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| Lighting: |
| What kind of HID lighting do I need? |
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| General Information on Lights |
Metal Halide lamps, Mercury Vapor lamps and High Pressure Sodium lamps all belong to the H.I.D. (High Intensity Discharge) family of lights. Metal Halide and High Pressure
Sodium lamps are used for garden lighting because of their high light output per watt, and the spectral distribution of their light. Mercury Vapor lamps are NOT used for
horticultural purposes due to their poor spectral distribution (useless for plant growth). Following are the various types of lamps that we sell.
Metal Halide / Daylight / MS Lamps
These lamps emphasize the blue / green spectrum to promote vegetative growth. If you have little or no sunlight available these are the systems to use. MS lamps contain a
30% boost over standard Metal Halide lamps in the red/orange spectrum and more lumens per watt than standard Metal Halide lamps. The Super Son Agro (Daylight) bulb is
very high in blue spectrum and also high in red/yellow. This makes it an excellent light source for propagation and for supplementing HPS lamps.
High-Pressure Sodium/ Son Agro lamps
These lamps are primarily red/yellow in spectrum. These are the best lamps available for use in conjunction with natural sunlight. High-Pressure Sodium lamps promote
budding and flowering in plants. The Son Agro lamps emit 30% more blue spectrum than standard High-Pressure Sodium lamps, thereby reducing inter-nodular elongation of
plants. Son Agro lamps are the choice for most professional growers because they are very efficient and contain a balanced spectrum for all stages of growth.
Conversion Bulbs(There are two types):
1. Sodium bulbs which run on Halide ballasts - available for most systems.
2. Halide bulbs which run on Sodium ballasts - available for 400 or 1000 watt systems only.
A conversion bulb lets you tailor the light source to the growth stage of the plant merely by changing lamps.
Flourescent Lamps
These lights are perfect for starts and seedlings. They are generally a poor light source for production growth and flowering because of their low lumen output, although they
may be used in some instances for small scale systems with low growing plants, ie: lettuce, basils, etc. Plant growth will not be as rapid as under HID lighting due to lower
light levels.
Click here for a hydroponic light chart showing the dimensions that each light system will cover
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