R
RubyWaves
- 23
- 3
INDOOR LIGHTING FOR FIRST TIME GROW.
So I Wasn't Going To Touch On This Topic But Since Everyone Is Wasting So Much Money On Lighting And All The Phony Gimmicks That Go With It These Days, That I Will For Those Who Actually Want To Know More About What Lighting Is Really About.
Here's A Few Basic Guidelines.
+ *Hortilux Is The Bulb Brand Of Choice. Get The Regular Ol' Hortilux.
+Stick With HPS And MH Bulbs. No Need To Play Games With Other "Full Spectrum" Lighting Or Whatever The Dealers Are Pushing These Days. It's A Waste Of Time And Money.
+Use Old School Magnetic Ballasts. The Real Heavy Ones. They Are Cheap, Easily Reparable, Recyclable, And Last For Decades.
.+Pot Plants Will Grow And Flower Under Either HPS Or MH Or Combination Of Both.
Now,
1. If You Were To Have Asked Ed Rosenthal About Indoor Lighting Years Ago When He Was Running His Column In High Times You Would Have Gotten A Response Somewhat Like The Following.......
a. MH Blue Light Are Best Used For Mother Plants And Plants That Have A Longer Vegetative Cycle. That Is 6 to 8 Weeks Or More. There Is No Need For MH In Short Indoor Growing Schedules.
Now Read That Again.....
According To Ed And After Years Of Experimenting Myself I Found Him To Be Correct.
***You Do Not Need A MH Bulb For Short Indoor Grows.
(....there are a lot of reasons why Ed teaches this, both scientific and practical. One is that plants barely have time to get accustomed to the Blue MH light in a short vege cycle before they get put into the Red HPS light flower stage anyway.....)
b. HPS Bulbs Vary In Light Spectrum. The Trend Being That The Smaller The Wattage (400w, 600w and 1000w) The More RED Spectrum Is Delivered. So The Most RED Light You Can Get Will Be From 400w Bulbs. This RED Is What Will Give Plants The Most Potent Sticky Juiciest Buds. Although For Bigger Buds You Will Want To Use More Light. So There A Trade Off.
If Money Isn't An Issue (AND YOU HAVE THE ELECTRICAL CAPACITY IN YOUR HOUSE) Then A Combo Of 2 (Two) 600w or 3 (Three) 400w Bulbs Would Be The Basic Idea. If Heat And Space Are Not An Issue But Money Is Then A Single 1000w Bulb Will Do Awesome For An Entire Cycle.
c. So Go With What Your Grow Space And Budget Call For. And Know That You Only Need One Bulb For An Entire Grow Cycle. Vege Through Flower.
Generally:
-A Real Small Space= 400w HPS For 8 to 12 sq. ft
-A Small Space=600w HPS For 12 to 16 sq. ft.
-For Medium Space=1000w HPS Or Combo Of Lights For 16 to 25 sq. ft. Or More.
Another Benefit Of Smaller Bulbs Is That They Produce Less Heat. Trust Me When I Say That Excess Heat Can Pose A Very Big Problem For Plant Growth. Too Much Heat Will Wreck Your Crop Before It Even Gets Into Flower!!
Now, Over 25 Years I Have Flowered And Veged With All Lights In All Ways And The Results Do Differ With The Exact Same Clones From The Same Mother Plant. But Overall, The Greatest Indoor Buds I Have Ever Seen Were Fully Grown With 400w and 600w Hortilux Bulbs.
P.S.
For Fun Try Flowering With A 1000w MH Sometime. You May Be Pleasantly Surprised.
So I Wasn't Going To Touch On This Topic But Since Everyone Is Wasting So Much Money On Lighting And All The Phony Gimmicks That Go With It These Days, That I Will For Those Who Actually Want To Know More About What Lighting Is Really About.
Here's A Few Basic Guidelines.
+ *Hortilux Is The Bulb Brand Of Choice. Get The Regular Ol' Hortilux.
+Stick With HPS And MH Bulbs. No Need To Play Games With Other "Full Spectrum" Lighting Or Whatever The Dealers Are Pushing These Days. It's A Waste Of Time And Money.
+Use Old School Magnetic Ballasts. The Real Heavy Ones. They Are Cheap, Easily Reparable, Recyclable, And Last For Decades.
.+Pot Plants Will Grow And Flower Under Either HPS Or MH Or Combination Of Both.
Now,
1. If You Were To Have Asked Ed Rosenthal About Indoor Lighting Years Ago When He Was Running His Column In High Times You Would Have Gotten A Response Somewhat Like The Following.......
a. MH Blue Light Are Best Used For Mother Plants And Plants That Have A Longer Vegetative Cycle. That Is 6 to 8 Weeks Or More. There Is No Need For MH In Short Indoor Growing Schedules.
Now Read That Again.....
According To Ed And After Years Of Experimenting Myself I Found Him To Be Correct.
***You Do Not Need A MH Bulb For Short Indoor Grows.
(....there are a lot of reasons why Ed teaches this, both scientific and practical. One is that plants barely have time to get accustomed to the Blue MH light in a short vege cycle before they get put into the Red HPS light flower stage anyway.....)
b. HPS Bulbs Vary In Light Spectrum. The Trend Being That The Smaller The Wattage (400w, 600w and 1000w) The More RED Spectrum Is Delivered. So The Most RED Light You Can Get Will Be From 400w Bulbs. This RED Is What Will Give Plants The Most Potent Sticky Juiciest Buds. Although For Bigger Buds You Will Want To Use More Light. So There A Trade Off.
If Money Isn't An Issue (AND YOU HAVE THE ELECTRICAL CAPACITY IN YOUR HOUSE) Then A Combo Of 2 (Two) 600w or 3 (Three) 400w Bulbs Would Be The Basic Idea. If Heat And Space Are Not An Issue But Money Is Then A Single 1000w Bulb Will Do Awesome For An Entire Cycle.
c. So Go With What Your Grow Space And Budget Call For. And Know That You Only Need One Bulb For An Entire Grow Cycle. Vege Through Flower.
Generally:
-A Real Small Space= 400w HPS For 8 to 12 sq. ft
-A Small Space=600w HPS For 12 to 16 sq. ft.
-For Medium Space=1000w HPS Or Combo Of Lights For 16 to 25 sq. ft. Or More.
Another Benefit Of Smaller Bulbs Is That They Produce Less Heat. Trust Me When I Say That Excess Heat Can Pose A Very Big Problem For Plant Growth. Too Much Heat Will Wreck Your Crop Before It Even Gets Into Flower!!
Now, Over 25 Years I Have Flowered And Veged With All Lights In All Ways And The Results Do Differ With The Exact Same Clones From The Same Mother Plant. But Overall, The Greatest Indoor Buds I Have Ever Seen Were Fully Grown With 400w and 600w Hortilux Bulbs.
P.S.
For Fun Try Flowering With A 1000w MH Sometime. You May Be Pleasantly Surprised.
