jooooooosh1934
Active Member
does anyone know of using a like four 70w mh bulbs then for flower four hps? i saw them at home depot today and it got me thinkin
Heheh. I am with you man. I bought 4 70Watt security lights at Lowe's (they're cheaper than Home Depot $28.95 ea). I got 2 100W MH security lights at Home Depot cuz they're cheaper there.($64.95) All told I should have bought a 600W switchable ballast and could have spent approx the same $$ ,but with multiple lights I can move 'em around. I took the plastic housings off to expose the bulbs since they can be open to the air. And I must say so far the results are far better than just flouros which is what I used on my first 2 grows. Plants are stockier and more bushy, nodes are closer together, and very little if any stretching. I started 12/12 4 days ago and they are definately getting more horizontal growth than vertical. Won't know about total weights until about 6-8 more weeks go by but so far very good.
Chances are you need a ballast even for a 70w bulb, i just went and bought one the other day and it has a ballast built into it. Not to mention the fact that the guy at lowes said that no hps bulb will work without the proper ballast. Look heres how i got mine set up, but dont get me wrong because this is only for one plant. I have one 70w HPS bulb, Along with one dual florescent light fixture (each bulb being about 55wts), one more florescent light, and 2 22w cfls. Itz obviously not nothing special, but it does work. I can tell you right now im running under 300wts, but its putting out the right light spectrum, and enough of it. So itz not really running up the electric bill. And my plant is totally happy. But then again i guess it depends on how much yer trying to grow. If you want poundage, id recommend getting the more powerful lights. But if you just want a decent crop, do something like what i got. Really it all just depends on what your trying to do mann.