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lighting grow lights

S

spoofmanbob

looking to start growing some peppers and tomatoes indoors this winter. Whats the goto lighting used? I haven't decided on what type so give me what you guys have used and found to work.
 
Thanks much, just found this forum and its pretty awesome.
 
Both full production indoors so I don't go crazy during the winter and then some seedling starts as spring nears again.
 
I have a 8ft x 4ft table i'm going to setup on in the basement and plan on getting one of those 3-4 shelf racks for seedlings and random storage.
 
my space is 6ft x 3ft, see here: http://thehotpepper.com/topic/56170-keeping-insects-out-indoor-grow/?p=1201578
 
I have a single 400w Apollo dim-able ballast and chepo wing reflector; it's currently running a Metal Halide bulb at 75% power. This thing is super bright, maybe too much so for my 3-4" seedlings! Got this brand new on ebay for $95 shipped, the whole kit (hanging cord system, reflector, digital ballast and MH bulb).
 
On the seed starting side (right side of grow area in pic) there is a 2 ft 4 bulb T5 HO florescent fixture I got from Amazon for $55 shipped, this included bulbs.
This light seems to work really nice for starting seeds but 15-20 solo cups is maximum for a 2ft fixture since I like to have the fixture about 1" above the plant. I had a single 5 gal jalapeno under this light for several months and it did OK, about 15 pods but has since been kicked outside, see above pic.
 
When my seedlings get potted up to 5gal buckets, I plan on removing the T5 fixture on the right and buying another identical 400w HID setup; just with a HPS bulb.
So, I'll have a total of 800w of light from 2 HID ballast, one with MH bulb, the other with HPS. This should give me nice spectrum coverage. 
 
For the a $200 price, and considering 3 peppers, 7 tomatoes I wanted plenty of light; hopefully the 800w HID will deliver.
 
I would recommend HID due to cost of purchase and how much light they can emit.
I'm also thinking that come December, January the heat generated by an HID will help to warm my basement grow area when it's 0 deg. outside.
 
But, I am a complete newb, I'm just starting so I could be totally wrong; time will tell.
 
spoofmanbob said:
This must be what you have; http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apollo-Horticulture-400-Watt-MH-HPS-Grow-Light-System-Set-Kit-for-Plant-Growing-/191055700117?var=&hash=item2c7bcea095
Click to expand...
 
Exactly, just with MH bulb.
 
I've had it running since July 24th, so far no problems.
I'm trying to be realistic though, I'm sure it's a Chinese piece of junk and will eventually crap out, but then again, for the time-being its SUPER bright/cheap.
 
Edit: one other thing
I read several posts online about how cheap ballast emit RF noise, I'll throw my .02 cents in here.
-My house has about 9,000 ft of shielded and unshielded Cat6, Cat6a and Coax cabling that I ran myself
-1 room away from where I have the ballast hanging I have various servers, switches and networking devices; no negative effects on any of the gear so far
-All TV signal in the house is routed through a pair of Cat6 cables then into HDMI wall plates; no negative effects noticed
-Telco/TV providers have not knocked on my door claiming my house is an RF hotzone
-I actually hope the DEA kicks my door in, they will find nothing illegal, then I can sue them for harassment.
 
So, I would not buy into the RF issues that are very commonplace around the net. I would say a lot of the mis-information is marketing generated, in an attempt to heard people toward a certain manufacturer's ballast. It also could be from paranoid posters who are trying to hide their operation.
 
spoofmanbob said:
Both full production indoors so I don't go crazy during the winter and then some seedling starts as spring nears again.
 
I have a 8ft x 4ft table i'm going to setup on in the basement and plan on getting one of those 3-4 shelf racks for seedlings and random storage.
Click to expand...
well 2x t8 2 bulb fixtures will run you 40$ per shelf  (see here)
or you can just wire up some CFLS (see here)
i'm testing out led strip lights which are cheaper, but not ready to recommend them yet as just started with them.
 
For production i would advise
leds from mars hydro or blackstar on ebay (see here)
or HID setup with cdm bulb ( see here ) 
 
RF was an issue but I believe most manufacturers provide some type of shielding now. There used to be a very simple way of using a radio to detect from a few hundred yards. There are many anecdotal claims of visits from cable men or the odd hobby radio operator, mostly in cases with over a dozen ballasts.

HID, MH or HPS, is still your best bet and the newer T5 panels work well to a point. LED and CMH are better tech but much pricier.
 
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