Which HPS for me

[bongmeister]

Hi all,

Well, after a couple of moderately successful soil grows under 130w spectrum fluoros I've decided to stop mucking about and change to hydro under HPS. My growspace is small (60cm x 70cm x 170cm) and presently has 2 x 120mm extraction fans with passive inlet. I'm wondering whether I should go for a 250 or a 400 watt lamp. Heat may well be a problem for me with the hottest months still in front of us. Yeild is not hugely important as I suspect that even the 250 would be an improvement over my fluoros. What would you more experienced growers suggest. I'd really prefer not to have to up my ventilation as it's already noisier than I'd like.

 

thanks,

[Pickle]

As far as HPS lights go, i wouldn't go any less than a 400watt, but i would highly recomend a 600watt (that's just to produce enough to keep you happily in bud, if you want hash i would suggest nothing less than 600watts).

 

I may be wrong here, but if noise is a problem you might want to consider a DWC system. As far as i can figure the only noise is the fan/ventilation and the airpump. It's very compact for the amount it can produce, it also seems to be the cheapest rig to set up and seeing as it uses nutes at 1/3 - 1/2 strength is pretty cheap to run as well. From what i understand it's a fairly forgiving setup too and that has it's own appeal.

[sLiM sHiFty]

id personally go for the 400 ... around my area the 250 cost $175 and the 400 cost $200, both with ballast reflectors and all. im pretty sure you wont need to up on the ventilation if you bought a 400 ... a few months back i was asking the same question and the members here suggested i use 8cm SUNon fans for my 400.

 

But this decision is your personal choice.

[bongmeister]

thanks for the replies guys,

so you really reckon that 400 watts won't be too hot for that small space. I should have mentioned that yield is not terribly important...I'm an old fart and don't get through nearly as much herb as I used to, in fact, the envirolite things were able to produce enough for my needs, the whole process was all just a little slow for my liking. Plus after seeing an overgrow thread which compared photos of low wattage hid grows with flouros I realized that I was doing it the hard way. So all I really want is stealth, simplicity and top quality buds...not too much to ask for, eh? Thanks again for the advice.

Bongmeister

[bongmeister]

....oh, and yeah, I am aware that costwise there's not a lot in it. The quotes I've been getting show about a 20 buck difference between the 2 systems....go figure.

[Pickle]

Costwise, for buying the globe, shade and ballast the 400's and 600's arent much different. The yeild from the 600 is nearly double the amount or the 400 for nearly the same running cost.

 

Heat wise, the 400 is quite easy to deal with (the 600 is pretty easy to cool too) but if you are happy with what you already grow then the 400 is a little cooler and will work great for a DWC in a cupboard and give you a very easy to manage and simple solution.

[Pure]

When you say "small space " how small are you talking because 400watters are the perfect light for small closet grows imo , you just have to make sure you have decnet ventilation, you will need the same decent ventilation for the 250 though , the difference I found in heat when I switched over in my cacti flower room was mabey a degree and a bit at most which I could have sollved very easy in the case of mj with internal air circulation

 

DWC has the best growth rate in veg but outside of that it is pretty fiddly without too many advantages ,

dependign on your setup a DWC system is also goign to increase humidity levels inthe room and alsoincrease the risk of bugs around this time of year as the tubs are the perfect breedign ground for " wet land " insects like gnats and mozzies

[Guest budz2u]

hey bongmeister go the 400w you'll get denser bud and ventilation in cupboards is fairly easy to control/upgrade. What system have you decided on?

[bongmeister]

Pure,

the space is approx 60cm x 70cm x 170 cm. At present ventilation is achieved with 2 x 120mm extraction fans and passive inlet. One fan is a 12volt job, rated at 58 cfm. The other doesn't state it's rating but it's a spectrum brand, 240 volts I bought from the hydro shop. Judging from the wind it puts out I'd guess that it's at least 3 times the capacity of the 12 volt fan. with these both running and 3 of the 130 watt flouros operating (don't let anyone kid you that these things don't give off heat ! )the cupboard runs at about 4 degrees above the ambient temperature. My concern is that a 400watt hps would bee too much for this arrangement and I'd have to add more fans and hence dbs....whaddya reckon ?

[bongmeister]

budz2u,

I was thinking of going passive hydro...it'll be my first go at it, I'm around each day and I thought that way at least I wouldn't have to keep the chemistry of a res under control...lower noise levels too. Do you reckon that's a reasonable way to go ?