For lack of a better place to ask

StonerJ said:
I think you're laboring under a great deal of misinformation. My 400W HID costs $24.73/mo to run based upon $0.10/kwh running 18/6 during veg. $16.49/mo during 12/12 flowering. Far from $100/mo.

And only two bulbs are needed to cover the entire spectrum. An MH for blue spectrum in veg & an HPS for red spectrum in flowering. Or a CMH which covers both. And no "special" fixtures are needed. Switchable & dimmable systems are very common these days so a single fixture can handle the entire grow very inexpensively. You can buy fixtures for as low as $129 including bulb, ballast, and reflector. Damn near everywhere really. I recently purchased a 400W HydroFarm cooled reflector switchable MH/HPS system for $149. It came with your choice of MH or HPS bulb. It's in all my gallery pics. I use a 400W CMH bulb with it that cost $56. Nothing special about it. The CMH covers the entire growth spectrum. Even using just MH & HPS separately, one switchable system is all that's needed to cover the spectrum. You veg under MH, then switch the bulb to HPS for flowering. Simple as that. A single toggle switch changes the ballast to HPS from MH. At 50W per sq ft of required lighting, I can light an 8 sq ft garden. That's a lot of plants for me. i can't imagine needing more than one HID for growing in my home.

My grow space isn't even big enough to accommodate a fluoro fixture to drive 400W of T5's. Not to mention that the fixture cost for 8 T5's with reflector, etc will be well beyond the cost of the HID fixture unless i use multiple shop light fixtures, in which case i need to fabricate a reflector and use many more bulbs.

Just search for "HID grow lights". They're literally all over the internet. I can't post links because it is frowned upon to post non-sponsor links on this board. Google is your friend, but HID's are incredibly cheap these days.

No doubt that HID's can create heat issues but as long as you have good ventilation (which I do have and you need anyway regardless of lighting-plants need fresh moving air to avoid mold & pests, strengthen stalks, etc) you can deal with it. Tents present a unique situation in terms of handling heat & odors so not everybody growing in a tent wants HID's. But if you are not in a tent, then your ventilation capabilities hold the key.




Fluoros aren't new. People have been growing with them for years. I've used them before. But for the size plants I grow, fluoro just doesn't penetrate like HID does. That's just a fact. Again, just google the term "HID Grow Lights". They're everywhere. If I was allowed to post links I could show you at least a dozen hits for HID's complete w/ reflectors & ballast for under $150 in about 5 mins. And i certainly don't see how T5's offer a "far more controlled" spectrum of light than HID's. I've already got both red & blue spectrums covered in a single CMH bulb. And bulbs are certainly less than $60-$90 ea. My goodness, you can get 400W MH or HPS bulbs for less than $20 ea!

I don't know where you're getting your HID info from but wow, I think it's from about 10 years ago.
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Could be just the HID systems i am used to the prices in, which are ones made for use over a coral reef tank. But as far as my system goes, i have 8 sq ft inside my tent,it does have 3 vents but sadly i did not have enough to buy vent fans to go with it this time, and even once i do get vent fans, i cant have the heat from HID blowing out in my room, it stays about 78 in my room year round, and i would like to keep it that way lol.

I also have no option to vent the heat outside, so even if i thought hid was better, which i dont and that is based on personal experience with coral, which as i said are much more light sensitive than any plant is and every reef tank i have seen under t5 looks better and healthier than the ones i have seen under MH.
 
Hydroohio said:
Could be just the HID systems i am used to the prices in, which are ones made for use over a coral reef tank. But as far as my system goes, i have 8 sq ft inside my tent,it does have 3 vents but sadly i did not have enough to buy vent fans to go with it this time, and even once i do get vent fans, i cant have the heat from HID blowing out in my room, it stays about 78 in my room year round, and i would like to keep it that way lol.

I also have no option to vent the heat outside, so even if i thought hid was better, which i dont and that is based on personal experience with coral, which as i said are much more light sensitive than any plant is and every reef tank i have seen under t5 looks better and healthier than the ones i have seen under MH.
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Well heat is definitely a consideration as I mentioned above. And tents do pose an entirely different situation dependent upon your ventilation limitations in the surrounding room. I would use flouros as well if in the same situation (or possibly LED's dependent upon my budget).

