El Cheapo Guide to Lighting

[Juzt JR]

A great site for all of your HID lighting, at great price$!

High Tech Garden Supply

[Damion5050]

Well I am putting together my first setup and I was thinking about getting a T5 setup, its New Wave T5 2 Ft - 8 Lamp - 16000 Lumens, Measures 21.3" x 22.8" x 3-1/2" THINK I should go for it

[Damion5050]

Quick Question I am going with a t5 setup cause its cost effective right now, i was wondering if there is a need to get different color bulbs or should i be fine..

[SMOKEDAWG81]

4 23 to 37 watt, compact fluorescent bulbs. 2 for $9.98 x2 =

DO NOT use bulbs brighter than 30 watts max.

I'm a little confused as to why u said 23 to 37 watts, but then go on to say DO NOT USE more then 30 watt bulbs?
Besides that, IT SOUNDS like a good setup for my first grow, Imma go out next week and get all that stuff. Now I just need to know where to get GOOD, REAL THC seeds from?, If you know anywhere(to get seeds), that would be great. THANX for the infoimp:

[SMOKEDAWG81]

TO: Psteve
I like that 8 bulb get up, that is really inventive. I think I might have to take your idea. Do u think I could grow 2 plants from that? Or just stick w/ the 1 plant?

[psteve]

TO: Psteve
I like that 8 bulb get up, that is really inventive. I think I might have to take your idea. Do u think I could grow 2 plants from that? Or just stick w/ the 1 plant?

8 bulbs = 200 Watts = about 3 square feet of plant canopy. About 18" by 18".

[DasPachy]

How safe is it to order off eBay?

[cygnustaxt]

so I'm planning on building the lighting system posted earlier with the 3 Y adapters. I'm curious as to how many plants I will be able to grow with this set up. This will be my first grow and I want to keep it relatively simple. I'm considering getting some feminized seeds and growing like 5 or 6 plants. Will I need anymore light than this or will one setup of four bulbs be sufficient?

[TheMetal1]

I'm curious as to how many plants I will be able to grow with this set up.

It may even be listed in this great post (I didn't want to go through the entire thing again :jointsmile but it's all about lumens per square foot. You want to calculate the area that your plants canopy will be able to occupy... then figure out how many combined lumens you are pushing (this means USABLE lumens, so your lights need to be the correct distance away to maximize potential).

Then divide your total lumens by your area = lumens/sq. foot

I think around 2,000 is the minimum suggested for actual growth... then as you increase, your potential will increase. Once you go above 6,000 you are pretty much in the vigorous growth range. It's all relative though. You have to make sure you can manage heat as you increase the total amount of lights. So you want the maximum lumens/sq. foot... as long as your temperatures are under control. Some people have to sacrifice some lumens for better climate conditions.

[headshake]

good info khronik. the high tech garden supply has also has good deals on the HPS/MH lights as well. be careful and read the item descriptions on ebay. a lot of the systems they sell come with refurbished ballasts and you can usually upgrade for around $20.

-shake