Which ballast runs these bulbs?

[Vancefish]

Heya all, and thanks again for the input.

As for my aquarium, It's fading at the moment. I run two 48" VHO and four 65w CF. To which all are over a year old. Issue has been too little income and way to many things going. Oddly enough though, the tank is showing a few improvments sence I lowered my attention. I've been thinking highly of switching to MH, However some of the laws recently passed make me think they may not be legal in the US much longer (See Australia, they signed the same UN agreements and are currently enforcing those rules, We on the other hand are currently ignoring them until some random future date.)

BUT,... Sence my last post I read MANY pages about L.E.D.s, Although they seam to be acceptable on the RED and BLUE spectrums and better on many of the PAR numbers withing those spectrums. Most of the ones that contain some UV are WAY over priced (resins are a protection mechanism from UV). Thus the tech is there, just NOT the "perfection" I would demand from them. MANY companies seam to sell fixtures that use LEDs at 1w or less, but we require 3w or more per bulb. 5w is optimum.

So, now I'm thinking maybe a 600w switchable, running a MH during growing and a HPS during flowering. Running on one of these 6 foot automatic light tracks (moves the hood 6 feet back and fourth across the room every 20 min). Mixed with an LED panel on each of the four walls. I believe this would produce the highest amount of usable light while still reducing the cost of all that lighting.

I'm going to read more about this UV/resins issue next. As I said early on, the room I plan to use has been housing iguannas for years. To keep them healthy I've been using a self ballasted mercury vapor bulb which produces insane UVA/UVB for reptiles to convert B12 (I think) to D3 and thus calcium to bone. It produces almost 12 spectral irradiance in the 320-400nm range of UVA. I'm thinking if UVA really causes the plant to make more resin. Maybe I'll suppliment UVA during flowering with one of these.

I know I'm going way out of the accepted "norm" here. But this is all very interesting to me.:thumbsup:

Vancefish Reviewed by Vancefish on 11-25-2009. Which ballast runs these bulbs? I asked this question in the which light post below this one but no body replied. So, I re-posted as my own thread. So, just got my license in Colorado. Prices at the dispenseries are insane. I assume it's the same everywhere but here if you sign your rights over to a grower. They MIGHT give you a small discount. Like $4 off a $20 gram. So, For years I've kept iguannas in a small room in my home. However after 17 years the two monsters are fading quickly. Time to convert the room to MMJ Rating: 5

[JackdaWack]

I would stay away from LEDS, unless you plan on dropping big bucks on a panel. The cheap ones are a waste of money, For supplemental lighting, u could use big CFLS, 150wtt cfls do wonders! My current 6500k cfl puts out 11,000 lumens. way more then a cheap led panel. The only issue is finding a high watt 2700k i've only been able to find 68w cfls in that light range. ~4200lums. But u could use two on each side instead of one. Its up to u, just giving some more options.
Going with a switchable ballast and light rail is def. a great idea. maybe if u can go with a 1k light, might not need the supplemental lighting with the extra wattage.

[Vancefish]

My original plan was two of the 1k fixtures. However I prefer the idea of a moving light (more like the sun). Issues I see with both MH and HPS are the often incomplete spectrum. Granted they both have peaks in the proper ranges. Niether has the full spectrum in the proper ranges. I'm not saying they are not the best! simply that they could benefit from a little spectral assistance.

I've looked at MANY pictures of different peoples grows. I've seen that LEDs are definatly lacking in something the plant gets from the MH and/or HPS. I've seen pics of grows using MH for growth and HPS to flower, and this looks to be the best I've seen as well. However the science shows these (and other) plants benefit from both a broader and more intense light. Which we have yet to really correctly perfect. I've also read that both MH and HPS for the entire life of the plant is best. However, getting both on all plants at all times in a small grow room makes this difficult. Seeing how the duel bulbs aren't that great.

My thought here is both the 600w or 1000w switchable on the moving track, and attempting some of the lower cost (not crap either) LEDs just to widen the spectrum.

The LED panels currently sold with 3w LEDs(any less is a waste) are powerful enough to grow OK plants. They also can often be customized to provide the specific spectrums you want. They can be very efficent in both the full RED and BLUE spectrums(many claim these to be the best). LEDs as I said are definatly NOT currently providing everything the plant wants unless you spent many thousands of dollers. Even then the grows look a bit weak to me.

It also seams as though there is some sort of battle going between HID growers and LED growers. HIDs obviously win on production, but are overlooking the clear science of the spectral range BOTH could provide. I think many LED growers are stuck with what they bought or heat/space issues. Thus there side is they actually NEED this tech.

I'm proposing the MH during growth, supplimented with a 300w LED panel providing better RED and BLUE spectrum. While the MH provides intensity and UV which the LEDs do not! then switching to the HPS for the flowering phaze, while still using the LEDs for spectral supplimentation.

Has anyone ever tried this?

I have decided that one panel moving on the track would likely be better then panels on the walls though.

[Vancefish]

Now even more thoughts.

Seems you can daisy chain LEDs:stoned:. So, beings I build and solder electronics for a living. I may have to look into building my own LED hood and mounting it around the HID hood, then moving the heavier electronics to a seperate ballast(technically a transformer in this case), like the HID already is (haven't seen this yet either). Thus reducing the weight of the hood. Some sort of heat blocker will be needed as well to protect the LEDs from the HID hood, and of course the hood will be ventilated (haven't bought this yet either). I'll need to do some investigating but 5w LEDs are out there too. If I build it myself, I may as well get the most powerful.

I'm thinking the entire hood, HID and LEDs in one. Both moving on the track. If the LEDs don't help I'll still be running what is proven too.

What do you think?

(And sorry I tend to brainstorm a lot:hippy

[JackdaWack]

Sounds like a plan to me, hears a good place to start with LEDS, check out the K2 star bulbs. Luxeon K2 Stars : Luxeon Star LEDs, High Power LED Products & Accessories
U want to get max lumens out of ur set up so go with bulbs that have high ratings, most people dont realize these arent your typical leds. Maybe u could make two panels to swap out for flower and vegg, do all red for veg, and all blue for flower. So u get opposite sides of the spectrum.

[Vancefish]

I think some things may have just changed in my mind.

I just found the Hortilux blue. This bulb has FAR more intensity then any other MH I've seen yet. PLUS it has insane RED AND UV!!

I may just drop the entire LED thing after seeing this bulbs spectrum chart.

However looking at that site, they unfortunately only carry blue over 455nm and red at 625nm. Both just happen to be in most MH bulbs peak ranges. It could take a while, but I'll see what I can find in closer to the 660+ range in RED and around 430-490 in the BLUE.

This Hortilux blue looks too good to be true, might just be all I need.:smokin:

[JackdaWack]

Some people question that peak in the green range.