Couple quick Questions

Im growing about 10 plants in my closet currently. They are about a week old and are from seed. They look good right now and are running under a T5. But I wanna get a new light. Im going to get mylar film tomorrow while im at the garden supply store. What else should I snag? A PH tester? Now do I test the PH before I put the water in the soil? Or does the PH tester test the water in the soil? Sorry If that was a dumb question. My homie at Work has a 250 watt HPS that he is trying to get rid of. I was woundering if I snagged that from him for like 20 bucks If I could buy like a 600 watt hps bulb and put it in that ficture? Would It fit, are the bulbs all the same size? So mylar film, Ph tester, new lights, what else? I got a timer for the light, its on 18/6 currently. I also got two things of flora Nova nutes, one for veg and the other for flower I believe. Ill up pics asap, any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks homies!!!

DO NOT try to put a 600w HPS bulb in a 250w ballast! make sure the ballast and bulb wattage match. It may fit but will, at best, blow the bulb (at worse - start a fire).

def. pick up a ph tester!...u check the ph of ur water befor u water ur ladies....u want the ph of the water around 6.0-7.0....i water my ladies with a ph of 6...mylar is good too! i just got some myself...if u can score that 250 watt hps for 20$ then u should def. snag it...thats a steal! its not much to flower 10 plants but it will work.i would stay vegging with ur t5's and use the hps to flower! im a newb too but i know a lot of basic shit..if u need any more help just ask! (post some pics asap) it will help us,help u!

thanks guys, yeah When I talked to him today he said I shouldnt put a new bulb in the 250 ballast for the exact same reason. Yeah Im going to goto habitat for humanity and see if they have any hps or metal halide. Also should I get a temperature gauge for my closet? One more question on the Ph issue. For one is tap water useable? Where I live we have pretty decent tap water. I was thinking of getting a couple milk cartons and filling them and have them sit for a day or two and then test them? Or am I going to need to get purified water from the store? All 10 have sprouted and are looking pretty good so far, I promise to have pics soon!!! Thanks again!!!

p.s. How much would running a 600 watt. HPS for veg (as in 18/6) raise my elec. bill every month?

one more thanks!!! sry im baked

Let me see if i can throw in my 2 cents. As far as using tap water goes, its ok to use, going out and buying purified water will cost an arm and a leg, you can find a reverse osmosis water purifier at your local tropical fish store, at petco it'll run you about 100 dollars. With that you wont have to worry about ph, or any other minerals or chemicals that get into our water. But like i said, for now tap water will work for you. If your looking at purchasing a 600w hps, your looking at about an extra 14-20 dollars a month, MAX. i would grab the 250w HPS from your buddy for 20 bucks, throw a 250 MH bulb in it and use that for veg. If you do get the 600w HPS you can add that too, you plants will take up as much light you can throw at them as soon as they sprout, as long as you keep them cool, and watered. The MH bulbs are best for veg, as the blue spectrum they emit promots strong root growth, the HPS are best for bloom, as they have more of the red spectrum, which promotes trichome production. When you compare both the MH and HPS through bloom you will see some cool colors brought out of the plants. If your using plain planting soil you will want to also test the PH of the soil every once and a while, because dirt tends allow salt build-ups. I use the canna line, which is a coco planting medium that has all the benifits of hydro, and soil combined into one. Its a very straight forward nute layout too, it takes the guesswork out of alot, i used a PPM meter for years, i dont even have to touch mine now. What size is your growspace, there is a minimum amount of light that should be maintained in every grow room, about 45-75 watts per square foot. Well i hope this long winded explination helps, i'll watch this post to answer any questions you might have.

First off lemme say that I really appreciate the reply. Yeah I dont think going to buy purified water would be the best of choices either, seeing as I have like 10 plants currently. So with the 14-20 dollar increase a month, (I live in an apt. building with my girlfriend) that wont make my renters suspicious or anything correct? So If I get the 250 HPS fixture from him, I could replace the HPS with a 250 watt MH bulb and not screw up the ballast? how much would just a 250 MH bulb cost me? And how much would a 600 watt HPS setup (Fixture and bulb) cost me? So say I get both of those, I could run both of them on my plants at the same time and be fine? If not when should I switch out the MH for the HPS? I was going to goto Habitat for Humanity today to look at different bulbs and fixtures and whatnot they might have for a good deal but they were closed, ill try again tomorrow. Also what did you mean when you said that when you compare both the MH and HPS through bloom I will see some cool colors brought out of my plants? Yeah currently I'm just using regular potting soil, But I might get some better grade when I transplant. Speaking of that when should I transplant from the plastic cups I have them in to their bigger environment, and How big of pots? 1 Gallon? As for the size of my growspace (my closet) I dont have a tape mesaure so Im just going to wing it but about Height = 8 ft. Length = 6 ft. and Width = 2 ft. As I said I really appreciate the help so much, especially with the lack of pictures, I promise to try and have some up by tomorrow.

