 Watt HPS Grow Light - Sun System 10 [902010/904465/901520] - $189.47 | High Pressure Sodium . NET
That's one I'm looking at too. It's good for a 4x4 foot area I think. I can see it growing 6 plants in 8 inch pots or a 4x4 scrog. I would stick with the CFL's in the veg room, but that's just me. I would save a couple bucks.
you can use that for flower and your cfl's for veg in another area and turn over every 8 weeks instead of waiting forever
Or you could get a 400w from HTG for 120.00. No it's not a digital ballast but hey it works. For $4.00 I upgraded to a GrowBright bulb which puts out 55,000 lumens. Plus you can use a MH conversion bulb if you want. Just sayin...
I actually just baught one today, $147.14 im looking forward to using it in a month or so. How long do you keep your sprouts under flourescents before you transplant them into a 5 gallon bucket and put the sodium or MH lights on?
The money you save on a non-digital ballast will evaporate within a few months with what you lose in efficiency on power. Also HID isn't magic. 400W of modern fluorescents (t5/cfl) perform similarly to 400W of HID. Period. It's a very similar technology. The disparity in lumens is due entirely to how lumens are rated, and it overrates HPS lights substantially for growing. Of course if you're using 100W of fluoros vs 400W of HID or old t12s or whatever then the HID will work MUCH better. It will also require you to buy a fairly expensive fan if you want to have reasonable temps in your grow room.
For this grow I kept it under my T5's for around 3 weeks. Moved it under my HPS for about another 2 weeks of veg and then went 12/12. It was around 12" tall. It was height more than time that dictated when I started 12/12. Typically a plant will double if not more after switching over to 12/12. Mine went from 12" to 37". So you need to consider your grow space as to how long to veg as a consideration too.