If you are only doing 2 plants I would recommend the 250W, however, I do not recommend getting what you need from Lowes, etc.

My advice would be to go on ebay, and get everything you need all in one shot (you should not need a cooltube for this regarding heat issues) A fan to cool should suffice.

You should take a look at this, since it comes with everything you need, it is probably your best (and cheapest) option. If you were to buy everything individually, it would end up costing you more. Say you buy the bulb, ok thats $30.00, then you buy the ballast, that's another $100.00 by itself. Then a hood $65.00.

On ebay this is the cheapest they have for everything needed, and it also comes with extra's, yo-yo hangers, free timer, total you pay $143.00 for everything you need. Don't let the price scare you, it will be well worth it in time, you will see once you get a few ounces of bud from one plant, if your an experienced grower.

Check it out:

250 WATT HPS DIGITAL GROW LIGHT w/ XL HOOD 250w BALLAST - eBay (item 160440850879 end time Jun-08-10 12:40:16 PDT)



What is really weird about HPS systems is that they are all around the same price, generally within $20.00 of each other.. I find that strange, I went with the 600W, bid on it, got everything for $100.00 new, shipped, off ebay

I also got a cooltube cause I have heat issues, that was another $100.00, plus I gotta buy ducting, inline fan, but all in all overall, it will be worth it.