Incandescent/Fluoro/HID Lighting

[Nath]

So, what exactly do you use to measure lighting. Apparently HID lights are the go for growing.. but what If i compared a 600w hps HID.. to say.. 10x 48w CF's.. thats incandescent equiv of 2,400w, yet are only using less than 500w's of power. Thats a hell of alot.. and I have two 48w fluoros on my seedlings at the moment, and they are going just fine.. although the light could be a bit stronger. How can I find out what is stronger than what.. Im thinking of buying a 400w metal halide light second hand for $85, and keeping a few cf's in the growroom. Then, in four weeks at the latest, get a new 600w hps and have the 600hps+400mh in the growroom for a nice flowering stage.. 1000w's worth of light would be mighty fine.

[States Zone]

the wattage is greeat and everything and the general idea you have correct being that the more light the better the diffrence between HPS HID AND MH is Kelvin temp spectrum. Floural bulbs give off lite blue light that does much of nothing when it comes to promoting growth. Personally the money it would take to purchuse and power all those lights i would just go out and buy a suited set up depending on my taste 400, 600, 1000......

 

hope that helps alittle

[nouseforaname]

hey,

There is a light meter tester that you can buy through the hydro or aquarium stores.. They dont really accomodate for hid lights as its meant to be for aquarium plants and how much light gets thru your water.. They are about 150$ and they read at 5000 lumens(max) at about 4 feet from a 400 watter.. a few inches off a fluro also maxes it out... So in theory a fluro at say 1/4 inch would be the same intensity as a 400 watter at say 4 foot away... The trick is not more wattage but how close you can get to the light and how efficiently you use the light...

[Nath]

Ahhh that clears it up a bit.. I see what you mean.