I want to use only one light help please

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Hey guys, I am an absolute beginner to growing but anyway I want to grow 2 plants in a cupboard (haven't got one yet, maybe someone can recommend a decent size range?) and only want to use one light through the whole cycle cause i'm poor and don't want to spend too much since its my first grow...

 

Basically people are saying 400W I think should be the go, 600 i'm thinking is maybe too much but the point being, which type, MH or HPS, and which lamps to last the whole cycle? I know everyone says use diff lights for veg and flowering but I'm just not prepared to go that far yet... So I want a definitive 'one size fits all' light.... if its even possible!

 

Thanks guys, all help is appreciated!

[Luke Skywalker]

HPS lamps in 400w are probably the best bet for the beginner. The Son-T-agro has added blue spectrum which allows it to be used effectively for both vegetative and flowering stages.

 

An MH 400w would certainly work for both veg and flowering, but there is much anectdotal evidence, as well as the sheer lumens produced, (about 10,000 less for a 400w MH as opposed to a 400w HPS) to say that HPS by itself does just as well, and modified HPS lamps, with the extra blue content, do even better.

 

You can get more than double the lumens, for only 50% more power with a 600w lamp. You'll have to take the heat considerations (much warmer running than a 400w) into account, and you'd need a bigger space generally, but you'd likely be pulling in twice as much. A 400w lamp can illuminate an area about 1m2 quite effectively, although it would be much more effective @.5 - .75 m2 of canopy height. A 600w can illuminate a 1.5m2 area, but once again, you'd get better returns if you reduced that maximum area to around 1 - 1.3 m2.

 

A pair of wardrobes, approximately 500mm deep, by say 1800mm high, and about 1m long, put back to back with the intervening walls removed, making a double entry, (you need to have access to all parts of the canopy for training and maintenance) double sized cupboard that would yeild very well with a 600w lamp. Just one of a similarly dimensioned cupboard is ideal for a 400w.

 

So yeah, a 400w is the ideal "beginners" light, and it still does me quite nicely too thankyou very muchly. We all want more, of course, but that can come later in your growing efforts after a few crops have gone under your belt, and you feel more confident in your skills. Regard your first crop as a learner, and any subsequent crops should do very well. You can expect about 4-12 oz, (more likely the former than the latter) depending on strain and how well they grow, in a small cupboard like the one I've described with a 400w hps lamp. A 600w can pull up to a pound (16oz) comfortably, although once again, genes are a predominant factor, as well as growing conditions.

 

Hope that helps.

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Thanks heaps. So if for example I was to oder from this site

 

http://users.bigpond.net.au/nutriflo/light.htm#HID

 

I would just go for any of the 400w HPS and ask for the son t argo lamps... would it make a difference what brand I get? Damn I'm getting so excited now everything seems to be coming together nicely

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Oh yeah and do the lamps blow? should I order an extra lamp just in case or not worry about it? THANKS!

[Luke Skywalker]

I would just go for any of the 400w HPS and ask for the son t argo lamps... would it make a difference what brand I get? Damn I'm getting so excited now everything seems to be coming together nicely 

 

There is some difference, mostly it's either length of lamp life/lumen maintenance, or added/extra blue content in the bulbs. The Son-t is just my preference, many other growers have their own. Perhaps try the son-t-agro bulb this time, and the next go for a sylvania supergro, or a lucagrow, etc, and compare your results. Most of them have pretty similar spectra and lumen production.

 

Make sure you note when you got the bulb too, (I usually engrave a date on the metal collar of the lamp) as you'll have to replace it every once and a while. Most lamps last about 12 months of solid growing, before they really start to taper off. Some will suggest changing globes less than that, some more, some just replace the bulbs every grow. 12 months of growing, off and on, is usually a good figure to aim at. At the end of that 12 months you'll be significantly down on the lumens produced in comparison to the same bulb brand new, but you can still get good results up to that age. How long you veg and flower for, how often you start the bulb, your care with the thing, not bumping it etc will all have an effect on how long it lasts, and how much light they produce.

 

The lamps can "blow" under some circumstances, they are delicate and should be treated with care. Always wear cotton gloves, or a clean sock on your hand when handling the bulb. The oils on your hand, as well as other crud you'll have on them, will be left behind if you don't, and the very hot surface will crack or even explode. Likewise with water, don't foliar feed with lights on or near plants, as they can be severely damaged if you get "cold", (it's all relative) water onto the bulbs surface, and can also explode. Oh yeah, then there's also the chance that if you put a 600w ballast on a 400w bulb you'll blow the 400w globe too, but most people don't do that.

 

Generally though, they're not prone to killing people, causing shrapnel wounds, destroying houses with explosive force, etc. :: Just kidding there... Just use some caution when handling them, treat them gentle, and you'll never have to worry bout it. They're really quite tough, so you're more likely to need replacement plants than replacement lamps. I wouldn't worry too much about getting a second globe. If it does blow, then you can get another one pretty quickly from hydro shops.

 

Aaaaanyway, (god, I'm nattering on tonight aren't I?) just one more thing though, you want to get a 400w HPS kit, but not a "lowbay" or attached ballast shade. You want to have the option to both unplug the ballast from the shade/socket, which is pretty much standard nowadays, and have a shade which is optimal for your room. The Nova shades, specifically the Large Nova, is pretty darn good and hard to beat for a quality shade. You can also attach exhaust fans to them and thus have an air cooled shade, small 125mm spectrum fans fit ideally, and a small length of ducting can then be attached, venting the hot air from around the lamp before it reaches the growroom. Some people add glass to the base, but this not only eats lumens directly, but needs cleaning as dust accumulates. This too eats lumens, which is the entire point of getting the lamps closer in the first place. You can't use normal glass either, it has to be tempered. Normal glass, even if your fan is running bloody excellently, will either crack or in a worst case scenario, explode. Great results can be had from novas without glass at all, but still aircooled through extraction, and this will drop temps by a couple of degrees usually....

 

Sorry for nattering on there, hope that helps.

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Dammit I just typed a big reply and lost it

 

Anyway thanks for all your help man no need to worry about nattering on... all information is helpful but some still is a bit too advanced for me. I can't seen to find any Nova stuff on Google. If I don't want a complete thing with shade and all what is an example of a brand or a place where I can get just the fixture, bulb and shade all separately? I'm so new to this and so lost... thanks!!!!!

[F420]

www.scottandrew.com.au has good second hand lighting etc.

 

www.hydrocentre.com.au is the same guy but this is his hydro shop. eg- new items.

http://www.hydrocentre.com.au/400kits/index.html

 

 

JBL 430 Watt Ballast

 

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higher ballast output

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Brighter growroom

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Higher Quality

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Safe Ballast

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Exchange Guarentee*

 

 

I would consider a JBL ballast, and a 400 son-t-Agro.

A 600 produces more heat and in a cupboard it could be a problem.

[Pure]

if your gonna get a 400 your saving a bit so I would also grab the medium sized adjusta wings avenger shade

 

you won't be disapointed and you will easly upgrade it to a 600 when the time comes

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Is this perhaps what you meant "Adjustashade reflector normal"?

 

Damn this second hand stuff is pretty cheap, I reckon I can afford an ozone generator now!