Not surprised about your experience with fluoros compared to just an MH though. MH only provides blue spectrum and is best suited for vegetative growth. You still need red spectrum for flowering so you would use an HPS bulb for that. Or you can do as I am and use the CMH for full coverage.

Considering that this is an MJ forum, you will find numerous people growing with fluoros as well as some using LED's. I suspect however that most growers here use HID's and I don't see that changing anytime soon (unless LED's really drop in price).

:thumb:
 
StonerJ said:
Well heat is definitely a consideration as I mentioned above. And tents do pose an entirely different situation dependent upon your ventilation limitations in the surrounding room. I would use flouros as well if in the same situation (or possibly LED's dependent upon my budget).

Not surprised about your experience with fluoros compared to just an MH though. MH only provides blue spectrum and is best suited for vegetative growth. You still need red spectrum for flowering so you would use an HPS bulb for that. Or you can do as I am and use the CMH for full coverage.

Considering that this is an MJ forum, you will find numerous people growing with fluoros as well as some using LED's. I suspect however that most growers here use HID's and I don't see that changing anytime soon (unless LED's really drop in price).

:thumb:
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Oh i would LOVE an LED set up no doubt about that, but considering the ones that actually work well for growing are around 319 for a very small led and around 4000 for what i would need in my grow tent, that is way outta my price range unless i win the lotto lol.
 
If you still visit here..

Growing veg is very easy in hydro, the lighting is not that important. Ive grow chillies/peppers/tomatoes/''micro herbs''/spinach all very easy. I use rockwool slabs for herbs and blocks for heavy fruiting veg. I used 1 part organic nutes/boosters.

As for the light when i grow tomatoes/peppers under HID they overtake the garden and have to be removed early. You will get massive harvests but a few t5's over time will do just as well. herbs and greens dont even need HID light.

and for nutrients greens/herbs/leeks etc need ''grow'' nutrients and tomatoes/eggplant/chillies/peppers etc can use ''bloom'' nutrients from seed.


Personally I have started a ''Aquaponic'' farm in my backyard, I really like the idea of free fish and very little maintenance once established and no cost once filled (other then water and fish food).

Great thing to look into!

Good luck with feeding you family fine fresh veg!!
 
jimm14 said:
If you still visit here..

Growing veg is very easy in hydro, the lighting is not that important. Ive grow chillies/peppers/tomatoes/''micro herbs''/spinach all very easy. I use rockwool slabs for herbs and blocks for heavy fruiting veg. I used 1 part organic nutes/boosters.

As for the light when i grow tomatoes/peppers under HID they overtake the garden and have to be removed early. You will get massive harvests but a few t5's over time will do just as well. herbs and greens dont even need HID light.

and for nutrients greens/herbs/leeks etc need ''grow'' nutrients and tomatoes/eggplant/chillies/peppers etc can use ''bloom'' nutrients from seed.


Personally I have started a ''Aquaponic'' farm in my backyard, I really like the idea of free fish and very little maintenance once established and no cost once filled (other then water and fish food).

Great thing to look into!

Good luck with feeding you family fine fresh veg!!
Click to expand...

Thanks A lot for the info, I am using CFL bulbs as of now, and ill be honest, i am having heat issues with JUST CFL bulbs, so i highly doubt i could put HID in my tent without cooking everything or starting a fire. T5 and Vent fans are my next purchase for my tent for now i have a house fan blowing into the bottom vent to keep some fresh cooler air in the tent.

I would have to disagree about the lighting tho, i have tomatoes both in pots for outside and in the Hydro unit, and i seem to not have enough light for them, they are growing but VERY VERY VERY slowly and not nearly as well as they should be, they just dont look real healthy.
 
I don't worry about the res temps. I have a 110 liter per minute air pump that powers air into each reservoir (12 reservoirs). It provides enough O2 that the temps don't matter. Of course EXTREME temps like straight 100+ degrees nonstop would not be good but the temps get down to the upper 60's each night and the res cools down so its all good. The plants also shade the reservoirs. I have done this for years with no problems. A powerful air pump is the key. A good flush of the reservoirs with hydrogen peroxide solution will solve most pathogen problems if I develop any.
 
Summertime here with daytime temps in the 90's, evening temps in the 70's, and high humidity would make it very difficult to keep a reservoir below the mid 70's. I run a chiller maintaining 68 degrees in my closet grow and that keeps everything nice & stable. Just curious because it seems like if reservoir temps get too high, nothing else will be right.
 

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