Two lights to choose from

[Burnzy]

I found a 250w hps on craigslist for 125

http://www.hydrofarm.com/pb_detail.php?itemid=7312


or i can get the a 400w from htgsupply for 140 shipped to my house.

http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=47929


Is the reflector on the one from htgsupply good or will it burn the plants? The guy said that reflector isn't the best compared to his. I also like the remote ballast so heat can be controlled a little better. Please let me know what light i should choose and what the reasons would be. I would like the 400w just becuase its more light but if the 250 is a smarter choice because of quality then thats what i'll do. Plus its local to pick up

 

[Sheepdog420]

I bought the 250w version of that HTGSupply light & I really like it. The ballast stays pretty cool, and the reflector seems alright to me.

The Hydrofarm reflector doesn't look like anything too special either. If I bought that off craigslist, the first thing I'd do is replace the bulb...you should factor that into the decision.

I'd go with the 400 watt, but that's just my opinion!

Sheepdog

 

[Burnzy]

I bought the 250w version of that HTGSupply light & I really like it. The ballast stays pretty cool, and the reflector seems alright to me.

The Hydrofarm reflector doesn't look like anything too special either. If I bought that off craigslist, the first thing I'd do is replace the bulb...you should factor that into the decision.

I'd go with the 400 watt, but that's just my opinion!

Sheepdog

How many plants are you growing with the 250w and is it the only light in your grow?

 

[Sheepdog420]

I have 4 plants flowering in a 2x2 foot area. I'm 5 weeks into my first flowering cycle with it & they're doing great. I went with the 250 watt to keep the energy low & the wife happy. I do look at it & wonder how much nicer a 400 watt would be...

 

[MostlyCrazy]

With lights it's all about heat dissapation. I have the 250 watt HPS from HTG and it is great ( 35000 lumens - 3x4' flower area, 4 plants) but added some 65watt side 2700k cfl's just in case and the plants love it. If you won't have a problem with the heat, go for the 400 watt from HTG. You'll get more light penetration from the 400watt. 250 watt is stationed about 8" above the grow and helps all buds about 1' down from the tops.

 

[Masterofgenetics]

check out this thread

https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/172217-here-help-ask-me-anything.html

 

[motoracer110]

get the 400watt you will get a much better yield.

 

[la9]

Go with the 400 watt hp setup, you'll be happy with it. I'd check out HIDHUT though, they are cheaper than HTG and I've never had any problems with their stuff. I'd go electronic if you can, I think the electronic ballast reflector and bulb is around $128. A bunch of people will start arguing you can't do better than HTG but on their cheaper stuff they have had problem with premature expiration of bulbs and I don't want to be in the middle of a grow when the bulb burns out, they will replace it but you are looking at 2 - 3 weeks for gtting a new one again. Never had any problem like that at hidhut. You can decide, a lot of people will claim nothing is better than HTG but you can make up your own mind.

I went ahead and got the link for you, Looks like they raised their prices to $159:

http://www.hidhut.com/catalog/400w-hps-digital-ballast-bulb-and-economy-reflector-combo-p-414.html

 

[DR GANJA MAN]

Shit i need to spend that much money on the lights?? Can i use reptile lights or heat lights how bout both? Just planting like 2 plants.

 

[la9]

Shit i need to spend that much money on the lights?? Can i use reptile lights or heat lights how bout both? Just planting like 2 plants.

Dude that ain't alot if you want to grow quality plants, $100 for a pack of seeds, $150 for a quality light with reflector ? You can try going cheaper but what you are being told is what will get you the best results. Are you after the best plants you can grow or just want a wilted conversation piece ?

 

[DR GANJA MAN]

Well i want bomb weed for sure. I guess if i have too i will buy the lights that you recomend.

 

[la9]

Well i want bomb weed for sure. I guess if i have too i will buy the lights that you recomend.

If you want to save money you can get a magnetic ballast instead of digital, but the magnetice will end up buzzing out of the box or sooner or later, don't believe anyone that tells you they don't. If you can stand the buzzing you can save some money that way. Plus if someone comes over they will start asking where that buzzing is coming from.

On the other side of things you can get flourescent shopt lights with Gro-lux bulbs and use that setup toveg with great results. You can get by with 2 bulbs in on fixture if you aren't trying to grow a lot of plants, or you can use 2 fixtures and 4 bulbs. It's up to you. You can get cheap electronic fixtures at Home Depot for $8 but you have to look for them, they hide them well so you buy the more expensive ones. The grow lux bulbs are probably $6 a piece. You can use cool white also but I had extremely good results with the gro lux bulbs. So you can have a great lighting setup for less than $200

 

[DR GANJA MAN]

The buzzing noise isnt a problem they will be in the garage plus all my hommies burn it so they wont trip..lol but i have 2 5 ft flourecent fixtures hanging up already. The co2 how do i get that pumping??

 

[la9]

I haven't really went the co2 route yet but I use it on my aquarium, my best advice would be to get the biggest tank you can if you know a place local to refill it.

I think the smallest tank to refill is $13 and the biggest tank to refill is $15, so not a lot of difference when you get it refilled.

