Buying lights?

[stonedsince89]

Anyone buy refurbished ballast online for the lighting system? You can save a lot of cash doing this. Or would I be better off going to my local grow shop and buying a brand new light system so I know it is safe? I am going to purchase a 175 watt or 250 watt hps for my new grow area soon (3 max plants). They are going to be some killer tomatoes!

[HARDDON]

Personally I would stick to stuff I know is new and operational.

But for the budget consious, I think it is fine.

If you want 3 plants with Killer tomatos, you will want more than 175W...more like 500W.

[Zandor]

Change your mind and pick up a 400w HPS with a Hortalux bulb. Use an air coold hood to save the heat.

[newgroweroldsmoker]

Change your mind and pick up a 400w HPS with a Hortalux bulb. Use an air coold hood to save the heat.


what is an air cold hood? is it like the ''cool tube''? if so i don't think he'll be able to do such a purchase, they come a bit expensive......also, with a 400 hps you can grow more than 3 plants up to 3-4ft tall.....if you want taller plants you must get a more powerful light (at least 600 watts)!!!!!

[Zandor]

what is an air cold hood? is it like the ''cool tube''? if so i don't think he'll be able to do such a purchase, they come a bit expensive......also, with a 400 hps you can grow more than 3 plants up to 3-4ft tall.....if you want taller plants you must get a more powerful light (at least 600 watts)!!!!!
I assume you know this person then, it sounds like you know his budget.
Whatâ??s wrong with a 4â?� tall plant full of buds? It could still yield 6 oz or more of dry buds whatâ??s wrong with that?

[newgroweroldsmoker]

I assume you know this person then, it sounds like you know his budget.
Whatâ??s wrong with a 4â?� tall plant full of buds? It could still yield 6 oz or more of dry buds whatâ??s wrong with that?


i did not say that is wrong,
all i said is that the 400hps light is supposed to be good for plants up to 3-4 ft tall,
as the plant gets taller the grower will need to move the light upwards so as the tops will not burn.....
therefore, the 400hps light will not be enough because the light it produces will not be enough to penetrate the canopy and reach the lower bud sites....i do not know the person, i assume that the budget is low as the question that he originally asked is related to low budget items.....
i know that the cool tubes are expensive....
over here (europe) the least expensive i have ever seen costs around 130 us dollars....with prices going up to 200 us dollars......
plus he will need to buy the extractor (to suck the heat off) and the other items, like carbon filter,insulating tapes and aluminium tubes so as to make the cool tube work properly as it should......
so i guess the extractor thing connected to a cool tube etc, does not come cheap.....i know for a fact that it is worth the money but still is not cheap... :)

[stonedsince89]

Thanks for the replies! I am going to start out with about 400 to 500 bucks to spend on the setup. I am hoping to spend only more money on nutes and simple maintance items! I know the more powerful of hps light to get the better off I would be. The reason I am going smaller is the WIFE, lol! She said go ahead and do it to save money, grow your own. She asked for a small setup though. This will be only for personal use. So I figured the 175 to 250 hps and a couple fluorescents would be a nice small setup for 2 to 3 plants just for the wife and I. Thanks again for the info guys.

[newgroweroldsmoker]

Thanks for the replies! I am going to start out with about 400 to 500 bucks to spend on the setup. I am hoping to spend only more money on nutes and simple maintance items! I know the more powerful of hps light to get the better off I would be. The reason I am going smaller is the WIFE, lol! She said go ahead and do it to save money, grow your own. She asked for a small setup though. This will be only for personal use. So I figured the 175 to 250 hps and a couple fluorescents would be a nice small setup for 2 to 3 plants just for the wife and I. Thanks again for the info guys.


since you are sure that you're going to spend that amount of money i would suggest you to take a look at www.insidesun.com , there you will find all the nessessary items you need for your grow room.....
since your wife has no problem and you want to grow only a few plants, you could convert a closet into a grow room and with 400-500 bucks you will be able to create a state of the art small growroom which you will be able to make even better as your grows continue.....
more or less, a 250watt light,ballast,cool tube and a small extractor with carbon filter should not cost more than 300-400 bucks....
as for the rest try to pick a good quality strain to grow and as it is going to be your first time try growing your ladies into soil......
if you have any questions on how to grow or even how to setup the growroom, don't hesitate to ask.....
Zandor is the pro here, hehehehe.....did i do better now?

[del...]

just for a selection to chose from...there's also
www.discounthydro.com

i've used them several times and they ship discreetly from california. insidesun is also very good...

for other growing needs i use www.gardeners.com a lot. they have battery operated pump timers for indoor and out along with other growing needs that help when going away for up to a few weeks.

[HARDDON]

Thanks for the replies! I am going to start out with about 400 to 500 bucks to spend on the setup.


You said the key words there...." START OUT WITH..."

That 400 to 500 bucks is gonna grow....just like your MJ plants :)

[newgroweroldsmoker]

You said the key words there...." START OUT WITH..."

That 400 to 500 bucks is gonna grow....just like your MJ plants :)


True!