What hoods/reflectors do you guys recommend with these kits?
Any reflector made for 315w lamps will work very well with the Prism Lighting Science ballast. If you get the adapter to go from the 315 style socket to a mogul style socket, you can use virtually every reflector available on our site. That said, you'll notice that most high-end 315w fixtures (Sun System, Cycloptics, Phantom) come with a vertically hanging socket/bulb design with a relatively square/circular light footprint. This is mainly because when hung vertically with a well focused reflector, the 315w lamp is able to penetrate vertically deeper into your plant canopy. This is important because most growers are use to 600w or even 1000w bulbs, which are very intense. The 315w vertical, focused design helps get the penetration of closer to a 600w, but this is at the cost of making the light more focused over an area of about 3' x 3' or so, depending on the reflector. If you put a 315w in a traditional reflector, like a
Block Buster with a
socket adapter, then you will get a larger footprint at the expense of penetration. Not saying one setup is wrong while another setup is right. Different tools for different applications. I'd use the 315w horizontally in a Block Buster over a 4' x 4' for veg, while a 315w in a more focused vertical reflector over a 3' x 3' for flower when the plants are taller and are hungrier for photons.
The way we like to describe it is think of holding a flashlight about 6 inches away from a wall. You'll have a great deal of light over a small area. Now hold that flashlight 2 feet from the wall. You'll now be covering a larger area, but the light is dimmer across the surface of the area it lights up. Still the same
quantity of light, just a different way of applying it.
