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indoor Growing Indoors

crazy8

crazy8

Ok so my brother inlaw hooked me up with a 250w (I think its a Sodium Halide bulb) light fixture. So since I have gotten this I have had a few questions.

1) He was using this to grow ***cough*** stuff and it doesnt have a huge ballast that came with it, its just the light itself. Can I just plug it into the wall as he did or do I need a ballast?

2)Since it is 250w ( I know 400 would be better but this was free), how many adult plants would this light be good for? I was thinking of using it to kick off some plants for next season but Im also interested in using it to over winter a few plants.

3)What kinds of bulbs work best in these fixtures?

4) Does anyone know where a very effective but affordable 400w might be purchased from?

Thanks for the help.
 
These types of lamps, like florescent lights are a type of electric arc through a gas, this is how they create light. Problem is, an Electric Arc is a very simple thing, so if you were to just plug one of these lights in without a ballast, one of two things could happen.

#1. Nothing at all, the ballast provides the initial HV spark to start the arc

#2. The arc is drawn and draws all the current available (which is alot) which instantly destroys the bulb and possibly trips the circuit breaker.

So in short, yes you need the ballast which starts the arc and most importantly, limits the current to the arc which is like a short circuit.

My adivice is to purchase the ballast or other bulbs online.
 
If your serious and want to do it right your going to need a ballast for that bulb and since your going to have to spend money on a ballast just get a 400 watt one. I got a 400 watt that does both MH and HPS bulbs in one unit. Has a nice switch on top that lets me choose. I got mine for around $23.00. However that will only get you so far. I then picked up a 1000 watt ballast and bulb to get some real growth. Although you can just grow outside in the sun I think my plants are getting twice as big twice as fast. Keep in mind my goal is to get plants around 3' tall with TONS of fruit.

Here is a nice link that explains how lights work in a lot of detail and what size and type of light you need for the stage of the plant. I'm following the chart exactly and I have plants that are huge and are less than 2 months old.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE
 
Now I do have the capacity to understand technical things but this is all new to me. So now if I get a 400w MH/HPS ballast does that allow me to use 400w in the fixture I have or does the fixture also need to support 400w. I know this is a stupid question because a house supports bulbs of varying wattage but ill never know unless I ask I guess.
 
crazy8 said:
if I get a 400w MH/HPS ballast does that allow me to use 400w in the fixture I have or does the fixture also need to support 400w.
Click to expand...

Hhaah I posted almost the same question before I got mine so don't worry about asking. Since one of the other members helped me out this will be my way of returning the favor. Pass it forward sort of.

I got a sunlight supply ballast and hood. Basically the connector is a standard connector that works with most hoods. It has 3 pronges, but they are not like a cord you plug into the wall.

The socket and cord are usually sold together. Depending on the hood it may come already mounted in the hood, but it may not. Here is what the socket and cord looks like.
SSSocketAssembly300.jpg


Here is a picture of the ballast where you plug the cord from the socket into.
SBMH400.jpg

Here is what they look like when they are together.

SSI_HORIZ_lg.jpg


I picked up a "cool tube" that is basically a tube based ballast and it had the exact same connection so it was just a matter of unplugging the bulb from one and putting it into the other so your not limited to just 1 manufacturer. If you need better pics let me know i'll take some when I get home, but I found those on the web.
 
Well I believe what I got is a Hydrofarm brand 250w hood. My brother in law for some reason must not have used the ballast since he didnt give me one. So I will try to see if I can find a 400w somewhere for a decent price. To my understanding thats all I need. Oh yeah and a 400w bulb of sorts to. Is there any kind ior brand you recommend that seem to work best as far as bulbs and ballasts go?
 
crazy8 said:
Well I believe what I got is a Hydrofarm brand 250w hood. My brother in law for some reason must not have used the ballast since he didnt give me one. So I will try to see if I can find a 400w somewhere for a decent price. To my understanding thats all I need. Oh yeah and a 400w bulb of sorts to. Is there any kind ior brand you recommend that seem to work best as far as bulbs and ballasts go?
Click to expand...

Not sure what your brother gave you, but if it's a hood made for a 250 watt bulb, it might not be big enough for a 400 watt bulb.

As far as the bulbs I use they are the eye hortilux series mainly because I want a full spectrum bulb that isn't limited in the wavelength of light the bulb gives off, but at the same times focus on the specific range needed for either vegatative or fruit growth. Plus the footprint of the 400 watt is a lot smaller around 4.5" wide and will fit in my tube where other lights are as big as 8" wide.

You should of course do the readings first and understand how lights work and the requirments of light. It's said tomatoes and peppers need 20-50 PPF daily known as the photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) or photosynthetic photon flux (PPF). Although peppers will grow with less, if your giving them enough or more then enough you will see amazing results. That's why I opted to go with 1000 watt bulbs after the plant reaches maturity so I can try and reach the PEAK fruit output of the plant if possible. We shall see, but I have noticed the plants that I left under the light are twice the size of the ones I put in the ground outside.
 
www.hydroponics.eu have very good prices. free delivery for orders over 150 euros if im correct. dont know the overseas-US shipping costs. but if the shipping price is low, then they are a good place to buy from. they have high quality digital ballasts and HID bulbs. that supposedly is even better than lumatek. i have a lumatek and they are very good.
 
For some repurposing, you can get lights reallllly cheap here:
http://www.e-conolight.com/Product/EFamily.asp

I'm a diy kinda guy, bust out a dremmel, some pc fans, tubing, and go to town man!

OR if you are really handy:
http://www.1000bulbs.com/Ballasts-Fluorescent-HID/
^^ and wire your own ballast. Just put it in a "project box". You can bend and rivit aluminium for the reflector, or buy a cool tube if you want that.

Grow lights are one of those things that you can save a huuuuge amount of money on by constructing it yourself, unless you don't know what you are doing, in which case, I think the price is cheaper than rebuilding your house. :P
 
Pita said:
For some repurposing, you can get lights reallllly cheap here:
http://www.e-conolight.com/Product/EFamily.asp

I'm a diy kinda guy, bust out a dremmel, some pc fans, tubing, and go to town man!

OR if you are really handy:
http://www.1000bulbs.com/Ballasts-Fluorescent-HID/
^^ and wire your own ballast. Just put it in a "project box". You can bend and rivit aluminium for the reflector, or buy a cool tube if you want that.

Grow lights are one of those things that you can save a huuuuge amount of money on by constructing it yourself, unless you don't know what you are doing, in which case, I think the price is cheaper than rebuilding your house. :P
Click to expand...

no matter what way you go, I believe its the HPS that needs a starter, but other than that, the ballasts are the exact same. Get the one with an ignitor, and wire in a bypass switch. That way you can run either a MH or a HPS bulb. Just a thought.

....I tend to get too creative for my own good, sorry :shocked:
 
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