Going H.I.D

I've decided to go HID and have had a lot of difficulty deciding on what products (brands,quality,etc) to buy.

I've honestly only done one grow indoors under about 300-400w of mixed spectrum cfl lights, but am confident I will have no trouble with HPS. I have a 3x3x5.5 grow box, doing a SOG style grow.

so originally I was going to go with a cheap 400w setup from HTG (http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=47929)

Then decided to go with 600w. Now IDK if i should get a magnetic ballast, or digital. I'm leaning towards the latter9lumatek,nextgen,etc).

If I go digital I'm not sure if I should go with cheap bulbs and replace them more often or a better bulb like a hortilux, etc or a bulb meant for a digital ballast like the digilux, again I would probably go with the latter.

If i get a digilux 600w HPS, I was thinking about how they have the expanded blue spectrum, and If i'm doing a SOG do I really want any more blue than necessary, since it promotes stem elongation and veg growth? I know it is more like natural sunlight and this is what I should replicate but i'm just unsure.


On another note i was/am just as undecided about the reflector hood. If i don't get a cheap setup I was going to get a cool tube or AC hood. and a good inline fan. I was thinking the euro hood, I guess this is less important as long as its good quality and reflects well.

Sorry for the long rant, I always seem to write and write but if anyone could give me some insight to any of this it will be appreciated and of course +++reps

Much thanks

In.The.Basement said:

I've decided to go HID and have had a lot of difficulty deciding on what products (brands,quality,etc) to buy.

I've honestly only done one grow indoors under about 300-400w of mixed spectrum cfl lights, but am confident I will have no trouble with HPS. I have a 3x3x5.5 grow box, doing a SOG style grow.

so originally I was going to go with a cheap 400w setup from HTG (http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=47929)

Then decided to go with 600w. Now IDK if i should get a magnetic ballast, or digital. I'm leaning towards the latter9lumatek,nextgen,etc).

If I go digital I'm not sure if I should go with cheap bulbs and replace them more often or a better bulb like a hortilux, etc or a bulb meant for a digital ballast like the digilux, again I would probably go with the latter.

If i get a digilux 600w HPS, I was thinking about how they have the expanded blue spectrum, and If i'm doing a SOG do I really want any more blue than necessary, since it promotes stem elongation and veg growth? I know it is more like natural sunlight and this is what I should replicate but i'm just unsure.


On another note i was/am just as undecided about the reflector hood. If i don't get a cheap setup I was going to get a cool tube or AC hood. and a good inline fan. I was thinking the euro hood, I guess this is less important as long as its good quality and reflects well.

Sorry for the long rant, I always seem to write and write but if anyone could give me some insight to any of this it will be appreciated and of course +++reps

Much thanks

Click to expand...

If you have the money to air cool a 600 in that space go for it, but i think that the 400 should do fine.

Personally, I replace the cheap 400 hps bulbs every 6 months...I tried the expensive hortilux bulbs with the blue and I didnt see a big difference, except the $50 difference in price.

I like digital ballasts, they seem to operate quiter and at cooler temps.

You dont need the blue so much, but the blue spectrum in flowering actually will promote denser calyx, and better trich development (why most pro growers use MH as supplemental). It's actually the HPS that will enhance the stretching.

As far as a hood, your space is so damn small any hood will reflect well. If you need to keep it cheap, it seems like you should be fine with a decent extracton fan.

Just my observations over the last few years...

well, I think I may scrap my whole plan, buy a good lumatek ballast, cheaper bulbs, a cheap but reflective hood and a good inline fan. Im just wondering whether i should buy a regular 400 watt lumatek or the dual 600w dimmable one, so I can use it in the future if I expand things...

In.The.Basement said:

well, I think I may scrap my whole plan, buy a good lumatek ballast, cheaper bulbs, a cheap but reflective hood and a good inline fan. Im just wondering whether i should buy a regular 400 watt lumatek or the dual 600w dimmable one, so I can use it in the future if I expand things...

Click to expand...

In retrospect i wish i had gone for 600 and done what you said...but my 400 is fine...what you could do for the additional blue spectrum is to introduce flourescent lights that can fit into the area with out obstructing the HID...it just that a 400 covers a 5x5 space pretty damn well and when you can cool it efficiently you can get your lamp in the sweetspot for the canopy without light/heatstress, you will produce high-quality nuggerey

If your money stack is high you should buy the Select-A-Watt Ballasts,Incase in the future you want to upgrade jus flip the switch and you can have a higher wattage

IHaveADopeDick said:

If your money stack is high you should buy the Select-A-Watt Ballasts,Incase in the future you want to upgrade jus flip the switch and you can have a higher wattage

Click to expand...

agreed.. i just got one of the dimmeable 400 watters that dimmes done to a 250 watter for my small area, so i feel im getting the best of both worlds, i can veg on the smaller watter, and increase the watts as the size of the plants increase and the added lumens can really be used by the plants.. although a lil pricier to buy, i feel the savngs of only using the watts the plants need at the time will save me money in the long run..

hehe, you sound like me long ago. OK bulbs- dont ever go cheap- they lose their inital lumens faster and then suck until they die, and u buy them more often. I personally love hortilux, never had a complaint. My new project is using their MH blue, which has a very full spectrum, similar to the digilux 600. The MH blue comes in 400 and 1000. For your space a 400 is fine, a 600 will be better, but again it depends on the bulb you get, and if you have a good enough exhaust.

