Drug encyclopedia

Selecting a hydroponic system will need the consideration of the right grow light for your wishes. Metal Halide ( mh ) and / or High Pressure Sodium ( hps ) are the lighting systems you want to flower hydroponic marijuana.
Fluorescent and LED grow lights are excellent for the seedling / vegetative stages of expansion ( or as supplemental light when flourishing ) but at the current time, they won’t produce as big a crop as mh or hps grow lights during blooming. It’ll also take extra time for the plant to mature. Watch out for claims by fluorescent and LED grow light sellers that say their lights will preform as good as mh or hps lights.

The sole light I have seen that looked like it may battle with a four hundred watt mh or hps light was an LED light system that costed over $1000. A good four hundred watt mh or hps grow light can be bought for under $400. If LED technology improves and costs come down, LED grow lights might become a great choice of grow light in the future. But if you really are serious about growing marijuana now, mh or hps are the sole grow lights to think about, at least for ripening. The sun emits light energy that stretches over from the red to the blue end of the light range. So far as marijuana plants are concerned in spring-summer when plants begin to grow ( seedling and vegetative stages ) there’s more blue range energy, that ( along with long days ) promotes plant expansion.

In summer-fall when plants produce flowers, there’s more red range energy. The change in light ( and just as significantly shorter days ) cause hormones in plants to extend flower and THC production. Metal halide light fittings produce large quantities of blue range energy and are the best for vegetative ( beginning ) expansion.

The light produced looks similar to the ‘cool white’ fluorescent light found in colleges, offices, stores, and other serious traffic areas.

400 Watt HPS Grow Light. High pressure sodium light fittings produce big quantities of red range energy and are the best for blossoming ( later ) expansion. The light produced looks like the ‘warm’ incandescent lights found in houses, but has a deeper orange-red color. The street lamps in several towns are hps lights. What light should you get? In an ideal world both metal halide ( mh ) and high pressure sodium ( hps ) would be used during both the vegetative and ripening stages of expansion. For instance, a garden with fifteen plants or less could employ a two hundred and fifty watt hps and a 250 watt mh lighting fixture. A garden with twenty plants or less could employ a four hundred watt hps and a two hundred and fifty watt mh lighting fixture ( or two hundred and fifty watt hps and a four hundred watt mh ).
This is not necessarily possible because the price of 2 light fittings will be more that of a single fixture. 2 lights will also take up more space and might produce more heat than a single unit.
You can run 40 Hps light thru both stages of expansion ( ok ). 2. Mh light thru both stages of expansion ( ok ). 3. Run a mh light through the veg part of expansion followed by hps light thru blossoming ( superb ). 4.
Run both mh and hps light thru both stages of growth ( best ). When given the selection of just one light, most marijuana growers will select an hps grow light over mh, because hps lights are far more efficient ( bigger crop ).

You cannot employ a standard high pressure sodium bulb in a metal halide fixture, but you may use a metal halide bulb in a high pressure sodium fixture of the same wattage. There are special hps bulbs that may be used in a mh fixture and vice-versa. But these conversion bulbs cost about double the cost of the standard bulb.
When I started to grow, there had been only a four hundred watt high pressure sodium fixture available to grow with. A four hundred watt metal halide bulb was employed in that 400 watt high pressure sodium fixture in the vegetative stage. The light was on eighteen to twenty-four hours per day at this time. When the plants were prepared to start blossoming, the four hundred watt metal halide bulb got replaced with a 400 watt high pressure sodium bulb. In the blossoming phase the high pressure sodium light cycle was modified to twelve hours on and 12 hours off a day. Running a mh bulb in an hps fixture isn’t advised operating process, but it is doing work if the requirement should arise. If you can only afford a single fixture, get a high pressure sodium fixture with a high pressure sodium bulb and a metal halide bulb ( both bulbs rated for a similar wattage as your light fitting ). Use the metal halide bulb for vegetative expansion and the high pressure sodium for blossoming. When you have sufficient bucks, get a correct metal halide fixture. The list below gives an approximate idea of the area covered and how many marijuana plants can be grown with a certain wattage light system in a dark room. Any daylight you may give the plants will increase the amount of plants you can grow, and will help the plants grow quicker. The amount of plants in the list below is an approximate maximum number you can grow with varied wattage mh or hps grow light systems. It isn’t actual, but it should give you an idea of the area a grow light can cover, and the number of marijuana plants that may be grown in that area.
* A two hundred and fifty watt fixture will supply enough light to cover a 2.5 foot by 2.5 foot grow area.( six plants or less )
* A four hundred watt fixture will supply enough light to cover a four foot by four foot grow area.( twelve plants or less )
* A six hundred watt fixture will supply enough light to cover a five foot by five foot grow area.( 18 plants or less )
* a thousand watt fixture will supply enough light to cover a 6.5 foot by 6.5 foot grow area. ( thirty plants or less ) f

or the heat produced by a light system not to hurt the plant, a two hundred and fifty watt light system should be started eighteen to thirty inches above the tops of the plants, a four hundred watt light system should be started three to four feet above the tops of the plants, A six hundred watt light system should be started four to five feet above the tops of the plants, a thousand watt light system should be started five to six feet above the tops of the plants. The light should be dropped a few inches everyday till the light is as near as it can be without hurting the plant. You must figure out the best distance yourself as it will alter depending on bulb potency, quality of reflector, and other stuff. Whatever your light source, replace bulbs after six to twelve months of use. If the light is on twenty-four hours per day replace it after six months. If the light is on eighteen hours per day replace it after nine months. If the light is on twelve hours per day replace it after twelve months.

One note about replacement bulbs, they can be split into 3 categories : vertical, horizontal, universal. Vertical bulbs need to be used with fixtures in the vertical position. Horizontal bulbs need to be used with fixtures in the horizontal position. Universal bulbs may be employed in a horizontal or vertical position. If you are not sure what to buy, ensure you get a universal bulb. It’ll work in either kind of fixture. The standard ceiling is eight feet ( 96 inches ) from the floor, most hydroponic systems are on a platform that’s eighteen to thirty inches off the floor and the plant itself will generally be eighteen to 36 inches tall when entirely grown.

In most situations if your ceiling isn’t more than eight feet ( 96 inches ) from the floor, the biggest light system you need to get is 400-600 watts.
400-600 watt systems are employed by a large percentage of marijuana growers who are growing for private consumption. If you want more light, get two hundred and fifty, four hundred, or six hundred watt lights instead of one thousand watt lights. Experienced growers know the way to limit the height of a plant by making plants grow horizontally versus the natural vertical expansion marijuana plants follow. The 1st time grower should employ an one thousand watt light systems only in areas with ceiling heights of ten feet ( 120 inches ) or more.