Also you might want to invest in a solenoid so it is only putting co2 in the air during lights on but they are expensive, all you need is a regulator and a needle valve and just let it leak out into your grow area. Having the solenoid would help save gas, turning it on and off during a daily basis is probably not going to last long.

 

[DR GANJA MAN]

Hmm then i dnt think im gonna do c02 yet. I just want to have bomb dank for the fall. The question i have is after the flowering how long does the buds take to fully develop?

 

[la9]

Hmm then i dnt think im gonna do c02 yet. I just want to have bomb dank for the fall. The question i have is after the flowering how long does the buds take to fully develop?

after flowering it is time to dry, flowering time depends on the strain so read up on what you are getting, no sense getting something just to find out it takes 6 months to flower unless you are growing outside.

 

[Brick Top]

Shit i need to spend that much money on the lights?? Can i use reptile lights or heat lights how bout both? Just planting like 2 plants.

Growing is not totally inexpensive. You get out of your grow what you put into it. Anywhere that you take shortcuts to try to save money will cost you in the end in some way or another.

The idea is to create as optimal of conditions as is possible with a person’s budget and then pick the highest quality genetics that you can afford and then be satisfied with what you get.

You cannot have a poor setup and use quality genetics and end up with great results and you cannot use a great setup and then pick junk genetics and expect the setup to make up for what is lacking genetically.

If you go cheap do not expect fantastic results in either quality or yield.

I am not saying this is you but I just LOVE the kids I run across on sites like this that want to grow their own and they think their allowance will cover all their costs, or their burger flipping jobs will be enough to cover all their bills and leave enough left over to create optimal conditions.

Then they look into it and find that they really cannot afford half of what is really needed to have a decent or better setup and conditions so they hit the local Lowes or Home Depot or WalMart or whatever and load up on a bunch of penny ante nickel and dime stuff and slap together some Rub Goldberg setup and six months later they are then telling the new crop of noobs what is up and how to do things just like they did like they are Greenman or fucking Jorge Cervantes or someone.

I cannot help but laugh at them. They are funnier than the Marx Brothers or the Three Stooges.

 

[la9]

Growing is not totally inexpensive. You get out of your grow what you put into it. Anywhere that you take shortcuts to try to save money will cost you in the end in some way or another.

The idea is to create as optimal of conditions as is possible with a person’s budget and then pick the highest quality genetics that you can afford and then be satisfied with what you get.

You cannot have a poor setup and use quality genetics and end up with great results and you cannot use a great setup and then pick junk genetics and expect the setup to make up for what is lacking genetically.

If you go cheap do not expect fantastic results in either quality or yield.

I am not saying this is you but I just LOVE the kids I run across on sites like this that want to grow their own and they think their allowance will cover all their costs, or their burger flipping jobs will be enough to cover all their bills and leave enough left over to create optimal conditions.

Then they look into it and find that they really cannot afford half of what is really needed to have a decent or better setup and conditions so they hit the local Lowes or Home Depot or WalMart or whatever and load up on a bunch of penny ante nickel and dime stuff and slap together some Rub Goldberg setup and six months later they are then telling the new crop of noobs what is up and how to do things just like they did like they are Greenman or fucking Jorge Cervantes or someone.

I cannot help but laugh at them. They are funnier than the Marx Brothers or the Three Stooges.

++Rep for you for putting it out their the way it should be told.

 

[Brick Top]

Hmm then i dnt think im gonna do c02 yet. I just want to have bomb dank for the fall. The question i have is after the flowering how long does the buds take to fully develop?

If you mean how long after flowering begins does it take for buds to mature that will depend mainly on the strain and then to a lesser degree on your growing conditions. Most indica or indica/sativa crosses will need roughly eight to nine weeks to mature once flowering has begun. Now that is only a rough timeframe and it can and will vary somewhat due to conditions but you use the shortest timeframe as a guide and then at that time you begin to inspect your trichomes and when they are the color that will give you the high or the stone that you are most interested in getting that is the time to harvest and not according to any stated number of days or by the color of the hairs or anything else.

A predominately sativa can take longer to mature and a pure or almost pure sativa can take 12 or 14 or 16 or more weeks to mature, like say Nevilles Haze takes 12 to 14 weeks to flower/mature, and some strains can take upwards of 20 weeks to fully flower/mature though that is very rare and you just do not find those genetics being sold by seedbanks.

Da bomb dank results will only be achieved if you do everything correctly and create as optimal of conditions as possible and purchase the best genetics that you possibly can and have a little good luck tossed in to boot in that you are new to growing and will likely need it to end up with da bomb dank smoke.

 

[Brick Top]

++Rep for you for putting it out their the way it should be told.

I can have something of an acidic tongue, or keyboard, at times but I tell it like it is, unlike many who really tell it like it ain’t.

You cannot make chicken salad out of chicken shit no matter how much mayonnaise you add to it. To get the best you have to begin with the best.

Now many times what is only average when it comes to home growing will still beat the pants off product sold by an independent pharmaceutical agent so what happens is people create their Rub Goldberg setups and their results impress them so that it why they then try to teach the next crop of noobs to follow in their footsteps but unless they one day broaden their horizons and upgrade their systems and find out how fantastic things can be they never really know what is great, though they really think they do and they sure talk/write like they know.

That is when I sit here and chuckle.