looking to get new light setup need help WHAt TO GET

have t5's now for veg but want to get new setup what should i get for around 200$?? i dont know a.great deal about lighting should i go hps or mh idk let me know your thought about what one to get and you expierence with them s

If all you can afford is HPS get hps, if you can get both hps and mh get that.

Hey Bro, check these out http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Switc...0CVA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289071102&sr=8-1

I bought 1 for vegging and another for flowering. The ladies love it and are thriving, and you can't beat the price considering you get (1) 400 watt HPS bulb, and (1) 400 Metal Halide bulb. Buying 2 units, I now have a spare bulb for each... something that is definitely nice to have. Check the pics of my girls 2 1/2 weeks into flowering

Oh yeah, and if you buy right now you can get free shipping if you can wait 5 - 8 days. Good deal since it's 15 pounds! DO IT and treat your girls to some photo candy

metal halide is great for stem leaf and all around plant growth, but is lacking a little for flowering. high pressure sodium is perfect for flowering but using just hps all the way through creates spindly tall plants that won't support their weight when they do flower. as skolar182 said you can get a switchable ballast and have the best of both worlds mh for veg and hps for flowering. in your situation your best bet would be to get a hps (you could get a 400w ballast bulb and reflector for under $200) for flowering and continue to use your t-5 for veg (perhaps supplement with more cfl's?) adding the hps will exponentially increase yield. but hps is one of the hottest bulbs so if the space is enclosed venting is necessary.

With my experience between the metal halide and the hps, the halide ran about 5 degrees hotter. Not sure if it was just the bulbs that I have, but with my 400w HPS I can get the plants about 6 inches from the bulb with no problems. Hope all this info helps

Get a digital ballast 600w, then get 600w HPS & 600w hilux MH conversion bumb. Like $400 . Worth it, double your money & triple your bud.

hey thanks guys for all the info i appriciate it so much idk whatd id.do with out all your help and this sick site thanks.a.gain good luck with your grows and ill besure to post pics of my girls once i get the light im gonna go with a digital so i can have both hps and mh sonce i have t5's for vegs

I've come to love this site for the same reasons good luck!

cody.cox said:

metal halide is great for stem leaf and all around plant growth, but is lacking a little for flowering. high pressure sodium is perfect for flowering but using just hps all the way through creates spindly tall plants that won't support their weight when they do flower. as skolar182 said you can get a switchable ballast and have the best of both worlds mh for veg and hps for flowering. in your situation your best bet would be to get a hps (you could get a 400w ballast bulb and reflector for under $200) for flowering and continue to use your t-5 for veg (perhaps supplement with more cfl's?) adding the hps will exponentially increase yield. but hps is one of the hottest bulbs so if the space is enclosed venting is necessary.

Click to expand...

Thats out dated info bro.........New studies show that plants grow stout and strong with Hps in vegg and now people are using the HM for increased potency during the last two weeks of flowering........ I use HPS in veg and all the way up to the last 3 weeks of flower than i switch to MH and my plants stems are HUDGE with hudge colas on them so dont get a MH for veg bro just get hps and later you can get a MH conversion buld if you want the extra potency in flower or just use the HPS all the way though its not going to make your plants spindaly thats balongia.......... Also everyone is going to tell you that 600w is the best because its most efficent but win it comes down to it 1000w is the muscle and it does the job everytime......verse a 600w you gotta have it in the right place close to your plants and sometimes you need two to get the good coverage that a 1000w provides i use both a 600w and a 1000w and the 1000w always comes out looking better everyime....

Try looking on craigs for a used ballast and hood and buy a new bulb for it thats what i would do......and if your going to buy a new ballast get a good brand that will last a long time like a quantum ballast......DONT GET SUCKERED into the lumeteck hype they use old technogely and is very outdated........

NEGATOR. if you can only use one bulb durring veg. MH ALL THE WAY. Yes having multiple lights using both spectrum is best* but using MH durring whole veg is more like some1 dropped a bulb and diddnt wanna purchase another >.<

I was also going to add that you can use the HPS the entire time and the plant would be perfectly happy. I tried to give him info based on the question he asked, under $200. Obviously, if you have the money, more light is always better. And I've never heard of switching to MH for flowering, since 1000's of years of marijuana growth has been used to the amber light spectrum nearing the end of the fall months. I think you're incorrect on that, because HPS generate bigger buds while MH produce more vigorous growth.

Buy the Marijuana Horticulture Bible by Jorge Cervantes. I don't think he'd be wrong.

but HPS promotes more Spindly plants =/ More Support Strings. Plus who wants to look at that yellow light longer than 2 months.

skolar182 said:

I was also going to add that you can use the HPS the entire time and the plant would be perfectly happy. I tried to give him info based on the question he asked, under $200. Obviously, if you have the money, more light is always better. And I've never heard of switching to MH for flowering, since 1000's of years of marijuana growth has been used to the amber light spectrum nearing the end of the fall months. I think you're incorrect on that, because HPS generate bigger buds while MH produce more vigorous growth.

Buy the Marijuana Horticulture Bible by Jorge Cervantes. I don't think he'd be wrong.

Click to expand...

