Hid???

[jasosebee]

are there any hid lights that dont require ballasts?
maybe like a 100 watter or something like that?

 

[jasosebee]

if there arent any which i dont think there are but i wasnt sure.
how many cfls and what watts would you all recomend for a sog of around 15 ladies grown dwc?

i know ive probly asked a couple of no brainers so i want to thank everyone for there replys and being patient with a beginner lol.
so thanks everyone......

 

[jasosebee]

oops forgot the room size its about 41/2ft wide and comes out around 31/2ft.

 

[Growdude]

Why not use the HID lighting? The ballast is no big deal.
CFL's will not produce the buds you want.

 

[holdmyown]

u need a ballast, a whole lotta cfls

 

[smokybear]

I would just get at least a 400 watt hps for that setup. A 600 watt would probably be better for that area and the amount of plants you want to grow. Your results will be MUCH better than if you use cfls. Just my thoughts. Take care and be safe.

 

[Afrikaaner]

HID lighting, even with the ballast, tends to be a smaller initial investment than the bunch of CFL's and all the sockets, cords, etc you are going to need to get to set it up properly. Plus, the light emitted by HID lighting does not degrade as severely over distance (better penetration to lower leaves) as CFL's. However, if you are set on going with CFL's (since to the best of my knowledge no ballast free HID lighting exists), then just keep in mind you want at least 2500 lumens per square foot (more realistically if you want a decent harvest), ideally 5000-10,000 lumens/sqfoot. Keep that in mind when you are deciding what you want to do.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

What is the problem with a ballast?

While you can successfully veg your girls with fluoros or cfls, IMHO, the only way to flower is under a HPS.

 

[james25]

i'm with the others on this, i use a 125w cfl for my clones and seedlings, they love the flo's but for vegging and flower there is nothing compared to hid's in my opinion...although led's are new they may in the future improve enough techwise to compete

 

[jasosebee]

ok thanks everyone i have my seedlings under two 4 foot 80 watt t12's and a 18 inch 30watt fluro grow tube tube.

my main concern with the hid lighting was cost but as someone pointed out it will probly run me somewhere around the same to buy all the cfls and fixtures etc it would be the same as buyin a hps kit.

i guess i'll just keep my ladies in veg until i get the hps.
thanks everyone

are my veg lights good enough? i plan on keeping 4 mother plants under them

 

[sweetnug]

You can get an hps setup for very cheap if you look around. Look on e-bay they have very cheap set-ups. It will be better in the end and pay for itself.

 

[IRISH]

Hi, You can get a 400W HPS w/light, ballast, and batwing reflector for under $120 bones at HTG Supply.

 

[DLtoker]

Do remember, ever bulb has a ballast... It's just that some ballasts aren't huge like the HID ones we are all so familiar with.

Good call on going with an HID of some sort though. :aok:

 

[jasosebee]

does this have everything i need with it says its only 95 bucks
thanks for the link to htg banjo thats where this is

http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=53168

 

[DLtoker]

That one will do the trick alright... The only thing is, the ballast is built into that fixture so more heat will be in your room. Having a fixture with a removed ballast allows you to put the ballast out of the room, therefore, less heat being released into the grow area.

 

[IRISH]

i got one complete w/55,000 lumens HPS, for 120. the ballast is not in the hood as this one is, so yeah that would put alot of x-tra heat in your grow room, what size is your grow rm.?

 

[Hick]

oops forgot the room size its about 41/2ft wide and comes out around 31/2ft.

looking at 'around' 14 sq ft +.. a "minimum" of a 600 w. hid.

 

[snuggles]

Yeah CFLs aren't going to cut it, they are great for small stealth but that's it IMO. I would look at a 600 watts at least. Spend the money get good bud, don't spend the money and you're just wasting your time.