Should my HID lights hang vertical or horizontal for maximum penetration?

if you position your plants right then growing vertically is more efficient. some people just don't have the space for it or prefer to grow larger plants which is hard in a vertical setup.

i use the vertical stadium grow and works well in my space. i hang the bulbs vertical about 2 1/2 -3 feet apart. under the bulbs in the center i supercrop to keep them low and have taller plants around the perimeter or shorter plants elevated.

when i try a vertical grow i will probly have 2 bulbs hanging 1 above the other and have 6 foot tall plants in a circle around the bulbs.

cool diagram smoke. thanks for sharing.

what they mean by that is that its better to hang your light horizontal above the plants instead of vertical above the plants

I have a question. I have just a normal 600 watt hps/ mh bulb and ballast. Could I hang my light directly from the power cord attached to the socket? Or would that just be a bad idea. If it is, is there any good online stores that have vertical hangers?

Bad because no matter how you try it won't level properly.

i grow trees in my vert set up 1 or more lights per plant, keeps plant count low, and you'll get the most grams per what out of your bulbs, of course some hydro company says its better with horizontal light cause a bare bulb hanging socket cost 20 as opposed to a $250 xxl raptor.

Originally Posted by Stonefree69

Straight from the Hydrofarm site (for 8" Cooltube):

Q: Should my HID lights hang vertical or horizontal for maximum penetration?
A: Studies have shown that a horizontal positioned bulb and reflector unit will
provide superior light penetration to a garden compared to vertical orientation.
However, both styles are acceptable for cultivation.

Guess they've never heard of Heath Robinson! Or tried to use tube sans internal and external reflectors, or a bulb w/no tubes
at all.

They are completely wrong. Not shocked they'd say this though, as their business is reflectors. Cooltubes are completely useless (and a net negative in terms of heat and light production) in almost any setup. Go horizontal and there are better reflectors (literally almost anything is better). Go vertical and you're better off without a cooltube.