Light leaking.

with 250 mh bulbs you can cover only up to 4 plants using the reflector. Without the reflector light can bounce around a 5 to 6 feet coverage I believe.

but what you are forgetting, you may be covering more with "light" but a lot of that isnt very usable light. the key is, even light and even canopy. you actually get more light coverage with a reflector than without, unless your going vert

ElectricPineapple said:

haha its ok. ya 250's will cover the vegging plants. but actually the one 600 will cover you veggers, and you could get 2 400's for your flowering tent. that would give you a 3.5x6-7 lighted area. and the MH will make em really frosty in flowering. much more UVB, which causes trich production

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See what I mean.. am still a total newb -- I have no idea what UVB and trich mean, but am totally baked and tired am gonna read on that 2morrow... still have alot to learn. I'll post some more pic's 2morrow of my new grow tent and the cardboard box i will be using/cutting for the light leakage.. hopefully ill have that on the fan 2morrow.

TOMMYPARTYS said:

with 250 mh bulbs you can cover only up to 4 plants using the reflector. Without the reflector light can bounce around a 5 to 6 feet coverage I believe.

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That's what I thought Tommy.. electricapineapple put it in perspective .. he's right, need to get as much light to my babies as possible.

ElectricPineapple said:

but what you are forgetting, you may be covering more with "light" but a lot of that isnt very usable light. the key is, even light and even canopy. you actually get more light coverage with a reflector than without, unless your going vert

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agreed. just saying is all, if people are in a budget and need to get more distance, lets say in a 40x50 then no reflector would be ideal to get the coverage needed.

UVB radiation. it is what causes the buds to get " crystals" or trichomes. trichomes are the plants sunscreen so to speak. the more UVB, which causes sunburn in people, the more trichomes.

but in actuality, your are wasting alot of light, that you are paying a good amount of money in electricity to run. if you dont want to get a reflector, i recommend going vert. but make sure you bulb can go both directions. but a reflector will be much more efficient in getting usable light, which is what you want to get to the plant. if you arent vertical growing, and dont have a reflector, you are wasting money on electricity.

Well I took your advice and got some lights with reflectors... I just got my paycheck & just finished clicking the "proceed to checkout" finishing touches. It's not the same reflector on the link you showed me, it's actually a cheaper and smaller quality... like I said am on a budget and can't afford anything to big as of yet. So I got me 4 of the sunsystem ballast (even though I heard so many bad reviews) with 150 watt HPS for about 20 clones, (5 under each HPS) once the mothers are in full blooom to make cuttings. So am very excited to get them, they should be arriving in about 1 or 2 weeks.

http://www.amazon.com/Sun-System-Watt-Reflector-Ballast/dp/B00269RWQI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288671955&sr=8-1

Oh and the 600 watt MH that I have running now, am planning on keeping the mothers and a few plants in vegging stage under it... maybe like 6 or 7 tops.

youll love those sun system, for what your using them for, they will be perfect. and all that sounds good to me!

yep am so excited.. time to break out the 12/12 cycle and get some buds going

Nicely done, your off to a great start. Do we see a grow journal coming?

Thanks.... I want to make this one a big grow! will be making the journal aswell. I got my white widow seeds and ready to start. Just waiting on the light fixtures and fans.