Just A Few Lighting Questions?

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Im Canadian and I was wondering if anyone had any experiance with Bustan - Toronto Hydroponics Grow Lights Nutrients Hydroponic Supplies Canada Im thinking of ordering from there.

Ok I want to get:

1. 600w Galaxy Digital Ballast Hps & MH.
2. 600w OSRAM Plantastar HPS Bulb.
3. 600w SolarMax Veg/Conversion Bulb.
4. 18" Horizontal Reflector.


Ok i'm just wondering how much space a 600w Hps light would cover.
I plan on using the Solarmax for Vegg and the OSRAM for Flowering Is this a good plan Or would it be better to use the HPS all the way through.

Also How many Plants would this setup support If i was flowering at 2 1/2' to 3'

Also Light Spec the Hps is 2100*Kelvin and the Solarmax is 7200*Kelvin
Is that Significant? Anyone have a link to A guide about wavelengths and how they affect vegg and flower.

Also does anyone have a guide to how much heat Hps & MH lights produce.

Typical lighting requirement is 400-500 watts per square meter during flowering. Sativas usually require a bit more, indicas a bit less.

Spectrum isn't as relevant for HID lighting since they don't actually release a continuous spectrum like fluorescent lighting. However, the bluer MH lighting will make plants stretch less than the redder HPS light. This is generally a very good thing, since you don't want your plants to get too tall and lanky.

A 600 watt light will produce about 600 watts of heat. How hot this will make your grow room depends on the size and ventilation of your grow room.

The HPS is 92,000 lumens
The MH is 55,000 lumens
and what do you mean about spectrum?

You don't need nearly as much light during vegetation as you do during flowering, so having less lumens with the MH light will not be a problem. Besides, lumens aren't an accurate measure of how much energy the plant can derive from the light, especially if the color is different.

The spectrum number is given as a temperature, ie, 7200K or 2100K. This is the temperature in Kelvin that an incandescent filament would have to be in order to give off that spectrum of light. You don't really need to know that though, just remember that a higher number means a bluer light, and a lower number means a yellower light. A number like 4500K would be more neutral. Sodium lamps and metal halide lamps release a bunch of discrete wavelengths of light, which makes them not so good at rendering colors, but great for things where efficiency is paramount, like for grow lights and street lights.

But the main thing it comes down to is what it'll do for your plants. Blue light stimulates chlorophyll production more, making your plants better at absorbing light. Your plants think they are seeing the blue sky and so they grow bushier to take advantage of all the direct sunlight they think they're getting. If the light is orange, on the other hand, the plants think they're getting mostly reflected light, so they stretch up, hoping they will eventually be able to see the sky. You want your plants to store up their energy for flowering, not to keep stretching toward some sky that isn't there. Once you start flowering though, the orange light will lengthen your plant's stems so it can fit more buds on there. :)

what would be better for vegging T5's or the mh bulb I stated

the T5's are 6500K and the Mh like i said is 7200K

Basicly Is it better to Vegg under a MH ( 600w 7200k ) or T5 ( 4ft 8 tubes 6500k 5000 lumens per tube ) for vegging

Better bang from the SolarMax. Less heat from the t-5s. I like high blue for veg, but replacement cost for the t-5 lamps is a lot lower.

In a perfect world, where I had all kinds of a/c I didn't pay for, I'd go w/ the halide. W/ no a/c, in the summer, t-5's might be more practical.

Isn't that bulb designed for use in a HPS ballast?

Not sure that you need the conversion feature of the digi- you could go magnetic, spend like 25-30% less.

The digi's are, IMHO, worth the cash- just wanted you to know you had the option.

Well I wanted to have one mom under 3 42w cfls 6500k Daylight and then have a small area for clones then a large flowering area.

Now im getting the digi ballast and the hps light im just wondering if it would be better to go with the T5 or the MH for vegg

I want to have both areas going full time so I have a constant supply.

Now im going to be buying cool tubes for them somtime so would it be better to run the mh in a cool tube really close to my babys ( clones ) Or would it better to have the T5 laying on them.

The T5 will cost me about 600$ the whole setup and the MH will cost me about the same if not just a tad more.

Im going to have eaither 2 lights with cool tubez running in a split room or 1 4ft 8 lamp T5 and 1 600W hps.

man im rambling sorry guys just really ampped about this

Ok I just wanna know a MH light really close with cool tube or T5 lights really close.

Keep in mind i wanna run this 18-20hrs a day for a permanent vegging area

So which is better because they will both cost me the same.

OK, so you're talking about buying two ballasts.

HPS 600 great for flower.

Get a 400 watt halide system- very few halide bulbs @ 600 watt, loads @ 400 and 1 K. 400 veg is perfect to feed 600 flower.

600 watt halides in N. America are rare and pricey- almost always a retrofit to a hps system. Go w/ the 400, pick up the Hortilux Blue halide- gonna be severa hundred dollars cheaper.

OK im being stupid.

Im going to Use that ballast with this solarmaxx vegg bulb then im going to buy some t5s because once i buy the second ballast and bulb and venting equip it will all be useless because ill have to buy eaither a T5 and a hps bulb for vegging So ill stick with the solarmax for vegging and get the T5's later