OK in a 5x5x7 tent i have, i have a 1000W HPS with an 8" 740 CFM fan reduced to 6" to fit the aircooled light and filter i had. I can touch the glass and it is not uncomfortable. a 600w should be more than fine in that area.

An air cooled light is an absolute must if you plan on putting a 600w in that area. Especially for a SOG. Plants retain heat and insulate a lot. You can get an adjust-a-wing and a cool tube. adjust-a-wings are the greatest thing ever. cool tubes make it air cooled, and you are money

Digital ballasts are nice, select-a-watts pwn, but i still like my old switchable ballast, although the heat reduction is nice on the next gens.

Dimmers are ok, but i have learned that plants love light, the more you give them the better they do, so go aircooled sun systems light, GOOD bulb, and get a massive exhaust, and enjoy.

Oh and if you are doing sog, the additional blue light is not really needed as you arent shooting for more energy leaves to grow bigger plants, just 1 big bud per plant. Red light is where its at. Full HPS like the hortilux EYE. If anything use a blue floro bulb on them for veg to get some good leafage-they will flower better.

IHaveADopeDick said:

If your money stack is high you should buy the Select-A-Watt Ballasts,Incase in the future you want to upgrade jus flip the switch and you can have a higher wattage

Click to expand...

Thats what I was thinking but isnt select-a-watt, dial-a-watt, dual watt, dimmable all the same thing. That they can take multiple wattage bulbs?

Kphlash said:

hehe, you sound like me long ago. OK bulbs- dont ever go cheap- they lose their inital lumens faster and then suck until they die, and u buy them more often. I personally love hortilux, never had a complaint. My new project is using their MH blue, which has a very full spectrum, similar to the digilux 600. The MH blue comes in 400 and 1000. For your space a 400 is fine, a 600 will be better, but again it depends on the bulb you get, and if you have a good enough exhaust.

OK in a 5x5x7 tent i have, i have a 1000W HPS with an 8" 740 CFM fan reduced to 6" to fit the aircooled light and filter i had. I can touch the glass and it is not uncomfortable. a 600w should be more than fine in that area.

An air cooled light is an absolute must if you plan on putting a 600w in that area. Especially for a SOG. Plants retain heat and insulate a lot.

Digital ballasts are nice, select-a-watts pwn, but i still like my old switchable ballast, although the heat reduction is nice on the next gens.

Dimmers are ok, but i have learned that plants love light, the more you give them the better they do, so go aircooled sun systems light, GOOD bulb, and get a massive exhaust, and enjoy.

Oh and if you are doing sog, the additional blue light is not really needed as you arent shooting for more energy leaves to grow bigger plants, just 1 big bud per plant. Red light is where its at. Full HPS like the hortilux EYE

Click to expand...

Yeah, okay i guess it is a waste to go cheap on things especially if i have the dough, which i may or may not, haha. So i guess i will go with a 600w, but i'm a little unsure of the dif. between dimmable, switchable, dial a watt and dual. I was under the impression dimmable, dial a watt mean the same things that you can change between dif. bulb wattages. Switchable means you can switch between MH/HPS. And dual watt mean it can run 2 seperate lights through the one ballast. Is this all true?


I think i may go for somthing like this:
http://www.growwurks.com/hydrofarm-lumatek-dimmable-e-ballast-400-600-dial-a-watt-hps-mh-120-240v.aspx

And if I'm gonna buy the expensive hortilux bulb, why not just buy a digilux meant for digital ballasts...? Because of the supposed lesser yield they get? ...Did i just answer my own question?

ya, this thing will make your head explode.

dimmable, select-a-watt, dial a watt etc, are all different "brands/types" of the same thing - they adjust the wattage so you can use different lights. switchable is just HPS/MH. As i said, I'm not big on digi ballasts except for their lower heat, but put the ballast out of the room, and its not an issue. The biggest factor is cost. the newer/less used something is, the more expensive, but not necessarily better. Some old skool ways are still the best ways, and some have been replaced. Its all variable,regional, and personal-what works for me in CO, may not for you.

As far as the bulb goes. Get ready for the largest headache you can have. Compare the lumens, spectrum, price, etc. I actually made an Excel spreadsheet cataloging them and compared them to what i was looking for-SOG needs more red, not the full spectrum of the MH blue, etc. So just know what you are trying to do, and read up on lights and figure out which is best.

Cool, thanks for the input