Grow Light Knob Needs Advice

turbo

turbo

Hey everyone,
I've been growing peppers for the past 4 years, but only in the summer from starters at the nursery.  I've never tried starting seeds at home in the winter, but wanted to give it a go this year.  I figured it would be easy; buy some seeds, put them in dirt, get some lamp to shine on them, and presto, full grown pepper plants by late spring!
 
But the lamp part has been a huge source of frustration and confusion.  I know next to nothing about grow lights.  I set out to learn more, but the more I read the more questions I have.  I'm overwhelmed with abbreviations, scientific nomenclature, different bulb types, different light spectrums, what works, what doesn't, what is safe, what generates too much heat and will burn your house down if you use it wrong, blah, blah blah.
 
There seem to be 4 main types of grow lights: tube fluorescents, LEDs, high pressure sodium bulbs, and metal halide bulbs.  pros/cons?  Old school, new school?
 
The general rumor is that red and blue light spectrums are most important for good growth, but some say light spectrums don't matter for pepper plants.  Should I care light spectrums?
 
My main concern is the price point.  I don't think I can spend more than $100-$125 without seriously pissing off my wife.  Is there a reasonably good grow light setup I could find for this price?  I'm not a commercial grower and I'm not trying to fill an entire room with 100s of plants.  I'm thinking as the seeds grow and I trim out the smaller ones, I want to hit late spring with about 4-6 plants ready to put into the ground.
 
Any thoughts or pointers?
 
Thanks much,
John
 
John,
 
if you have only 4-5 plants you can start them off under t-5's and be ok. If you want something a little bigger, can go with 400 or 600 watt metal halide, all depends on your budget.
 
Magnetic  ballast are going to be cheaper than eletronic ballast for the mh and hps. THe hps, is really not need until flowering the stage,
 
I would go to Walmart go to the light section and grab two 4ft 2 bulb t8s they aren't the best but you can get two for under 50 and 3 for under 65 great price good for beginners low heat tons of light.
 
Joshuap2000 said:
Magnetic  ballast are going to be cheaper than eletronic ballast for the mh and hps. THe hps, is really not need until flowering the stage,
Click to expand...
You don't even need hps.. I have pods under mh right now. Peppers aren't like nugs and don't need the red light to grow. It's totally up to you what you use but why buy 2 bulbs if you only need one? Hell I bought both and the hps had never been out of the box.
 
Joshuap2000 said:
John,
 
if you have only 4-5 plants you can start them off under t-5's and be ok. If you want something a little bigger, can go with 400 or 600 watt metal halide, all depends on your budget.
 
Magnetic  ballast are going to be cheaper than eletronic ballast for the mh and hps. THe hps, is really not need until flowering the stage,
Click to expand...
 
I just want to clarify, since I'm a total beginner in this and don't know the abbreviations
 
T5 = Fluorescent Grow Lights?  Any idea why they are called T5? :)
mh = metal halide and hps = high pressure sodium?  Based on your last sentence, and what I've read about light spectrums and flowering, I assume that metal halide and high pressure sodium put out different light spectrums?  Is that correct?  So you would use mh for the growth stage?  And hps for the flowering and fruit stage?  If this is correct, than I would assume that mh bulbs emit in the red spectrum, and hps emit in the blue spectrum?
 
T5 is the diameter of the bulb same as in t8 and t12.
 
Im with nightshade. If you don't want to worry about burning the house down and to ease into to it id say for starting plants under$100 you can get a triple t8 or t5 and it will do you fine. it can always be used in the future to supplement other lights. Keep it close to the plants though, a few inches so they get the needed intensity.
 
you are right but mh=blue hps=red
 
Nightshade said:
I would go to Walmart go to the light section and grab two 4ft 2 bulb t8s they aren't the best but you can get two for under 50 and 3 for under 65 great price good for beginners low heat tons of light.
Click to expand...
This is no joke also! I have 6 of them..

4 are supporting these plants here with only 8 hours light a day.

CAM02263_zpsc7215aee.jpg


The plants were cut back toto the big Y's and all this here is new growth under them.

CAM02264_zpsfa559446.jpg


CAM02265_zps3d5091c6.jpg


Hell some are even flowering.. There's prolly not enough lumens to grow a pod but you can grow some nice plants with them for sure.
 
 
smileyguy697 said:
You don't even need hps.. I have pods under mh right now. Peppers aren't like nugs and don't need the red light to grow. It's totally up to you what you use but why buy 2 bulbs if you only need one? Hell I bought both and the hps had never been out of the box.
Click to expand...
Yes that is true, but working in the hydro store, I get about 90% asking me about the high value tomatoes crops, So its jsut what i am use to saying all the time,
 
Right peppers dont need both lights like some other stuff.
I thought if you had to get only one the HPS was the way to go but im probably wrong about that....for peppers...at least....
 
I think they say hps because per watt you get more lumens than from a mh.

With that said paying 120 for a hid for example will also probably see a 100 increase in your quarterly power bill. Those things aren't cheap to run. T5 or t8 would be my chosen path.
 
Nightshade said:
I would go to Walmart go to the light section and grab two 4ft 2 bulb t8s they aren't the best but you can get two for under 50 and 3 for under 65 great price good for beginners low heat tons of light.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads up about this. I went by walmart today and got 2 fixtures. And 3 different bulbs. 3000K 5000K and 6500K. Which would be the best for peppers? Just one kelvin type or mix and match?

Sorry for the thread hijack, im doing my first indoor grow this year too.
 
If you want to go with fluorescent but don't want to spend a lot of money, I would look into the hydrofarm 4ft / 4 tube setup.  I bought one a while back and really like it for the price.  I think they're around $118 on amazon and come with 4 bulbs in the 6400K range.
 
Apollo makes some decent HPS kits that come with both HPS and MH bulbs, a starter reflector, and dimmable ballast system for under $130 (400W).  iPower has some cheap kits as well, but they seem to be linked to bad RF issues which make them a no-go for me.  I personally haven't used an Apollo ballast but they seem to get good reviews, so YMMV. 
 
Hydrofarm 4ft / 4 bulb light
 
Apollo 400W HPS Kit
 
If you don't actually want to grow pods but just get plants ready for the summer I suggest T5s. More efficient than T8's and HID would really be overkill
 
Better in Grow Tech which reads as follows:
 
Discuss lights, heaters, irrigation systems, greenhouses, and DIY solutions. Show off your inventions!
 
willard3 said:
Better in Grow Tech which reads as follows:
 
Discuss lights, heaters, irrigation systems, greenhouses, and DIY solutions. Show off your inventions!
Click to expand...
 
Wow...thats funny.  I never even saw that forum!  Sorry about that :)
 
I went with the 2' 4 bulb t5 from htgsupply with two 6400k and 2 3000k and have been happy with it. Plants went from this.

To this. in a matter of weeks
 
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