What kind of lights should I use? Cheap 4 ft. cool white fluorescent tubes : for germination/seedlings. 400 - 600 watt Metal Halide/HPS : for personal home growers. watt halide/HPS : for some personal growers and commercial growers. Recommended to properly replicate the power of the sun. Use at least 40 watts per sq. foot of grow space.* Get lights online or at some local hardware stores or Hydroponics grow shop.The vast majority of our products are held in stock and you will be notified of any potential delay.
How long has Basement Lighting Hydroponics been established? Basement Lighting started trading in 1999. It became incorpated as Basement Lighting Limited in 2002.The optimal temperature of the nutrient solution should be in the range of 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Most of the fertilizers readily available are very general purpose mixes that do not work well for all types of plants.
What is the difference between High Pressure Sodium and Metal Halide? The difference between these two types of HID (High Intensity Discharge) lights is the color spectrum that is emitted from each. The High Pressure Sodium bulb emits light that is concentrated in the red to yellow side of the spectrum and is weak in the blue-violet end. While the Metal Halide bulb emits light that is very balanced and contains all the energy peaks at wavelengths of the visible spectrum.Quite often this is the case because the plants grown utilizing hydroponics have all the essential nutrients readily available to the plant. In soil the important micro nutrients are often locked away in the soil where the plants cannot take full advantage of these minerals.
What kind of lights should I use? Cheap 4 ft. cool white fluorescent tubes : for germination/seedlings. 400 - 600 watt Metal Halide/HPS : for personal home growers. watt halide/HPS : for some personal growers and commercial growers. Recommended to properly replicate the power of the sun. Use at least 40 watts per sq. foot of grow space.* Get lights online or at some local hardware stores or Hydroponics grow shop.
What size light should I purchase? The first thing you need to do is figure out what kind of square footage you are dealing with. Do not just figure for the whole room figure out what the plant area is that you need to cover and multiply length with width to get the square footage. Now, you will want to try and achieve at least 30 watts per square foot. So if you have a 4 x 4 area which is 16 square feet and you multiply by 30 watts, you get 480 watts. So for a 4 x 4 area you will need to use at least a 430 watt light.Almost any type of plant can be grown using hydroponics techniques. Some are just more delicate than others.
What about security when I pay by credit card? We use SSL technology combined with PGP encryption to ensure your details are safe. We also use AVS [Address Verification System] anti-fraud technology to protect ourselves and the public. The SSL is Thwate approved.The optimal temperature of the nutrient solution should be in the range of 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Most of the fertilizers readily available are very general purpose mixes that do not work well for all types of plants. The nutrients that we sell are made specifically for plants grown in hydroponics systems that utilize sterile growing mediums.
If grow lights – such as metal halide, high pressure sodium or even fluorescent lights - were connected directly to a power outlet, they would continue to draw greater and greater amounts of electric current until they burned up, exploded, or destroyed the power source. This is why a ballast is necessary. The ballast provides positive resistance which limits the flow of electricity to the lamp.
Traditionally, the ballasts used with grow lights have been similar to those found in old-time automotive ignition systems, i.e. a magnetic coil. The problem with these is that they were designed to build up a certain amount of electrical current required to operate the light; once this level was reached, the power would be delivered to the cold bulb all at once. This caused a great deal of wear on the bulb mechanism, shortening its useful life by a substantial degree.
The other problem involved “strobing," or flickering. This flickering is not normally perceived consciously by human eyes, but it does exist – and again, causes grow-light bulbs to be less efficient.
New digital ballasts address these problems. First of all, electrical current is not fired off to cold bulbs all at once; instead, these ballasts start off by sending low levels of current to the bulb, then increasing the amount as the bulb warms up (known as “soft starting"). Digital ballasts also provide a smooth, even flow of electrical current, unlike magnetic core ballasts which cycle. This eliminates the destructive strobing action that causes bulbs to wear prematurely.
Another great feature of the digital ballast is that it is “intelligent." Different types of grow lights have different power needs. In the past, it was necessary to have different ballasts for metal halide and HPS lamps, or at best, use a special (and often expensive) ballast that had a switch allowing one to change bulbs.
Today’s digital ballast is optimized to distinguish between different types of grow lights and adjust its output accordingly.
The result is that grow bulbs are effective over twice as long as those powered by a magnetic coil ballast.
This said, it should be noted that not all digital ballasts are created equal. These can vary tremendously in terms of quality and effectiveness. Some digital ballasts can actually harm your plants by delivering insufficient current to the bulb, limiting its ability to emit light.
On the other hand, whereas the performance of coil ballasts starts to degrade after about three years, digital ballasts do not.
If you are considering the purchase of a digital ballast, it is a good idea to do some comparison shopping, and be prepared to spend a bit extra; a new, but cheaply made imported digital ballast from China might be worse than even an old coil ballast made in the U.S.
Both Madison Rutherford & Susan Slobac are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Madison Rutherford has sinced written about articles on various topics from Gardening. . Madison Rutherford's top article generates over 720 views. to your Favourites.
Susan Slobac has sinced written about articles on various topics from Landscaping, Home Improvement and Home Management. As the owner of a hydroponics gardening store, Susan Slobac is intimately familiar with hydroponics grow systems and equipment. From digital ballast,. Susan Slobac's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.