cheap Indoor lighting options

[stevelau1911]

I wonder if a stronger light will yield even better results than placing my cfl only a few inches away from my plants. I would consider getting a 300watt metal halide to test out if I could get a good deal somewhere.

I do notice that being very close, nearly touching the light bulb produces noticeable results pretty quickly.

2 days ago


Same plant today-notice that it grew quite a bit and its stem turned darker.

[Lazlo Woodbine]

Mh bulbs usually come in 250, 400, 600 or 1000 watts. (at least they do in the UK) - a 400 would give you efficient light coverage over about 1m2.

Just make sure you keep the bulb at least 2-3ft away from those little ones steve ... you don't want to be frying them ...


Laz

[stevelau1911]

Does anyone have any experience with these 400+ watt high output light bulbs and find that they work better than average flourescents?

Based on how my plants look with the stem darkening and lack of etoliation, I don't think a strong light will make them grow that much better. I'm using a fairly cheap light. If they have the same light level as outdoors in May, these guys should be putting up their first shoots in about 2 weeks.

[Lazlo Woodbine]

I've used both 400 and 600 for a few years .... very efficient - but not cheap to run!

to be honest for seedlings you're going to be fine with fluro's steve - if you're plants are bigger it might be worth considering HID' s. However you may have to consider some sort of heat extraction - especially if you're growing in a confined space.


Laz