Lights in 4x4x6

coreywebster said:

Of course there is, theres loads that will beat a HPS watt for watt but not for anywhere near the price of a HPS.

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Exactly...

This is what a family member has in a 4x4 tent on their first grow with a FREE Radiant hood I gifted them and a new Ushio 600W HPS and Digi Ballast.
You can't go wrong with HID and it still produces plants with characteristics closer to sun grown than led and without the "LeD DeFiciEncy" Woes

I'm looking for bulbs at the moment

Get 600w HPS if you dont want to spend tons of money on LEDs. Even if you DIY LEDs to get the power of 600w HPS they will cost tons more. If you want some hi-fi, also get a MH bulb for vegging.

MikeLife500 said:

My max at one time is 250. 300 or so if I gotta grab 2. Also HPS is more costly by the month on my electric bill thats why I was trying to stick with LED. But I will sacrifice if needed. Best to do it right or not at all

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Its bullshit that you can get away will a lot less LED watts than with HPS. You wont get as good results with 300w LEDs as you do with 600w HPS, no matter how good those leds are. If you got closer to like 450-500w of quality LEDs then you can compare, but those leds will cost you closer to grand, while HPS you can get 40 dollars for ballast(or around 100-120 if you go digital), 40 dollars for bulb and 50-250 dollars for reflector/cooltube. If you dont need a cooltube and yiu buy used, you can get a 600w HPS setup for like 80 bucks compared to around 800+ for leds equivalent to that..

If you have an urge to spend more money, get a 315w CMH with the 600w HPS

CannaOnerStar said:

Get 600w HPS if you dont want to spend tons of money on LEDs. Even if you DIY LEDs to get the power of 600w HPS they will cost tons more. If you want some hi-fi, also get a MH bulb for vegging.

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Im just gonna go with 1000w hps. Def gonna get both bulbs.
1000w shouldn't be excessive in my 4x4x6 right?
Its 1000w dimmable

MikeLife500 said:

Im just gonna go with 1000w hps. Def gonna get both bulbs.
1000w shouldn't be excessive in my 4x4x6 right?
Its 1000w dimmable

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Nah 1kw is not too much if you cool it down enough. 600w i would say is more like what you should at least get and 1kw is most you should get.

If you can score two 600w ballasts for a good price, used for example and would not have to pay much more than for 1x 1kw ballast then i recommend 2x 600w instead.

600w HPS has better efficiency than 1kw bulbs ad if you were going to use the 1kw at superlumen setting, it will use 1.1kw, so almost same electricity cost than 2x 600w, but less efficient. Its not like night and day difference in efficiency, but personally i would rather spend 100w more in electricity and get more efficiency. Also if you have 2 separate lights, you can spread the light more evenly, which is always good. You would also ofc need two cooltubes if you need cooltubes in your grow area, so that might ramp up the cost if you want good cooltubes. And remember that good cooltubes also have better efficiency than crappy ones.

Another option would also be 600w HPS + 315w CMH. CMH is quite expensive still, but it has a very good spectrum for resin production, while HPS has good spectrum for bulking up buds. Some swear by this combo, i have not tested, but makes sense in theory and if some say it does work, well it is believable.

1kw is also good, dont get me wrong, but im just saying these because they can get you bit more efficiency if you want to maximise electric cost to bud ratio.

Also you dont ned 1kw MH bulb, 600w is plenty enough to veg, 1kw for vegging would be jsut a waste of electricity cost. And if you were to go with CMH + HPS combo, that 315w CMH is plenty good for vegging also and would cut your vegging electricity bil lto half compared to 600w MH. CMH might not give you better yields, but it will give you better quality and same amounts if you also use the HPS and not CMH only for blooming.

