ok, confused about lights

ok,
im a complete newbie at lights, ive grown before outside,bt all i got was a male. im checking out hps lights atm, which look ace, cos im only growing 1-2 plants im luking at a 250 watt lamp, bt i saw this on a 250 watt hps bulb earlier : "PLEASE NOTE, THESE BULBS, CAN NOT BE JUST PLUGED INTO A E40 HOLDER, AND THEN STRAIGHT INTO A NORMAL POWER SOCKET,,,,,,THEY NEED A 250 WATT BALLAST AND IGNITOR, TO RUN THROUGH, AS A POWER SUPPLY." in which case i got confused. i was wondering do you have to buy a complete light set up or can u just screw a hps bulb into a e40 spotlight with a reflector attachd? plz help, thanks.

HPS and MH lights need a ballast. do yo have a ballast? more than likely you will just have to get a kit. htgsupply has em cheap.

ugzkmk said:

HPS and MH lights need a ballast. do yo have a ballast? more than likely you will just have to get a kit. htgsupply has em cheap.

Click to expand...

nope, i dont. thanks for the info.

https://www.rollitup.org/view.php?pg=faq&cmd=category&id=48

read up......rob

that page doesnt exist mate?

its there, works for me, its a link to the FAQ, then to lights sub section

sorry, it does. was copying and pasting. ta

Get the most light you can buy, but be aware of your space, too. A small space, like a closet, can only take about 400W before you have to make a serious investment in venting and temp control (beyond cheap fans and cracking the door). The more light power you have, the bigger plants and (more importantly) the denser, more packed buds you can grow.

The difference in cost (both upfront and long term) is very little between 250 and 400W -- if you can afford 250, cough up another $30 and go 400. Go 600W or 1000W if you can, but figure at least $10/month in electricity for every 200W you're running. I'd also suggest getting one that is metal halide -- high pressure sodium switchable. Use the MH for your intial vegetative growth, and switch to the HPS for flowering.

There are inexpensive combo 400W MH/HPS units for $220 -- this is what I got. The downside of these cheaper all-in-one units is that there is no in-line cooling apparatus in the reflector, so you have to jury-rig your own cooling with fans. That's fine if you have a bigger room to disperse a lot of heat; not so good if you're confined to a closet. Also, having the ballast as part of the reflector reduces the area the light can cover by a little bit -- I would say that features limits me to two fewer plants than I could support if I had an open, separate reflector. Going with units with in-line cooling will raise your price, but gives you more flexibility. I wish I would have dropped the extra $75 to get a component system (ballast and reflector are separate, reflector has in-line cooling), cause I'd like to go to a grow tent for total reflectivity and total darkness for flowering. But, those are luxuries, not total necessities. My setup is working great so far.. no complaints.

It's a lot to think about at first... I did a lot of head-scratching when I started. Now, it all seems simple. Bottom line is get a high-intensity discharge system (metal halide / HPS), and the best you can afford, with that space / cooling issue in mind.

http://secure.hydroponics-ireland.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=68_5_41&products_id=716


im luking at the 250 watt lamp. would ne of u guys recommend it?

ps. im from ireland, hence the website.