HPS...worth it?

[turbo420]

Ok i have three plant that are in flowering and i want to get a hps for them. I found a nice hps 250watt but they are expensive. Is a hps really worth it? How much more bud will it give me if any? Would i be stunting my bud growth by sticking with cfls?

turbo420 Reviewed by turbo420 on 12-26-2006. HPS...worth it? Ok i have three plant that are in flowering and i want to get a hps for them. I found a nice hps 250watt but they are expensive. Is a hps really worth it? How much more bud will it give me if any? Would i be stunting my bud growth by sticking with cfls? Rating: 5

[partcleguy]

Would i be stunting my bud growth by sticking with cfls?

That depends on how many CFLs you have and their wattage... CFLs are more efficient but don't put out as many lumens. An HPS will give you denser buds and a bigger yield (again depending on the wattage and area to be covered).

A 250-watt HPS covers about 2'x2'. Here's the cheapest ballast/light that I currently use: http://www.1000bulbs.com/product.php?product=32621 and http://www.1000bulbs.com/product.php?product=25.

First grow I yielded 2 ounces from 5 plants (3 were autoflowering and were rather small). I hope to yield at least twice that after correcting for mistakes!
Good luck! :jointsmile:

[smokinbomb]

go with the hps you will like what you see i did and my yeilds doubled

good luck-bomb

[Dutch Pimp]

....speed costs money...how fast do you want to go..?..

[kindprincess]

it's worth it, go with hps...

[Shovelhandle]

CFL is not more efficient.
CFL = aprox 65 LPW (lumens per watt)
HPS = aprox 100+ LPW

The pro of the CFLis that you can easily focus all the light onto the plants by placing them within 1"-2".

Shov

[babystarbud]

i full recomend HPS, after a couple of half-assed attempts with CFL that didnt really work.

the one thing with HPS is the inital outlay of cash, to some, me included....it costs more than pocket change to set up....you should assume that youll need some form of active cooling, usually in the form of an inline fan and duct kit, again, more expence.
my set up cost about £400...thats a 400watt bulb, hood, balast, fan and duct, ferts, a fert measure (pipette) soil , pots, about 800 dollars? but i didnt buy the cheapest kit available.

but the benefits really do speak for themselves, my first crop paid for all my equipment outright, and gave me a good bit of personal smoke. and thats with begginers mistakes etc. and i only grew 6 plants.

to get the same results with CFL, i would have to buy specialist cfls, all the wires etc, by the time you add it up, youve spent pretty much the same, but youve had much more hastle.

With a wide spectum HPS such as the sylvania grolux, you just plug it into a timer and forget about it. job done. it lets you concentrate on other variables like fert and soil....you just dont need to worry about light anymore.

one thing i will say though, is i wouldnt go for anything less than a 400 watter, the price of HPS "kits" dosent vary much between say a 400watt kit and a 600 watt kit.
by "kit" i mean bulb, ballast, reflector and all nessesary wires.

for example a state of the art 400 watt kit costs the same as a regular 600 watt kit etc....


go HPS "enhanced", go at least 400watts, you wont look back, i promise you.

[orangeman]

Yes it's really worth it. Don't ask questions, just get one! :stoned: And honestly I don't see how people think some Cannabis growing equip is too much. If some one can spend $500 on their wife or something like that I don't see how $300 would be too much for something like a 400w HPS lol.

[justaseed]

it's not really expensive at all if you consider you can make your money back x10 in 3 months or less!!!!!

[Bree1978]

i full recomend HPS, after a couple of half-assed attempts with CFL that didnt really work.

the one thing with HPS is the inital outlay of cash, to some, me included....it costs more than pocket change to set up....you should assume that youll need some form of active cooling, usually in the form of an inline fan and duct kit, again, more expence.my set up cost about £400...thats a 400watt bulb, hood, balast, fan and duct, ferts, a fert measure (pipette) soil , pots, about 800 dollars? but i didnt buy the cheapest kit available.

but the benefits really do speak for themselves, my first crop paid for all my equipment outright, and gave me a good bit of personal smoke. and thats with begginers mistakes etc. and i only grew 6 plants.

to get the same results with CFL, i would have to buy specialist cfls, all the wires etc, by the time you add it up, youve spent pretty much the same, but youve had much more hastle.

With a wide spectum HPS such as the sylvania grolux, you just plug it into a timer and forget about it. job done. it lets you concentrate on other variables like fert and soil....you just dont need to worry about light anymore.

one thing i will say though, is i wouldnt go for anything less than a 400 watter, the price of HPS "kits" dosent vary much between say a 400watt kit and a 600 watt kit.
by "kit" i mean bulb, ballast, reflector and all nessesary wires.

for example a state of the art 400 watt kit costs the same as a regular 600 watt kit etc....


go HPS "enhanced", go at least 400watts, you wont look back, i promise you.

Good Points babystarbud-
and to add referring to quote in bold
This is the ONLY reason that is inhibiting me (not so much cost but more as in where grow is located and possiblity, not just feasiblitly (is that a word??) of cooling), I don't know if I can cool sufficiently....it you can keep that under control the lumens are SOO worth it. If you do the research you will see....GL B