The fact about light???lumens?MH?hps? researching is getting me more confused!!!!!!!

My christmas prsesent from my hubby is going to be my new lighting system and he told me to pick it out.
It was told I could only get a 400 watt but it then moved to a 600 watt and is now at 800 watt

Sooooo. I've been researching this for so long now and the more info I read the more confused I am getting.

I have looked into MH lights because of the vegetative growth and hps for the flowering stage and the ones that combine both. I have assumed that the more lumens the better the light BUT I've recently read that THIS isn't necessarily the case.

There are some dual spectrum lights out there that take both MH and hps combined.

Does anybody have one like this and what do you think about it?

I am taking into consideration...hydro costs etc and would prefer a ballast that is air cooled.

I even read today about some type of lights that are light incadescent but give off the same wattage as a 500 watt but are only 65 watts and are used for growing.

Then there is another type of bulb that mixes the two together.

Sooooooooo I am getting confused.

I bought a 100 watt Sun System unit last night off eBay along with 4 small bottles of DNF for $50 and now I have been keen on the Sun Systems units.

It seems the more I read the more confused I become but seriously I know diddly skwatt about lighting sooooooo if anyone can understand what I am talking about here please fill me in because this is getting very confusing

Thanks

I'd say go for an hps system for flowering, cause that's where it counts anyway. if you can get a unit that houses both, go for that!!!

depending on how much space you have to devote to your grow, you would have to think about heat and wait for someone with some experience with those lights to tell you.

I'm pretty sure that hps mh Hid's are the most successful lights for growing at the moment.

if you look in my threads you will find alot of into on dual arch tubes. i still use a few of them but would not purchase them again.

i used the hortilux brand. GREAT results just no worth the investment.

in the usa the cheapest bulbs i have found are out of florida. Gulfcoast hydro , or goldcoast check it out. let me dig up a few shots of the bulbs and light spectrum

here is a picture of a 1000 watt hortilux in use

the lumen output is only 110 k lumens about 30% less that a standard bulb! but the color is ideal...

here is a standard 1k high output 155,000 lumens

you can see how much extra blue they create but hardly woth the loss of lumens IMO

here is a side by side so you can see the arch tubes

so you got to figure out what your hubby really wants healthy plants or monster fruit.

i veg 600WATT mh by sunmaster this has proven fine for the comercial grower

hope this helps a little ENJOY!

WOW!!!! Budsmoker dude!!!!!

Awesome set - up. I just went through some of your journal and that is major IMPRESSIVE!!!!

So if I get a Sun System 1000 watt ballast can I purchase a separate reflector and use one of those Hortilux super blue bulbs???

I might get another sweet deal on a Sun System ballast so if I can add other stuff later then that would be really cool.

I'll go back and read some more. Its times like this when I REALLY miss high speed.

Thanks so much Budsmoker. No wonder you were nominated or up for nomination You know what I mean.

thanks a lot quad.
yes safety is number one so I am willing to pay more for something safe.

quadrophine said:

I'd say go for an hps system for flowering, cause that's where it counts anyway. if you can get a unit that houses both, go for that!!!

depending on how much space you have to devote to your grow, you would have to think about heat and wait for someone with some experience with those lights to tell you.

I'm pretty sure that hps mh Hid's are the most successful lights for growing at the moment.

Click to expand...

Hi Lacy,

I have a dual-spectrum (400w MH and a 600w HPS) from Sun System (VII) and i really love it. as long as you keep can keep it cool!

here are some pix of the two bulbs in the reflector (note the air-cooled hood), the ballast with plugs for both MH (400w) and HPS (600w) and three plants about a little over a month old.

those bulbs work fine with any hps 1000 watt ballast! you can save a bunch on the bulbs out of florida i will find a link for you.

and if you think those older grows are impressive, stay tuned. i just restarted this monster, you will see over 6000 watts crank out a qp a day! is my garden elf token keeps it together i will turn on "the big dig" that garden is over 2x the size of this.
I hope this year no part of the chain snaps again. i was going great and a retailer got took. that was break time..... now that we are serious, and i have your attention stay tuned....... I AM NOT FDD but can show you exactly how to get






you get out what you put in!!!!!!!

That really nice email.
Someone told me about these and I couldn't remember which thread it was so i have looking through threads trying to find it.canbuy one of those dual reflectors and hook it up to the 1000 watt sun system ballast?

I like this idea a lot.
What the exact name of it because I did a search on dual spectrum on eBay and came up with nothing?

Thanks email
I like sun system. they look safe.

email468 said:

Hi Lacy,

I have a dual-spectrum (400w MH and a 600w HPS) from Sun System (VII) and i really love it. as long as you keep can keep it cool!

here are some pix of the two bulbs in the reflector (note the air-cooled hood), the ballast with plugs for both MH (400w) and HPS (600w) and three plants about a little over a month old.

Click to expand...

Ok now I am totally glued to my computer.
One month of growth???? Thats awesome. They look better than growing them outside.

gotta check out some more of budsmokers pics.

lacy i know a store in the south that has 3 dual sun systems used i think they sell for just over a hundred bucks 103-112 i cant remember. that is ballast only though. you will need reflectors and sockets. they are not the most popular unit so finding them is a little tougher

if you want deatails on the used ballasts shoot me a pm about it i will mail you the link.
HAVE A GREAT DAY

Lacy said:

That really nice email.
Someone told me about these and I couldn't remember which thread it was so i have looking through threads trying to find it.canbuy one of those dual reflectors and hook it up to the 1000 watt sun system ballast?

I like this idea a lot.
What the exact name of it because I did a search on dual spectrum on eBay and came up with nothing?

Thanks email
I like sun system. they look safe.

Click to expand...

It may have been one of my threads. I usually chime in when i see dual-spectrum since i have one. I bought mine here:
MH/HPS Dual Spectrum Grow Lights

But i shopped around and found the system cheaper and used the BG Hydro "price match" and got the air-cooled fittings and glass lens thrown in.

I am well happy with my cheap as chips 400 watt dual spectrum grolux.
I can only imagine that you would be even more happy with a 600,800 or 1000 watt version of this lamp.
I was amazed at the difference it made and the high thc strains love these lamps i am sure.
Of note though i did use my 2 blue fluros as well as the hps.