No problem, i'm trying to spread the wealth of knowledge. Let me try and answer your questions in order, so I don't get lost... As far as staying under a conspicuous wattage, I personaly wouldn't go over 1000 total watts in an appartment. if you DO get the 250w HPS ballast you can put a 250w MH bulb into it, just make sure your wattages match and you'll be good to go. However if you decide to get a MH ballast you CANNOT put a HPS bulb into it. you can get a 250w MH bulb at lows for about 20 bucks. You can find deals all over the place on ballasts, check craigslist that's where i've gotten a bunch of my hardware. if you buy new from a local grow shop you can expect to pay anywhere from 250-350 dollars. When I was talking about the different colors when you use both HPS and MH together you get a fuller light spectrum, so the plant absorbs, and reflects a larger aray of colors, your purples will be purpler, blues bluer, reds redder, its really cool. so yes you can run both lights at the same time, through veg and bloom, it will only add more lumens. right now if you have 1 single T5 bulb that's 40 watts to cover 12 square foot ft, or 3.3 watts per square foot, barely enough for your sprouts. if you get the 250w, you looking at 20.5 watts per square foot (wpsf), which is ok, if you can keep the light close and the plants cool, but you get BOTH the 250w AND 600w your looking at 70.8wpsf which is great!!! you can keep the lighs a decent distance away but will have a bit more of a heat issue. once you mylar the closet you'll be in good shape. you can transplant your plants whenever you feel comfortable, about 10-15 days from sprout, as far as pot size, get as big as your closet will allow, it will only work out for the better in the long run. how's that for another long winded answer, I hope this helps, keep the questions coming.

, your just amazing . Ok after the new year I will try and buy that 250 watt hps from him, if not ill just try and snag the ballast from him. cool 20 bucks for a 250 mh bulb. so one quick question. why can u put a mh in a hps ballast but not the other way around. ok ill transplant after the new year as well. ill try like 1-3 gallon pots. So ok lets just say I buy the fixture from the guy at my work and replace it with a 250 watt mh bulb, thats like 50 bucks ish. How much, and what is the best way, to go about getting the 600 watt hps? cause I would need the bulb, ballast, and fixture. should I go with the 450 watt hps? Isnt the ballast/fixture thats more expensive than the bulb itself? If so how will I control the heat? Just a couple fans in there or what? Should probably get a temperature gauge for my closet also. thanks so much for your help, learning tons from your long winded responses

keeping a closet grow room cool is always tricky, mostly because of the inability to fabricate the space your working with. during veg, it won't be as hard because you can keep the door cracked a bit to help circulate fresh air along with fresh CO2 into your closet, and won't have to worry about breaking the night cycle. however, once you decide to flower your plants you will need to make sure you open and close the doors ONLY when the lights are on. You'll also want a few small circulating fans mounted all over the place, the more air movment the better, for a couple reasons. it will help your plants grow stronger, but also constantly replenish the CO2 around the plant. you can get a temp gauge with humidity sensor in the garden dept at like wal mart, lowes or one of those for cheap, look for the electronic ones. as far as getting a complet setup, I would find a local grow shop, they are most likely to have a complete setup, ballast, bulb and hood. that's better because the bulb will be new, and usually a fuller spectrum bulb. for your space I would look for a 600w, the 400w's are a bit more efficient, but they are also more expensive. 20 bucks is a super deal for a 250w ballast, pick it up for sure, it will outperform your T5 by far, and one thing i've learned over the years is you can never have too big a collection of grow lights, you never know when you might need one. the reason you CAN put a MH into an HPS is because the HPS requires a starter to fire the bulb, and MH ballasts aren't built with that starter, so it cannot fire an HPS bulb, but an HPS ballast can run the MH bulb the starter will stay idol. keep em comin man, I know growing can be quite an intimidating cost to begin with, but you get out of it what you put into it, tenfold.

K ill have to get some fans then. Ill get a ph tester and a temperature gauge here soon too. K ill goto my local garden supply and see how much their charging for a complete 600 watt hps setup (bulb, ballast and hood) although why would a 600 watt setup be cheaper than a 400 watt? thats weird to me. Im interested though because these are just different random seeds I found in different chronic, I'm not even sure if their indica or sativa, hopefully indica. thanks buddy!

