# HelpHelp Me Rhonda !



## johnstreet (May 8, 2011)

Ok so I got an area about 6 feet wide and two feet deep and want to put about 6 plants in and need to buy HPS light.

Should I buy 2 500 watt ballasts and , so the light covers all the plants.
Instead of 1 1000 ballast.
Or what would ensure coverage?

Also I could save AC if i only had 3 plants.

So I would need a ballast , + bulb + reflectors?
Does the bulb wattage need to be the same as the ballast output?

I choose cost saving when I buy equipment but still need all the tips so I buy the right stuff and get primo results.

120 or dual 120. 240.. What Brand. Can I make my own reflector (out of what?).

Tips please, my store has a 500 wat ballast for about $250. But the Quality may be low as they dont mention the details.


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## The Hemp Goddess (May 8, 2011)

For a space that size and shape, I would recommend 2 400W (I have never seen or heard of a 500W HID ballast).  Don't buy anything unless you know the details.  Yes, you are going to need ballast, bulb and reflectors.  For a space that small, I highly recommend air coolable reflectors.The wattage of the ballast and the bulb much match (in general--there are a couple of specially made ballasts that use different wattage bulbs--I do not see the advantage to this).  Plus, unless you have an electronic ballast or conversion bulbs, HPS ballasts will only run HPS bulbs, MH ballasts will only run MH bulbs.  You may find a better buy on lighting online.  Are you in the US?

You are going to need ventilation.  This will require a decent quality centrifuge type fan that can exhaust hot air from your lights and space.  You also need an oscillating fan to move the air around.  Most of us use passive intakes.

You can only save A/C if you have less light--less plants does not mean less heat.  Light is also figured by the sq footage of your space, not how many plants you have.


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## Ranek Icewalker (May 8, 2011)

Listen to THG she knows her stuff.

One thing, dont try to cut corners on spending at this point, you will most likely end up buying a bunch of stuff trying to save a few bucks that you will need to replace later, do your research and spend the little bit of extra money, you will save in the long run.


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## johnstreet (May 9, 2011)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> For a space that size and shape, I would recommend 2 400W (I have never seen or heard of a 500W HID ballast).  Don't buy anything unless you know the details.  Yes, you are going to need ballast, bulb and reflectors.  For a space that small, I highly recommend air coolable reflectors.The wattage of the ballast and the bulb much match (in general--there are a couple of specially made ballasts that use different wattage bulbs--I do not see the advantage to this).  Plus, unless you have an electronic ballast or conversion bulbs, HPS ballasts will only run HPS bulbs, MH ballasts will only run MH bulbs.  You may find a better buy on lighting online.  Are you in the US?
> 
> You are going to need ventilation.  This will require a decent quality centrifuge type fan that can exhaust hot air from your lights and space.  You also need an oscillating fan to move the air around.  Most of us use passive intakes.
> 
> You can only save A/C if you have less light--less plants does not mean less heat.  Light is also figured by the sq footage of your space, not how many plants you have.


 
I am in Canada, spring is still trying to spring here.. very cold except a few nice afternoons in the summer! If its not raining! I can get it exhausted but need to figure out the right pattern for arranging my plants to get them all under the lights.

Maby a circle arrangement of 3 plants under one light and another 3 under another. How many plants can  arrange under 1 light? I can reduce my space as needed with a partition to save on the heat bill. The plant arrangement to get the most under one light successfully is my goal. What is the lowest watt ballast of HPS while achieving success? I would prefer to go with one or two of the 400 ballasts but want to ensure they are going to be enough watts for my groupings. The ballast I mentioned was a 600 watt , but $300 + reflector +bulb. The 400 wat ballasts are about 250 + reflector and +bulb.


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## The Hemp Goddess (May 9, 2011)

Arranging your plants under the light is simple--just group them however is best for now--it truly is not going to make any difference if they are all getting light.

