Lighting System for Seedlings

robbzilla said:

To directly answer your question though, yes, an aircooled hood makes a big difference with a 600w, not so much with a 400w though unless you're in a small space. 400w's are pretty cool though

Click to expand...

400w HPS runs pretty hot if u ask me. Enough to heat a 12x6 room

sunchild_sc said:

they seem a little out of my budget.

Click to expand...

the LEC is more expensive but i think the bulb is rated for 12000hours. a combo mh/hps is a good alternative and can be had much cheaper for sure. but you'll also have to air cool the 400hps and probably not with the LEC. so that's some money to add in as well.

for your tangent, i'd find a 6" filter and a 6" air cooled hood and a 6" inline fan (buy a speed controller for it too)

sunchild_sc said:

I am just looking at air filters and air cooled lights. They're separate products, the air filter being 4" and the air cooled reflector 6", would this mean they are unable to work in unison?

Click to expand...

reducers are available 4 to 6 inch, less than 20 bucks...

sunchild_sc said:

Okay, my mind is telling me to get one 400w HID. Would I need to change the light spectrums for each stage with an LED or would it cover the whole grow? Thanks again bro

Click to expand...

Budget minded way to go but still gives you quality and flexibility..

Get a 400watt switchable digital ballast. these ballasts allow you to switch from metal halide to HPS. better quality units will allow you to switch between 300watts and 400 watts with the switch of a switch. most allow you to use either 110v or 220v.
A air cold hood may prove to be a key piece of equipment.

Call me ghetto or a newb but this worked for me and continues to do so:

• Make a hood out of a duct
• Drill 3 holes, half-dollar in size
• Go to your local hardware store and buy 3 socket splitters and 3 weather-proof sockets
• Buy an extension cord and wire the sockets serially
• Insert splitters into the sockets
• Buy 6 - 32watt, 100watt equivilent CFLs and place them into the splitters

: End Result - 600watts of 5500k spectrum @ 192 true watts.

This will be good all the way from sprouts to week 12 or 14 depending on the strain. Why spent 150 bucks on a ballast kit when you can make your own for 60 and they dont get too hot, just add 2-6" fans and your good to go.

UAmedicGrower said:

This will be good all the way from sprouts to week 12 or 14 depending on the strain.

Click to expand...

i wouldn't flower with 5500K bulbs. you need majority of warm whites for the oranges/reds neeeded for flower. some blues in to balance it out.

UAmedicGrower said:

Call me ghetto or a newb but this worked for me and continues to do so:

• Make a hood out of a duct
• Drill 3 holes, half-dollar in size
• Go to your local hardware store and buy 3 socket splitters and 3 weather-proof sockets
• Buy an extension cord and wire the sockets serially
• Insert splitters into the sockets
• Buy 6 - 32watt, 100watt equivilent CFLs and place them into the splitters

: End Result - 600watts of 5500k spectrum @ 192 true watts.

This will be good all the way from sprouts to week 12 or 14 depending on the strain. Why spent 150 bucks on a ballast kit when you can make your own for 60 and they dont get too hot, just add 2-6" fans and your good to go.

Click to expand...

One nice thing about CFL that is not mentioned enough is that they produce some UVB and UVA, which will dramatically increase tricom production.

rkymtnman said:

i wouldn't flower with 5500K bulbs. you need majority of warm whites for the oranges/reds neeeded for flower. some blues in to balance it out.

Click to expand...

Yeah, if you only want to use one HID light from beginning to end, make it HPS. It's a lot easier to veg under HPS than it is to flower under MH. I use an Eye Hortilux enhanced spectrum bulb start to finish, and I have no problems at all in veg.

T5 rules for veg, in my opinion. Especially for seedlings and clones.

Yeah, T5 is definitely the best way to go for seedlings. I don't use it for cones for logistical reasons that I'd rather not go into in public, but if my setup allowed for it I definitely would. It would make it much easier on the clones, and would make less work for me in terms of managing my lighting.

Skunk Baxter said:

Yeah, if you only want to use one HID light from beginning to end, make it HPS. It's a lot easier to veg under HPS than it is to flower under MH. I use an Eye Hortilux enhanced spectrum bulb start to finish, and I have no problems at all in veg.

Click to expand...

I plan on switching to the warm white when I switch to flower. From what I understand HPS is overall the better route but when your on a fixed budget and you dont want to drive up the electric bill, I gotta get creative and use the cheapest option.

Just wanted to showcase some of my personal cfl designs. Critizism accepted. One of the fixtures i modded with a 24w led red/blue bulb.