600 Watt HPS setup issues... Any advice appreciated!

[Smokey Robinson]

Here is a picture of the setup.
Hydrofarm 600 watt hps
a friend of mine let me borrow his old equipment for a grow
this is my first grow with hps...tried cfls throughout but didn't have much success...so trying this out now...


SO my question is..what do i need to do from here to connect it?
thanks in advance for any help

[Smokey Robinson]

any ideas?

i have a plant growing under cfl's now

which i just switched to 12/12 last week, and it looks female

so i'm hoping to get this HPS set up asap for the flowering stage

[The_Chronicler]

Plug it in!

[Weed4Life]

you gotta plug the cord from the light(three prongs) into the ballast. There is a socket to plug into. Then you have a cord from the ballast which is the one with the 3 wires(green,white,black). You need to wire on another male end(3 prongs) like on an extension cord. Black is your power, white is your neutral, and green is your ground. Hope this helps.

[Smokey Robinson]

ahh okay thanks weed4life thats what i was wondering
appreciate it

so i guess i just go to home depot or something
and find a three prong end and wire it then i'm set!
will i need any welding equipment?

[invision]

they make these screws caps that twist the wires together and keeps them safe they are dirt cheap and worth it

[Smokey Robinson]

Ahh okay, this might be easier to hook up than i thought then

the one plant i had growing under cfls turned out to be female

so hopefully i'll get her under this hps soon and have an update with some nice bud pics! :rasta:

thanks for taking the time to help me out ya'll

[Garden Knowm]

Hey Smokey,

Don't let water get in that ballast. Make sure you raise it off the ground at least a few inches. Put it on a block of wood or something.

Also, you need to transition slowly from CFL to 600 watt HPS or you MIGHT fry your plants.. Start with the HPS 24 inches from your plant and only have it on for 1 hour.. then leave it on an additional 2 hours every day.. this way your plants can acclimate to the light..

You will need to leave your CFLs on during this transition period...

: )

[denni]

that sounds right i put an aditional 1000 watts of light to my plants there shying away