Amazon has a 400W digi ballast with a cooltube and HPS bulb for under $150 with free shipping--the 600W is under $200.  Many vendors will ship to Canada--you should check this out.

With a long narrow space, you are better off with 2 lights rather than just one.  Otherwise the ends of the closets do not get proper light.  I run 2 600W in a 3 x 6.5 space.  I used to run a single 1000W, but even with that, the coverage at the ends of the closets was not good.  If you are only going to use one light, I would get the space down to 4' or so smaller and get a 400W.  You are also going to NEED an exhaust fan to cool any HID light. 

More plants do not mean more yield.  I would recommend no more than 4 plants in your space if you decide to keep it at 2 x 6.


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## johnstreet (May 10, 2011)

I am trying to find the tape measure rightnow to get the exact size of the space and maby I will have to increase the space to get a good grouping of plants. I will make it out of 2x4 and brackets.

I usually get my lights from garage sales though! 

A good picture of the accepable amount of plants under 1 light and space needed  would be great. So 3x3 is the best or 3 x6?



			
				The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> Arranging your plants under the light is simple--just group them however is best for now--it truly is not going to make any difference if they are all getting light.
> 
> Amazon has a 400W digi ballast with a cooltube and HPS bulb for under $150 with free shipping--the 600W is under $200.  Many vendors will ship to Canada--you should check this out.
> 
> ...


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## Roddy (May 10, 2011)

In a 3'x3' room, I would only be able to grow one plant....but I grow large. Regardless, that's a small room which will likely leave you wanting more room very soon!


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## johnstreet (May 11, 2011)

I've got two plants in a 30" x 25" cabinet and they are done growing and only use about 25" wide and 20 " deep . I am waiting for them to finish flowering its been 8 weeks but they were delayed so not been an expert I am still waiting.

So I figure in order to keep heat costs down a small space is good but to get the right size for a 600 watt hps coverage.

3x3 should be fine.

I would like to see the reality of the  lights coverage ..pictures of actual minimum sizes required.sinc 

I want about 6 plants in the smallest space needed. But since I am new to the game , i am not sure and may be waisting some bucks while I get it right.


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## dman1234 (May 11, 2011)

Hey John, im in Canada also, you can get a 600 watt digital ballast, with reflector and 2 bulbs for just under 200 bucks on ebay, look around and you can get a cooltube for just a little more.

start here, change XX to TT

hXXp://cgi.ebay.ca/600-Watt-Ballast-600W-Hydro-Grow-Light-Kit-HPS-MH-/250650102701?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item3a5be90bad


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## Locked (May 11, 2011)

EBay has the deals....just make sure to do a lil research on the seller first....there are asshats out there trying to pass off crap. Some hydro shops also run an eBay site...especially a lot of the Cali hydro shops. I usually go with those.


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## johnstreet (May 12, 2011)

dman1234 said:
			
		

> Hey John, im in Canada also, you can get a 600 watt digital ballast, with reflector and 2 bulbs for just under 200 bucks on ebay, look around and you can get a cooltube for just a little more.
> 
> start here, change XX to TT
> 
> hXXp://cgi.ebay.ca/600-Watt-Ballast-600W-Hydro-Grow-Light-Kit-HPS-MH-/250650102701?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item3a5be90bad


 
Ya they have some nice stuff but its hard for me to understand what one is junk. Thats where Ill get taken for a ride. 175 with the hood and bulb???? for  a 600 hps?

There is one intown here for 300 without hood or bulb, very expensive. I just wish there was a known favourite that is guaranteed at the ebay price. It says quiet and cutoff circuitry that could be for me if I overdraw my plugin. If theres away to know a goodlight on ebay , show me it.


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## The Hemp Goddess (May 12, 2011)

johnstreet said:
			
		

> ...,.I would like to see the reality of the  lights coverage ..pictures of actual minimum sizes required.sinc
> 
> I want about 6 plants in the smallest space needed. But since I am new to the game , i am not sure and may be waisting some bucks while I get it right.



