Choose the right grow light
They come in many shapes and sizes, from tiny led modules to gigantic 1000w air cooled monsters, but before you decide which type or size of grow light you use you need to be informed on the positives and negatives of these lights and which one would suit your needs.
The most popular type of grow light is high intensity discharge lighting (HID) and these come with a choice of lamp for you to install, The metal halide (MH) and the high pressure sodium vapour (HPS). Both of these lamps have their uses, the metal halide lamp gives off light that has a lot of blue spectrum light in the output making it ideal for growing plants in their vegative stage because a plant in veg loves blue light. High pressure sodium vapour lamps on the other hand have a lot more red in the spectral output making it an ideal lamp for growing plants in their flowering phase because a flowering plant can not get enough red light!
There are draw backs to HID lighting however, they do generate quite a bit of heat, in fact too much heat for your plants to grow at an optimum level but this can be overcome by use of an extraction system. An extraction system usually consists of a high powered in line duct fan ( the size of which is dictated by how many lights you are using and the size of your room) a carbon filter (to clear extracted air of any pollutants) aluminium ducting and some clips. The extraction system pulls hot air away from your light and takes it away from your growing area/plants cooling it down to acceptable levels.
High intensity discharge lighting comes in several power choices usually 250w, 400w, 600w and 1000w versions. The most optimum choice of these is the 600w, having the most lumens per watt it is definately the best value for your money with a typical 600w sodium lamp giving out nearly 90,000 lumuns.
Switching these grow lights on and off can also throw up a few problems. Standard timers are not capable of doing this and will end up stuck in the on position leaving lights on all day which is no good. Specialist timers and contactors must be used in order to maintain a reliable lighting regime.
All in all the HID is still the best lighting option available on the market today, they are highly efficient grow lights that are fairly priced and do not cost too much to run either with a 600w costing around £6 a week to run depending on lighting schedule so what are you waiting for get one in your loft today!
The most popular type of grow light is high intensity discharge lighting (HID) and these come with a choice of lamp for you to install, The metal halide (MH) and the high pressure sodium vapour (HPS). Both of these lamps have their uses, the metal halide lamp gives off light that has a lot of blue spectrum light in the output making it ideal for growing plants in their vegative stage because a plant in veg loves blue light. High pressure sodium vapour lamps on the other hand have a lot more red in the spectral output making it an ideal lamp for growing plants in their flowering phase because a flowering plant can not get enough red light!
There are draw backs to HID lighting however, they do generate quite a bit of heat, in fact too much heat for your plants to grow at an optimum level but this can be overcome by use of an extraction system. An extraction system usually consists of a high powered in line duct fan ( the size of which is dictated by how many lights you are using and the size of your room) a carbon filter (to clear extracted air of any pollutants) aluminium ducting and some clips. The extraction system pulls hot air away from your light and takes it away from your growing area/plants cooling it down to acceptable levels.
High intensity discharge lighting comes in several power choices usually 250w, 400w, 600w and 1000w versions. The most optimum choice of these is the 600w, having the most lumens per watt it is definately the best value for your money with a typical 600w sodium lamp giving out nearly 90,000 lumuns.
Switching these grow lights on and off can also throw up a few problems. Standard timers are not capable of doing this and will end up stuck in the on position leaving lights on all day which is no good. Specialist timers and contactors must be used in order to maintain a reliable lighting regime.
All in all the HID is still the best lighting option available on the market today, they are highly efficient grow lights that are fairly priced and do not cost too much to run either with a 600w costing around £6 a week to run depending on lighting schedule so what are you waiting for get one in your loft today!