I have 2 50w HPS lights I'm gonna use (maybe a 3rd, and probably some cfl's as well). I got them from a hardware store, pretty cheap. I might invest in a 400w or so from HTG down the road, but for now I'm fine with this. Well thinking about how I'm gonna set it up, I came up with a couple of questions.

First, if you look at the attached picture, that's basically what the light looks like (sorry I'll try and get some photos up if I can later). The grey part is the main thing, where the bulb screws into (would that be considered the ballast?). The red is the bulb obviously. And the yellow is this clear plastic cover that goes over the bulb.

1. They say only to set it up like it looks on the left. I'm not putting it on some apartment complex wall, can I just rotate it like it looks on the right? Is there a reason they say not to, or is it just that it's designed primarily like that.

2. The plastic cover. Can I keep it off? I think it would be better to have the plants get direct light from the bulb rather than have it go through the plastic cover. Will having it off create heat problems or burn my plants?

Any help is appreciated. If you need more info from me just ask.
AR15 Reviewed by AR15 on . Question about HPS I have 2 50w HPS lights I'm gonna use (maybe a 3rd, and probably some cfl's as well). I got them from a hardware store, pretty cheap. I might invest in a 400w or so from HTG down the road, but for now I'm fine with this. Well thinking about how I'm gonna set it up, I came up with a couple of questions. First, if you look at the attached picture, that's basically what the light looks like (sorry I'll try and get some photos up if I can later). The grey part is the main thing, where the bulb Rating: 5