Different lights, grow lights

I'm trying to figure out what sort of lights to buy for my grow room. I hear people using Fluorescent lights throughout, and other people using Fluorescent lights just for sprouting and vegetation and metal hallide/high powered sodium for flowering and budding.

I'm going to be growing for my own personal consumption, not dealing and not trading so I'll be growing around 4-5 plants. I'm trying to figure out what sort of lights are the best, what sort are most efficient, and what sort are the cheapest budget-wise. Reflectors Grow Lights, Organic Hydroponic Nutrients, Indoor Grow Lights and Supplies - Hydroempire Is the link I have been going by. There is a lot of different selection and I'm just not sure which is the best.

Say for a 3x3 foot area, you'll want a 400 watt HPS lamp to grow decent buds. For great buds, get a 600w. Just remember, the more wattage, the more heat you'll have to deal with.

HTH

so im guesing your vegging so i would sugest that you get a cheap compact flouresent wing reflector and a 4 to 8 tube 4 ft t5 floresent.or maybe 2 4 tube fixtures so the bigger they get the more light you can put on them t5s are the best in high output the more bulbs the bigger the plants with those 2 lights you could grow 5 full sized veged plants as tall as you want them to be. depends on your space

To HippieMan: Just a suggestion....
Go with LED's - Use AT LEAST120 Blue light LEDs: 465nm (nanometer) wave length, 330 Red light LEDs: 650nm (nanometer) wave length for your described grow area. These arrangements can be bought on ebay and other sites pre-made. I just purchased a couple panels from ledwholesalers_inc and they have AMAZED me. The stem and foliage development along with the general aroma have been better than anything I grew outdoors. The one catch I've found is having to get the panels close enough to the plant to really get the full benefit of the light panels. Cardboard-box, mylar and a power strip with lamp timer is what I ened up in and the results have been great.
If your just growing a small qty like me for purely personal use, then LED's are the way to go. The are the future of (smart) growing.

i think for veg you would be good with 6 2700k cfls and for flowering u should buy the 150 watt hps light from htg supply

I also grow for personal use only, and in a small space. I grew one big plant in a 4x3 area with t12 floro's. It yielded what looks like 2.5 oz, but the buds are light and fluffy. I don't have a scale, but my guess is that it all only weighed 1.5oz (just the trimmed buds.) As I understand, you need to go with hps/mh for the dense bud you're use to. However, the potency and flavor was excellent with just floro's. I could possibly grow 2 or 3 plants in the space, but I would sacrifice quality for quantity.

Not a fan of cfl's. I don't think they throw the light equal to the wattage. My advice is to go to several of your local big box stores (Home Depot, Lowes) and hardware stores to see what they offer. Local offers the advantage of seeing the fixture, and stealth (pay cash, no large packages coming to your house) I would get 3 or 4, (2 tube) T8 fixtures, and at least one 100w hps.

wanna know if its possible to use 2 600w hps for 24 plants. 8 each in about 2'x 4' trays

go with 4 ft 1 cool and 1 white flourescent tubes for veg.
cheap and always work

yo cybersecks how bout ok so if add another light will it affect yield or should i stay with that setup do to budget and if you ask its top feed with recirculating res

in my opinion, if you are doing one plant, in a say 2x2 or 3x3 area, a 6 or 8 tube t5 setup will probably work just fine, through and through. yes they might not be as dense as an HPS grow, but thats really all in the hands of the maker. many MANY people have grown GREAT bud off of just some cfls, while many many others have grown shcwag with hps (ive seen it). what i would do in your case is drop 200 or so on the fluros (heres a link to what i currently use). the page that links to doesnt say, but on the box it labels the unit (this is with all 6700k bulbs inside mind you) as outputting 25,200 lumens, 120v connection using 324 watts at 2.7 amps.

use those just the way they are until flower. when you get into flower, swap 2-3 of the bulbs for the 2700k warm light bulbs, and then if you feel you want to (and i would) hang 2-3 hi watt cfl (150, not 150 equivelents, etc) of mixed spectrums around the plant to supplement for any lumen/penetration loss you might experience from dropping the 6700k for the 2700k t5 bulbs.

if you have a semi-green thumb, and have produced 'decent' plants under sketchy conditions before, there is no reason this wouldnt get you a great yield.

Hello all
I recently found a couple of T5 fixtures. There are 2 classifications of bulbs: "bloom" or "grow." I know that fluorescents are used in the veg stages normally. What woud be the general differences in my bud if i used fluorescents? any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

IMO t5 set ups are useless.

For 100$, you can get 2 48 watt bulbs. thats 86 watts.

For 100$, you can get 12 26 watt 2700k cfl bulbs, 12 26 watt 5000k cfl bulbs, 4 power strips, 12 Socket converters to plug the bulbs into the power strips, and 12 Y splitters.

Thats 624 watts, 35000 lumens.

Do the math...

0_0 didnt realize how old this thread was, haha