Requesting Lighting Recommendations

[HighOnPottery]

Hopefully you all are having a wonderful October like I am.

I have been doing some homework on different setups that other growers might have and have decided that it might be time to invest in HD lighting. But I am also thinking about efficiency and economy. Currently I am vegging a few plants under 3-65w FluoreX CFL floodlights (13,650 phototropic lumens) from Home Depot. I originally wanted to use CFLs through the entire grow but now I want to just use them to veg.

For a while I was strongly considering a new 4ft T5 8-bulb setup that they guy at a local hydroponics shop had gotten me interested in. From him I can get this setup for around $350 complete. I was considering this and wanted to get extra bulbs (so I can use all 8 blues for veg and then maybe 6 reds and 2 blues for flower) but it was going to get a lot more expensive at $15/each. Sounds great for vegging, but not so much for flowering. Also this setup runs about 432watts at 40,000 lumens.

I almost bought the T5s but then I was reading that they don't have any significant light penetration to give nice compact buds and more of them. So I got interested in HPS lights. I could buy these 1000w lights from this guy on Craigslist (he has one MH and one HPS both with 4ft parabolic reflectors...both for $200) but I can't afford to pay that electric bill. For my smaller setup and goal of a personal stash I feel I don't need to go any more than 400 watts and also because of heat in summertime. The internet has lots of deals but you have to pay shipping. The HPS has great light penetration and a great spectrum for flowering, but doesn't have the light distribution that the T5 has. I also read somewhere that the CFLs put out a more useable red spectrum than do HD lights. Hmmm...

Here's some options I am thinking:
1) I could buy 2-250w HPS lights and use those for flowering. They would run around 500 watts and put out roughly 60,000 lumens. Better with ballasts attached or detached?
2) I could buy a cheap 400w HPS from someone like InsideSun for under $150 and use that. It would be a cheap ballast and cheap reflector running 400w at 45,000 lumens.
3) Buy a more expensive 400w HPS with an electronic ballast (less energy usage and more efficient - I believe) and an air-cooled hood or cooltube. Roughly $450 OUCH.
4) Buy a ballast wiring kit for under $100 and assemble my own air cooled setup. But the parts aren't warrantied and I have to build it.
5) Buy an electronic ballast with socket and bulb and construct my own air-cooled tube. Most ballasts I've seen don't come with sockets nor are they cheap.
6) T5 setup purchased from Hydro store with all 6500K bulbs and purchase a few 3000k's
7) T5/HPS combination light...not too sure about this one since it has only a 150w HPS bulb in it.

So if you were in my position what would you do? I have about $500 max to dedicate to this and already have the FluoreX's to keep for maybe a veg cabinet or mother cabinet. There are just too many options for indoor and I am used to using the sun...which can't be beat...ever. I just want to be happy with what I get. And maybe help out a few people who are wondering the same things about lights.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[santacruz_organic]

I did my first grow cfls and they just didnt cut it. my plants grew well and healthy but when it came to bud production it was super week. im now using two 1000w MH light setups which costed me around $900 - $1000 for everything, the ballast, reflector, and light. I reccomend the most watts your willing to buy the better. and for electricity costs, half of one plant under theese lightings should produce enough yeild to pay for the elec. bill 3 times over. My plants are growing an inch a day! OH Yeah---DONT BUY USED LIGHTS OR LIGHTING SYSTEMS! this will result in a broken set 5 months down the line, invest in new stock.

[orangeman]

Well my recommendation (which I will also be using in the future) is just to get a decent ammount of CFL's for vegging and just get a good 400w HPS for flowering. It's not too much and it should work perfectly :).

[HighOnPottery]

the 400w looks very appealing, especially one for under $150. but does anyone have an opinion about using two 250w instead of one 400w. it's a few more lumens for only 50w more. i figure it would be better light distribution, but would it have the same amount of penetration?

also, does anyone know where to get cheap-er electronically ballasted lights? i know insidesun.com has cheap magnetic-ballast lights, but not the electronic ones.

[Cyclonite]

Go with 400W...its more efficient, I think 600W is the most efficient for HPS anyways and get a good bulb.

[denni]

i jus got 5 h.i.d lights for 35 apiece ge eletric spun aluminum reflectors retail at 300 each ill give ya number to call them at if interested always willin to help

[highweedskunk20]

hps and mh means heat !!!clf 8 t5 the setup your talking about i have.. it producess pretty much no heat problems i like i think it would bud pretty good to since i only veg under it ... but yeah man think about the problem the liths migth bring

[harris7]

I think it is important to point out that HPS is way more efficient watts/lumens than T5's or CFL's. So you'lll be getting more bang for your buck which might make up for the lack of light distribution. you should also look at the efficiencies of the different HSP bulbs maybe two 250's wont give you more lumens than one 400. i havent looked it up tho

[harris7]

ya i got a lot of time on my hands. so i figured out the stuff
Philips brand

250Watts 25 600 lumens 102.4 lumens/watt
400 Watts 45000 lumens 112.5 lumens/watt
600 watts 81 000 lumens 135 lumens/watt
1000 watts 126 000 lumens 126 lumens/watt

i'd go for 1 600Watt your going to see 21 000 lumens for only 100Watts more over the two 250w

[xcrispi]

back to square 1 folks , how many girls ? , what style of grow / , etc... 1000w hps will penetrate far deeper if plants are tall . and we all love penetration huh ?

[HighOnPottery]

all my personal growing experiences have been outdoors from either seed or cuttings. but because of the current and upcoming seasons, i am going indoors.

as for technique, scrog and lst seemed like the best option when I was considering the t5. i am also a fan of successive planting so I can optimize my grow and have a constant harvest. i plan on harvesting one plant at a time but have maybe 4 in the flower chamber in rotation.

as for grow space, i currently have a veg cab around 4'wx1.5'dx4't that seems to be working out fine for me but is a little large for smaller/younger plants. i also have a smaller veg cab in an old dresser that I might use someday for maybe like 3 different mothers. i have not yet constructed a flowering room as I don't have a light for it at the moment nor plants ready. i have plenty of room for it and will build something like 4x5x8 roughly. i can go bigger if i have to, but want to keep it minimal if i can.

so i'm leaning toward the 400w hps as i don't need to raise my electric bill too much. and since i plan on doing some lst and maybe scrog, would the 400w be better than a t5-8bulb? they have relatively comparable lumen to watt values, but one has better light penetration. i figure any light would be better with a flat canopy and the t5 has less heat. i just wish i could have both...someday...but for now what do you think?

[invision]

go to insidesun.com get the 400watt kit with the upgrade bulb and you have both spectrums covered all for less than 160.00 good luck

[UniqueHybrid]

Well my recommendation (which I will also be using in the future) is just to get a decent ammount of CFL's for vegging and just get a good 400w HPS for flowering. It's not too much and it should work perfectly :).

that sounds like a really tempting set up...
so will the CFL's require a ballast?

[orangeman]

that sounds like a really tempting set up...
so will the CFL's require a ballast?

Nope, probably all will be plugged up to a power strip and dangling from something. I don't see the point of buying a ballast when they can just be plugged up from some clamp lamps to a power strip lol.