Advice on best lighting system

[cannafreak]

Hi to everyone,

Im a total newbie, been doin alot of research the past week untill im 100% sure i can grow for the first time.

The ony thing i need help with is my lighting set up.

There are alot of options, i will post the links and it would be awesome if i could get some feedback/opinions from people as to which system will be best for me. I want the best possible lights i can get which i found out is a combo between Son Agro HPS and Hortilux HPS bulbs.

Im growing in soil, im only ever going to have 2 or 3 plants growing at one time. Im using a closet approx 5 feet high and 3'ish feet wide.
Will 400 watts be enough for this setup?

Here are the options:

Standard HPSinterchangable with MH bulbs)
400/600watt Dual Arc Digi Ballast
400watt HPS System
Lumatek 600watt Light Air Cooled
Hydrofarm Daystar AC HPS System w/400 Watt HPS Bulb

AGRO / Hortilux HPS setups: (the one i want!)
Hydrofarm Daystar HPS System w/430 Watt HPS Agro Bulb
Hydrofarm Sunburst HPS System w/ 400 Watt Hortilux Bulb(self contained ballast)


Ive heard that as long as wattage is the same you can change Agro HPS bulbs with Hortilux HPS bulbs on the same ballast. Can someone confirm if that is correct?

Sorry for all the writing, but im sure you were all where i am once and i really want to give my first try 150%!
Failure is not an option!


Thanks!

 

[bongoie]

Yes 400 will be enough for that size space , maybe to much . not intimate with the brands you mentioned . you might have heat problems with that low ceiling , have you thought of extraction
The tubes are interchangeable , the E40 screw is a standard fitting .

 

[cannafreak]

yah, im hoping 2 1-foot fans will do the trick and a small pipe for extraction, if i keep the AC on in the room that should act as a balancer for the air going in the closet, hopefully leveling over all temp inside the closet. But i will have to monitor with a temp and humidity gauge and probably test for the best way to stablilize temps in such a small space.

What is best temp for healthy growth?

BTW the options for lighting i posted at the top are links, if you have time would you mind havin a look an makin an educated guess?

 

[bens lab]

If i was putting a 400w in there i would probably get a 5 inch outake at least, (and 4" intake, although 4" fans are generally shit) heck even a 250w hps will probably need that. MH get even hotter. Whats the ambient temps like? if its hot where you live then you'll need serious extraction.

When the lights are on 22 - 28 C is fine, at lights off you dont want to go below 18C, there shouldnt be more than 10C difference between the two. i.e 18C lights off and 28C at lights on is on the limit. Most of the year its hot here so I run my lights at night only to get round this... like they come on at 7pm and off at 7am.

 

[cannafreak]

If i was putting a 400w in there i would probably get a 5 inch outake at least, (and 4" intake, although 4" fans are generally shit) heck even a 250w hps will probably need that. MH get even hotter. Whats the ambient temps like? if its hot where you live then you'll need serious extraction.

Its very hot where i live..probably hottest in the world..around 45C. But due to that all rooms are climate controlled with Air con, so effectively i can run room temp at whatever i want, give or take a few degree's.

Ok thats good advice, as long as i stay within a 10 degree difference from lights on to lights off i should be fine.

I will run my lights at night then, as room temps will still be effected by the immense outdoor heat.

So do you think climate control and fans will do the trick for "lights on" in the evening?

 

[bongoie]

Sorry bud i cant get the link's .
You did say best ..
if you blew through an air cooled hood/shade/tube , to cool the tube/bulb that would be the best for cooling helping the temps. extracting out of the grow area if possible .

Digital ballast give more lumens , i have read some can be unrelible tho . i run a 600W with cooltube on a carbon filter/scrubber , digital ballast . got an old coil ballast as back up .

Then you'd still want the extract to pull your cooled air through the growroom .
Loads of options
bens lab gave sound advice

My climate is the opposite of yours i have more problems heating and low temps . on the two days of summer we had hear i can report they dont like high temps

 

[Lazyman]

I would stay away from dual arc bulbs, very expensive and they put out a low amount of light. Also, don't use Hortilux Eye bulbs in any digital ballasts, Ushio and one other are ok, I forget the brand name though.

 

[bongoie]

Went at the links again and sucsess this time .
Look at this also
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias=garden&field-keywords=cooltube
It's whot i'm using , the cooltube . connected to an inline fan , not the best for light spread , but good for tight spaces like yours .
And theres a 5 year warranty on them lumatek ballests . Sounds good .
Best of luck with which ever system you go with .