Dude im not trying to say you dont know what you talking about but if you didnt know that people are using MH for increased flower potency then your out the loop I have george cervantes book i also have ed rosenthals new oaksterdamn course book and greg greens growers bible and Mel whats his names book too so i have read all those books mutipal times.....and yes Georges book is OUTDATED and you need to catch up on the new ways of growing........It is very well known that MH increases potency during flower this is because MH gives of UVB rays which in studies has shown to increase potency not yeild...... OK I KNOW im not the only person that knows about this someone please jump in and sit the record straight......Mh for veg and Hp for flowerr is OLD SCHOOL ok OLD SCHOOL theres new techs and strategies around now....

People think Georges books are the all mighty one and only word on how to grow and thats just not correct.....i mean have you read his book its not even writtin very well its hard to read and it jumps around all over the place its more for just a reference guid really.........Georges book was the first book i ever read thought i new everything because of it come to find out i had alot of things wrong best not to go buy what one person says better to read abunch of books and get some experiance before you say "it must be true becaues george says so" lol also theres new studies showing that HPS dosent promote spindly plants once again thats OLD SCHOOL THINKING......HPS gives off more light spectrum that blants can use and more lumens win it comes down to it HPS bigger more viggerous growth......I use HPS all through VEG and my stems are VERY stout and strong i ONLY use MH for floweringg potency and thats only in the last two weeks of flowring when the flowers arent getting any bigger anyways so at that poinT exta UVB rays will help in potnecy and it dosen matter that the MH has less lumes beccause its already the last two weeks of flowering not going to grow much anymore anyways........hard to believe peopple are arguing this hear i thought it was standerd stuff here........You guys need to read soME UPDATED materrial

Also its well accectped that if you can only USE ONE BULD then HPS is more well rounded now if ou can use two buld then use hps and HM but you never ever just use MH ALL THE WAY THROUGH unless our only concern is potency........There are OLD timers that use MH all the way threw there grow becuase they want the most potent bud and dont care at all about yield at all.........

Well, you can get the best of both worlds in one package with Ceramic Metal Halide. They use the older magnetic core hps ballast and bulbs can be found for around $40.00. You could go this route, but with a reflector your a little over $200...

Hey man, I appreciate the info. It's actually not very "standard stuff" because there are lots of newbies out there, myself included. You should know just as I do that there are friggin' thousands of different grow combination's that people have tried with great success, and that is something that I have never heard of before but it makes sense. I think I'll try it out when I'm in my 6th week of flowering. I'm only on my 2nd grow and I'm still learning lots... but compared to my first grow, this one is turning out much better.

I've read his book and I've watched his DVD's, which are actually much better in my opinion. And that stuff is not old, the DVD's are less than 5 years old. I wasn't really implying that he is the "almighty know-it-all" but he's very reputable and what he's taught me so far has worked very well. But, as your sig says, I wasn't tryin' to hate

Any good info is appreciated info.

skolar182 said:

Hey man, I appreciate the info. It's actually not very "standard stuff" because there are lots of newbies out there, myself included. You should know just as I do that there are friggin' thousands of different grow combination's that people have tried with great success, and that is something that I have never heard of before but it makes sense. I think I'll try it out when I'm in my 6th week of flowering. I'm only on my 2nd grow and I'm still learning lots... but compared to my first grow, this one is turning out much better.

I've read his book and I've watched his DVD's, which are actually much better in my opinion. And that stuff is not old, the DVD's are less than 5 years old. I wasn't really implying that he is the "almighty know-it-all" but he's very reputable and what he's taught me so far has worked very well. But, as your sig says, I wasn't tryin' to hate

Any good info is appreciated info.

Click to expand...

Its all good man...Ya i have the Dvds too....I like to watch them more for just fun than actually learning much...I like the Extra Dvd with all the gardens and stuff... If you have only red Georges books then i think yu shold check out some of the others i bet you found them to be an easyer read depending on which one you get

footclan thats some crazy shit about the Mh... an eye-opener, but not something id do, im quite new, 3rd grow and on this 3rd time i used mh [600w] in veg and i have never seen plants looking so healthy glowing it seemed a kawasaki green colour if u kno wot i mean temps were fine using a cooltube venting winter air straight from the window to keep them hot sonavabitches cool [bare with me im coming to a question] so veg is done now im bout 3 weeks in to flowering and iv changed the light to hps multispectrum there doing well and looking frosty but i look at 11 plants under this light and even thoe its only 1.2 by 1.2 meters wide i just feel they need so much more light, so im thinkin ill buy a pure red/orange bulb for them, but im still unsure if its enough and decided that ima buy another 600w cooltube setup [and 2 125mm Y peices] and put them in there with 2 red bulbs.. but i cant decide... i mean how much better for flowering is a red bulb then a multispectrum.. 30%?? i have no idea if it was it would mean im gettin the power of an 800w multispectrum, so would simply saving my money and just buyin a £20 bulb do it? if i do get another light its like 1200w for 11 plants.. in 1.2 by 1.2 meters that sounds fukt in the head to me, and i know about them cooltubes throtling my light [the robbin kunts] but it takes temps completely out of the picture.. your knoledge is greatly appreciated.. so WTF WOULD U DO ??