You want 5000 lumens per sq ft for flowering and 3000 lumens per sq ft for vegging.  Lumens will vary some depending on what brand of bulb you buy.

150W HPS--15,000 lumens--3 sq ft
250W HPS--28,000 lumens--5.6 sq ft
400W HPS--50,000 lumens--10 sq ft
600W HPS--90,000 lumens--16 sq ft
1000W HPS--150,000 lumens--30 sq ft

Why six plants?  You can grow lots of little tiny plants or just a few big plants.  Yield is more a function of your light than the amount of plants you have.


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## johnstreet (Jul 4, 2011)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> You want 5000 lumens per sq ft for flowering and 3000 lumens per sq ft for vegging.  Lumens will vary some depending on what brand of bulb you buy.
> 
> 150W HPS--15,000 lumens--3 sq ft
> 250W HPS--28,000 lumens--5.6 sq ft
> ...


 
Well lady you see I want to smoke alot, and I am only getting about 1oz yld per plant, so far. So I figure at 6oz's thats 6 plants.

HPS lights are so expensive , is there an alternate CFL and incandescent wattage mix of bulbs that would be as good or ONLY HPS for good results. I've heard of LED lights but I really dont think that I a beginner would be able to use them, if anybody can.

Its about 600 bucks here for a 600 watt lumatech, reflector and bulb. So I could spend quite a bit on cfl and incandescent bulbs and we have a home depot with alot of hardware.


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## dman1234 (Jul 4, 2011)

John, im in Canada, i order 600 watt cooltubes with ballast and 2 bulbs for $200 bucks on ebay, you dont need to pay $600 unless you want 3 of them.

go with HPS and you may see 2-3 ounces or more per plant instead of one, JMO.


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## dman1234 (Jul 4, 2011)

This one is $228 but its free shipping.

its a 600 watt cooltube with switchable ballast and comes with HPS and MH bulbs.

hXXp://cgi.ebay.ca/600-Watt-Ballast-600W-Cooltube-Grow-Light-HPS-MH-/250767262838?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item3a62e4c476

it will pay for itself in one harvest.


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## Roddy (Jul 5, 2011)

hXXp://www.virtualsunhydroponics.com/Agricultural/nav/grow-lights/kits.asp


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## dman1234 (Jul 5, 2011)

Hey Roddy, thats a pretty cool site, have you or anyone else ever tried their bubble bags? 

Im due for a new set and they are cheap.


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## Menimeth (Jul 5, 2011)

I picked up two 400w mh/hps ultra-lumnex lights w/ electronic ballasts, wing type reflectors, one each 400w mh/hps bulbs per light, yo yo hangers, and a timer with each light for $284.00 from Amazon.com. Get the one with the cool tube and you will pay around 30 to 40 more for each, but that is still cheap. They are great lights and just right for my two 3x3 spaces.


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## Roddy (Jul 5, 2011)

dman1234 said:
			
		

> Hey Roddy, thats a pretty cool site, have you or anyone else ever tried their bubble bags?
> 
> Im due for a new set and they are cheap.



Not tried the bags, but have purchased from the site....


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## johnstreet (Jul 5, 2011)

dman1234 said:
			
		

> John, im in Canada, i order 600 watt cooltubes with ballast and 2 bulbs for $200 bucks on ebay, you dont need to pay $600 unless you want 3 of them.
> 
> go with HPS and you may see 2-3 ounces or more per plant instead of one, JMO.


 
Well I'll check on ebay for the cooltubes , what I see is the cooltube reflectors.

You are saying there is a "cooltube bulb" that is not HPS or MH.

I have ungrounded electricity through a GFCI , so its a cheater plugin that may not work well. I suspect I may need the better ballasts to adapt to fluctuations or I may damage bulbs. Not sure but I have heard HPS bulbs are very fragile to power fluctuations.


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## Roddy (Jul 6, 2011)

You lost me with better ballasts....not sure the ballast will matter?


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