So 2 600w ballasts can hook up to one hood? Also don't worry about 1kw mh bulb, 600w is enough for veg
Edit
I still might just stick with 1k ballast just to keep it simple

the grower is more important than lights CFLs are the worst light use to plants but some growers do very well with them. it would 800 watts of high quality LEDs to match a 1000watt HPS the led generates 480 watts of heat considering the cost difference electrcity is cheap where I live so a a 1000 watt HPS would cost an extra$130/year run 23 hr/day 365 days a year

600w mh bulb is good for 4 plants in a 4x4x6?

MikeLife500 said:

So 2 600w ballasts can hook up to one hood? Also don't worry about 1kw mh bulb, 600w is enough for veg
Edit
I still might just stick with 1k ballast just to keep it simple

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There might be some hoods that can take in 2 bulbs, but i was thinking more about chaining two cooltubes together(or non air cooled reflectors) so that they are side by side. Do keep in mind that if your tent is in cool enough place, you might not need cooltubes. I know someone who used to pull 1g per W with 1kw HPS in 4x4 tent with umbrella reflector. And if you pull 1g per W, well you cant have any heat or other problems like that or that 1g per w would not be possible. But in my space, i could not use 600w without cooltube.

MikeLife500 said:

So 2 600w ballasts can hook up to one hood? Also don't worry about 1kw mh bulb, 600w is enough for veg
Edit
I still might just stick with 1k ballast just to keep it simple

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No. You would need 2 bulbs 2 hoods, 2 ballasts and you would have more heat from running 2- 600w than 1- 1000w. I know, I tried

Like you said. The 1kW is dimmable.
Get the 1k.

1- 600W is good for 3x3 flower. 1kW= 4x4.

.Smoke said:

Go at least 600w HPS if not 1kW.

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Do you think 2 x 400 In cool tubes would be Too much?

.Smoke said:

No. You would need 2 bulbs 2 hoods, 2 ballasts and you would have more heat from running 2- 600w than 1- 1000w. I know, I tried

Like you said. The 1kW is dimmable.
Get the 1k.

1- 600W is good for 3x3 flower. 1kW= 4x4.

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Appreciate it my guy. Im looking at bulbs now. I think I'm going vivosun ballast and vivosun bulbs

MikeLife500 said:

Appreciate it my guy. Im looking at bulbs now. I think I'm going vivosun ballast and vivosun bulbs

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For budget bulbs Omega make one of the best. (if they are available in your country)

You should be able to find some good bulb comparisons online.
There is a big difference between quality and cheap but some of the cheap ones are very close to the top branded ones.

.Smoke said:

Amazon.com : VIVOSUN Hydroponic 1000 Watt HPS Grow Light Air Cooled Reflector Kit - Easy to Set up, High Stability & Compatibility (Enhanced Version) : Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com : VIVOSUN Hydroponic 1000 Watt HPS Grow Light Air Cooled Reflector Kit - Easy to Set up, High Stability & Compatibility (Enhanced Version) : Garden & Outdoor

www.amazon.com

No MH bulb so add another $40, but Vivosun and Ipower are interchangeable quality wise.
Same thing minor differences.
Edit...I have both btw.
Both ballasts that is...

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How long you're vivosun ballasts last you for?

MikeLife500 said:

600w mh bulb is good for 4 plants in a 4x4x6?

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You need to stop thinking "Plants" and think "Area" or "Square Feet"
# of plants only comes into play when talking technique or legalities

I sure wish a all the people buying these cheap ass China Bulbs would just stop. It's giving HPS a bad name, Just like Mars Hydro or Viparspectra on the LED Side

Is $61 too much to pay for a top of the line lamp? The USHIO Opti Red 1000W 2.1umole Single Ended paired with a remote DE ballast is the Big Dick on the block in my opinion for those wanting to continue with air cooled hoods

MikeLife500 said:

How long you're vivosun ballasts last you for?

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Been running over a year now no issues at all.

Dirk8==D~Diggler said:

Do you think 2 x 400 In cool tubes would be Too much?

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To much? No
In a 4x4 that gives you 50w/sq.ft. which is the minimum I would run for flowering.
50w/sq.ft 100% covers what you need, but I tend to like to over do things