Long time toker, first time grower - advice on growlights

C

CamberwellLeek

New Member
Howdy folks. First time here so go easy on me please ;) I've been reading up on various growlights but I'm getting bogged down in the techhie stuff. So far I'm looking at one called Migrolight which seems to explain their efficency and extra yield easily enough. I know there are cheaper out there but I'd appreciate any help. Cheers.
 
Pistil Kid

Pistil Kid

Well-Known Member
You may want to give a few details first like
1. Budget
2. Grow area size
3. Technical skill ie are you able to do basic electrical to build your own COB light.
If so you may want to have a look at you tube for a poster by the name of growmau5 he has a great diy on building your own cob lights is is very easy.
Have said all of that the general consensus is that COB lights are the way to go they outperform the led gowlights you can buy from the likes of mars etc. If you dont want to build your own COB setup you can buy them already built from timber grow lights he has an awesome rep and is very helpful.
I hope that gets you started if not there are already plenty of threads about this topic you can have a read but they all come down to the 3 questions above. COBS COBS COBS is the answer most of the time. Have a look in the indoor growing section / led lighting section there is enough information about LED lighting to make you eyes bleed. Good luck
 
chemphlegm

chemphlegm

Well-Known Member
Your plants will grow to their weakest resource. cool thing is you get to decide which resources to short them.
if you want cheap weed cheap lights are the way to go.

i use hid lights in flower and t5 in veg, the best light sources I could buy for my indoor gardens.
cobs have my attention but I'm not convinced yet. we'll see. when
the commercial grows are using 100% cobs/led's.....I'll take another look maybe.
 
brewbeer

brewbeer

Well-Known Member
Check out the LED subforum in the indoor growing forum. Lots of great info in there and helpful posters too.
 
MichiganMedGrower

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
Bad Karma said:
Although I agree that CMH is the way to go I wouldn't recommend Growers Choice. Their ballasts are rebranded junk from overseas and are not square wave. I had great results with SunSystem, and Hydrofarm Phantom, CMH's.
Click to expand...
Yes. It is a "square wave" ballast.

That is what a low frequency ballast puts out. A square wave. That is the key to the new technology. It allows the bulb to run hotter and steadier to keep the new gasses ignited.and the new bi-pin base is to control distortion from vibrations inherent in a screw in mogul design.

The old cmh bulbs like the 400 ge do not have near the intensity per watt as the new 315. Or the new base, ballast or gasses.

They are re-branded retail showroom lighting. The new bulbs are horticulture specific.

A high frequency ballast like my Galaxy grow amp puts out a spiky uneven wave of power. And requires more hid watts to reach the same intensity.

Says square wave right in the description.

http://growershouse.com/growers-choice-horticultural-lighting-315w-se-cmh-complete-fixture

This is what happens when @ttystikk opens his mouth and teaches anything. I knew it would come up again.

Why does anyone believe his bullshit? He never posts any proof like the rest of the internet Grow frauds.

I ask again to show me a 315 cmh with the new base and a ballast that is not square wave.

Now Phillips bulbs are tested to be highest par but others have higher uv. Growers house tested and showed all kinds of info.

http://growershouse.com/blog/cmh-315w-lamp-comparison-test-data-review/
 
SouthCross

SouthCross

Well-Known Member
chemphlegm said:
Your plants will grow to their weakest resource. cool thing is you get to decide which resources to short them.
if you want cheap weed cheap lights are the way to go.

i use hid lights in flower and t5 in veg, the best light sources I could buy for my indoor gardens.
cobs have my attention but I'm not convinced yet. we'll see. when
the commercial grows are using 100% cobs/led's.....I'll take another look maybe.
Click to expand...
I'd enjoy seeing you use COBs. With the careful attention you give them. No telling of the monsters you'd grow under COBs. Never mind the commercial mass grows. The profit doesn't equate quality.
 
SouthCross

SouthCross

Well-Known Member
chemphlegm said:
suggestions to bust my cherry?
Click to expand...
When want to take the plunge. Ill give you a complete shopping list. From the driver to the metric screws from Lowe's. With an aim of ~200watts running at 50%. I can personally testify on using 3000k and 3500k color temps.

Estimated cost around $300-$350 from the most common vendors available.
 
dirtWeevil

dirtWeevil

Well-Known Member
SouthCross said:
When want to take the plunge. Ill give you a complete shopping list. From the driver to the metric screws from Lowe's. With an aim of ~200watts running at 50%. I can personally testify on using 3000k and 3500k color temps.

