I don't know either of you but I like to help people grow Marijuana.
Intro
Growing indoors requires grow gear to supply and control light, air, water, and the growing medium. Below is a simple discussion that will give you a basic understanding of the grow gear you will need-what it is and how it works.
LIGHTS AND LAMPS
You will need a light to illuminate your beautiful plants. If you decide to grow in a small space such as a closet or grow cabinet, you can use fluorescent, compact fluorescent (CFL) or HID lights. Fluorescent lamps work well to grow clones, seedlings and small vegetative crops. CFLs can be used to cultivate clones, mothers, and vegging plants. When CFLs are placed close enough to flowering plants, big tight buds will develop. HID lamps are favored for growing vegetative and flowering plants.
Two 400-watt HID lamps illuminate plants better than a single 1000watt lamp because they emit light from two different points. Use fluorescent, CFL, metal halide, or HP sodium bulbs to grow cannabis. Other bulbs - incandescent, tungsten halogen, LP sodium, mercury vapor - have poor spectrums and are not efficient enough to grow cannabis.
FLUORECENT TUBES
APPLICATIONs - Grow clones, seedlings, and vegetative plants under fluorecents. Flowering plants develop smaller, less-dense buds under fluorecents.
Wattages available- 15-44 inch lengths from 18 - 48 inches (50-100cm)
Brilliance - Fluorescent lamps range from bright to brighter. Their long shape and low lumens per watt (LPW) output make it necessary to keep tubes 1-2 inches above plants. Brighter T5 and T8 bulbs can be 4-6 inches above plants. New thin bulbs are brighter than larger tubes. Fluorescent bulbs are classified by the diameter of the tube.
Bulb Diameter LPW
T12 1.5 inch 68
T8 1 inch 100
T5 .625 inch 92
Spectrum - Thermodynamic temperature is measured in kelvin (K). The popular color spectrums are from 3000K (warm white) , 4200K (cool white), to 5000K (daylight/natural sunlight). Use a combination of warm and cool white bulbs, or one with a spectrum of about 5000K.
CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lamps)
Grow clones, seedlings, and vegging plants with CFLs. Keep CFLs close to flowering plants so they develop big, tight buds.
Wattages available: 26 - 200 - inch lengths from 6 - 20 inches.
Brilliance: CFLs produce very bright light with relatively low wattage. The best values are the 55 - 65 watt bulbs. These bulbs are bright and inexpensive. Smaller wattages are less bright and very low wattage. Larger wattages are bright but more expensive.
Spectrum - The color spectrum is delivered at 2700K (warm white) to 5000K (cool white) in a selection of bulbs. Warm white CFLs (2700K) have more red in the spectrum and can be used alone but are best used in conjunction with cool white lamps to avoid internodal stretching during flowering.
LED (light emitting diode) lamps
LEDs could be the future of indoor plant lighting. These inherently efficient lamps use solid state lighting to illuiminate, rather than filaments used by incandescent and tungsten halogen bulbs, or gas which is used in HID, fluorescent, and compact fluorescent bulbs. LED lamps consume a fraction of the electricity of HID and fluorescent/CFL lamps and generate very little heat. LED fixtures are rated for regular household current. 120V or 240V.
LED light output continues to increase with improved materials and technologicval advances while maintaining efficiency and reliability associated with solid state equipment. Do not be fooled by old LED lamps that are not as bright as new models.
DO not purchase LED lamps with a rating lower than 1 (one) watt per bulb.
Wattages available - LED lamps are rated in milliwatts (mW) and consume much less electricity than fluorescent, CFL, and HID lamps to generate much more light. Currently the most common LEDs used for plant growth consume 1 watt per bulb. Typically clusters of 80 - 100 bulbs consuming 80 - 100 watts respectively are placed in a single fixture.
Brilliance - Directional LEDs ensure that all the light produced is pointed downward so that no light fragments off to the side.
Spectrum - THe color spectrum of each bulb is dictated by the semiconducting material composition and condition. The spectrum can range from infrared to ultraviolet and many colors in between. The new LED "grow" lamps combine blue and red bulbs to form the exact spectrum necessary for cannabis growth.
HID Lamps
Use high intensity discharge (HID) lamps to grow vegetative and flowering marijuana indoors. The two most common HID lamps are metal halide, which have a clear or "white" light spectrum, and high pressure (HP) sodium, which have a yellowish orange spectrum.
A ballast is required for a metal halide or HP sodium HID lamp. Conventional analog ballasts contain a transformer, capacitor, and connecting wiring. Some HP sodium ballasts have a starter. The transformer and capacitor can be attached to the mogul light socket and connectged by an electrical cord to a remote ballast. Attached ballasts are connected to the mogul socket and bulb. The ballast generates heat and should be placed outside of grow rooms. Do not attach ballasts to extension cords, or the voltage will drop and light will dim.
Unlike conventional ballasts, electronic or digital ballasts are lightweight, use less electricity, and produce little or no electricity-wasting heat. Most electronic ballasts can be used with either 120 or 220 volts, either 50 or 60 cycles, and either metal halide or HPS lamps. However, they have a relatively high failure rate of about 10 percent on 400, 600, and 1000watt lamps.
Metal Halide lamps
Grow vegetative and flowering plants efficiently with metal halide bulbs.
Wattages available - 150w, 175w, 250w, 400w, 600w, 1000w, 1100w
Brilliance - There are many different metal halide bulbs. Super bulbs are always brighter than standards. Bulbs are available in many different models. Some bulbs with the same wattages are brighter than others.
Spectrum - Metal Halide bulbs are readily available in a spectrum range of 3000, 4000, and 5500K.
HP Sodium Lamps
HP sodium lamps are most often used in flowering rooms, but they can also be used to grow vegetative plants. Stems tend to stretch about 10percent more when using exclusively HP sodium bulbs.
Wattages available - 150w, 175w, 250w, 400w, 600w, 1000w
Brilliance - HP sodium lamps are more efficient than metal halides at converting electricity to light. There are many different HP sodium bulbs. Super bulbs are always brighter than standards. Bulbs are available in many different models. Some bulbs with the same wattages are brighter than other models.
Spectrum - The color spectrum of the bulb is limited to the reddish - yellow end of the spectrum. HP sodium bulbs are readily available in a spectrum range of 2100K to 2200K.
A 600w HP sodium lamp is the most efficient HID available.
This was taken from the book Marijuana Grow basics authored by Gorge Cervantes. This book and the Marijuana grow bible by the same gentleman are my standbys for growing cannabis. I hope this excerpt helps you. Good luck!
Peace and postive energy to you.