I haven't fully understood the reasoning behind that either, I know 400w ballasts are more efficient, but I also think it just has to do with supply and demand, more people opt for the 400w than the 600w, so the suppliers are gonna raise their prices accordingly. your using bag seeds!!?? you might get lucky and get a female, but it will most likely be an unstable phenotype, meaning it won't be exactly the same as the bud you pulled it from. also if you do get a female watch out for it to turn hermaphroditic towards the end of your grow. odds are the seeds you acquired were probably the result of a hermi polinating itself or a neighboring plant. since this is your first grow, don't worry if its indica or sativa, just nurture it and learn as much as she can teach you. its all a learning experience.

i cant say i see too many 400w that are more than 600w.

an easy way to go is get a switchable ballast. i got a 400w at a local hydro shop for like 310. its switchable meaning is accepts both 400w MH and HPS bulbs. came with both and reflector. there is a switch on the power supply for mh/hps

you can get a ph test kit for water, but if you want to test the pH of the soil there are other test kits for that. i got one at ace hardware, about 25 tests worth for 6 bucks. "Soil pH Test KIt" they always have them in stock there. you should be fine with a cheap indicator fluid/vial ph test kit for the water, also like 6 bucks.

if you were to invest money into a meter i would suggest a ph/moisture meter for soil

yeah thats basically why I'm using these bag seeds because I didn't wanna drop some money on specific strain seeds and mess them all up . Basically just doing this to get my feet wet and learn as much in the process as possible. They are looking pretty, all sprouted and green and stuff lol . Going to look at lights with the old lady here in a bit, also snagging my brothers digital camera later tonight hopefully so I can get you some pics already (must be frustrating) I cant stress enough how much I appreciate you helping me with this.

so unless my friends ballast is "switchable" or whatnot it wont accept the 250 watt MH bulb? damn 400 watt setup for $$ 310 thats insane, Haven't really looked at prices yet but I wasn't trying to spend that much.

well each ballast is built for that type of bulb

so a 400w MH ballast only accepts those bulbs. Even tho an HPS will screw in there, the currents and all that electrical shit does not cross over.

on the same toekn 400w HPS only those bulbs. you know what im saying, so yeah

i found a 1000w switchable online for $370. complete kit. but i didnt want to wait for shipping and shit. so i bought the 400w stocked at my hydro shop. it was ilke 270 for the mh ubulb, ballast and reflector- the hps bulb was like 30 bucks or so. some where in that range. i think that i got a better quality item than the one online too - i got a nice reflector.

i guess 300 is a lot . but thast all the lighting you will ever need. (unless you go bigger!) so i think its a fair price to pay for that component of the grow.

damn that sucks, I was so stoked to buy that guys 250 watt ballast/fixture and toss in a 250watt MH bulb in it .... not im not really sure what I wanna do... hmmmm... yeah thats alot more than I was looking at spending, damn.

well look into it, ask him if its switchable.

keep in mind that a lot of ballasts also have swtichable voltage either 120/240. 120 is standard in the USA, 240 is standard for europe. very different plug. many ballasts have this, but its not as common for them to be switchable.

mine is both, thre is clearly a large metal swtich labeled MH and HPS and then a slide cover that covers whatever voltage you arent using. ill try and get some pics up in an hour or so if you want.

cuz really if it was switchable, id take it. but shit even if you can get the ballast and bulb from him 250 w HPS run around $200-240 for a whole setup. so if you get a fatty deal on that- take itand try and do the same for your MH.

i love the swtichables tho beca use you dont have to change you the ballast and all that, just unscrew a bulb, no moving plants or lights.

but like i said, if you get a good deal. go with it

i just bought a 600watt HPS grow light kit.. comes with ballest, hood, hangers, bulb, and a couple of other stuff for 200 bucks.. from HTG supply.

they have a 400watt kit for 100 bucks.. comes with everything you need.

High Tech Garden Supply

These are great.

They also have MH+HPS kits.. in 1

those dont look to bad, and you can upgrade as you want.

pretty nice, i might get one of these when i expand, even upgrading it to their highest quality stuff is pretty cheap, like around 200 or so. - i was looking at the 400w kitt.

but still i think that paying around 200- for another little bit you can get the 2 in 1. and their 2 in 1 starts at 170. so you figure add on about 80 bucks upgrading bulbs, geting hangars, and a different reflector $250 is a sweet deal.

hmmm yeah I guess ill just have to ask him, Ill have him bring it into work as well and just take a look at it, Im still kinda a noob though so yeah if you could post up some pics thatd be amazing. a complete 600 watt setup for 200 really? does that include shipping? cause thatd be pretty heavy, im sure shipping isnt cheap. I really need to get some pics for you guys so you can help me more. I promise ill get right on that. 400watt setup for 100 bucks is awesome to. So do you think it will be cheaper buying online at like high tech garden supply or at more of a local shop, like a garden store and whatnot. hmmm so many thoughts racing through my head.