Estimated cost around $300-$350 from the most common vendors available.
Click to expand...
what space does that cover? I wouldn't mind a list o parts i love the diy aspect of cobs
 
Bad Karma

Bad Karma

Well-Known Member
MichiganMedGrower said:
Yes. It is a "square wave" ballast.

That is what a low frequency ballast puts out. A square wave. That is the key to the new technology. It allows the bulb to run hotter and steadier to keep the new gasses ignited.and the new bi-pin base is to control distortion from vibrations inherent in a screw in mogul design.

The old cmh bulbs like the 400 ge do not have near the intensity per watt as the new 315. Or the new base, ballast or gasses.

They are re-branded retail showroom lighting. The new bulbs are horticulture specific.

A high frequency ballast like my Galaxy grow amp puts out a spiky uneven wave of power. And requires more hid watts to reach the same intensity.

Says square wave right in the description.

http://growershouse.com/growers-choice-horticultural-lighting-315w-se-cmh-complete-fixture

This is what happens when @ttystikk opens his mouth and teaches anything. I knew it would come up again.

Why does anyone believe his bullshit? He never posts any proof like the rest of the internet Grow frauds.

I ask again to show me a 315 cmh with the new base and a ballast that is not square wave.

Now Phillips bulbs are tested to be highest par but others have higher uv. Growers house tested and showed all kinds of info.

http://growershouse.com/blog/cmh-315w-lamp-comparison-test-data-review/
Click to expand...
If you're thinking ttystikk has ever taught me anything, that just hurts.

Just because a company puts a specific word in their advertising doesn't make it true, even if they are a site sponsor. Do you have any idea the number of LED light companies that have advertised on RIU saying "full spectrum lighting" or "uses Cree diodes" when they really weren't? Advertising is a former of propaganda, and it doesn't need to be true, it just has to plausible enough to be believed at a glance.

Let me ask you this, how come Growers Choice fixtures cost so much less then everybody else's if they're all using the same technology? Why is it so hard to find a finished grow using Growers Choice lights? Why did Subcool have such bad results from using their lights in his garden? (watch his Weed Nerd show on YouTube for proof)

All signs point to them being junk.
 
MichiganMedGrower

MichiganMedGrower

Well-Known Member
Bad Karma said:
If you're thinking ttystikk has ever taught me anything, that just hurts.

Just because a company puts a specific word in their advertising doesn't make it true, even if they are a site sponsor. Do you have any idea the number of LED light companies that have advertised on RIU saying "full spectrum lighting" or "uses Cree diodes" when they really weren't? Advertising is a former of propaganda, and it doesn't need to be true, it just has to plausible enough to be believed at a glance.

Let me ask you this, how come Growers Choice fixtures cost so much less then everybody else's if they're all using the same technology? Why is it so hard to find a finished grow using Growers Choice lights? Why did Subcool have such bad results from using their lights in his garden? (watch his Weed Nerd show on YouTube for proof)

All signs point to them being junk.
Click to expand...

I did not say one word about that brands quality.

Easy to build cheaper electronics especially in a Chinese factory.

And ttystick is the only other person to claim the non square eve ballast bullshit. If a ballast is designed to be low frequency. It is low frequency square wave.

It has nothing to do with the quality of the unit.

The things mismarketed in cmh are horizontal placement is as good as vertical. Air cooling with a conventional reflector is ok and the mogul socket adapters are fine.

These statements are not really true. Any of these things Phillips recommends against will hurt the performance.

But even growers house said all the ballasts work the same. No one claimed how long or well they would work. You get what you pay for.

But I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. It's just that tty "corrects" this info every time I print it.

I'm sorry for the way I put it.
 
C

CamberwellLeek

New Member
Ehh....thanks y'all. I'm probably even more confused now. :) I have much to investigate and learn obviously. Special thanks to Pistil Kid for clarifying it easier than the rest.
 
Enigma

Enigma

Well-Known Member
SouthCross said:
When want to take the plunge. Ill give you a complete shopping list. From the driver to the metric screws from Lowe's. With an aim of ~200watts running at 50%. I can personally testify on using 3000k and 3500k color temps.

Estimated cost around $300-$350 from the most common vendors available.
Click to expand...
From what I've seen from the CREE graphs the 3500k can't produce a usable spectrum like the 3000k. Some growers have noticed this and I've seen a preference for 3000k and 4000k, but by the graphs I'd think at least one 5000k per plant would benefit resin production and over all health of the plant.

I've been looking into LED's since the glorious days of Knna. I'm just waiting until the technology crosses the price point on my graph.
 
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