Grow Lights: Let There Be Light

Let There Be Light

Marijuana Grow Lights

If there is one thing to say about marijuana, it’s that your bud loves light. More specifically, marijuana loves sunlight. That means that, if you want the best results from your indoor grow, you’re going to have to replicate actual sunlight as closely as possible with your chosen grow lights. It is ever-important to use your space wisely, utilizing tips to make the most of small grow rooms.

Grow Light

Choosing the right grow light for your cultivation is very important.

Enter your saviors, the metal halide (MH) and the high pressure sodium (HPS) grow lights. These two grow lights are known as high intensity discharge (HID) lights, and you can find many grow kits that come with one of each. For a small indoor grow, you will generally want 450 watt – 600 watt light bulbs. One 450w – 600w light bulb can reasonably grow 3 – 6 plants, so the more plants you intend to grow, the more lights you’ll need.

There are other lighting options available, including LED systems and compact fluorescent tubes, but a combination of MH and HPS lights beats the hell out of fluorescents, and a comparable LED system is usually 4 – 8 times more expensive.

Other Types of Grow Lights

HID lights such as the MH and HPS are huge energy-hogs, though. You will notice it on your power bill when you plug one in, although with the heat is produces you’ll probably be able to turn the thermostat down, so things might equal out. Unfortunately, sometimes your power company will notice too, and some companies will report ‘unusual usage’ to the police.

Grow Lights

Understanding different types of grow lights, and when to use them can help you become a more successful cultivator.

They type of light you choose to use is very important, because it has an effect on the way the marijuana is able to use nutrients. The reason you need the MH and the HPS is simple, though. The MH is superior for vegetative growth, since it produces light with more of the blue wavelengths, ideal for stem and leaf growth. When you are ready to induce flowering, it’s time to switch to the HPS bulb.

A HPS bulb is the best bulb to use for flowering because it produces light that is very rich in red wavelengths, the wavelength that encourages bud production on your plant. You can also use HPS for vegetative growth, so if you can only afford one of the two, HPS is the way to go.

In any event, your HPS and MH light bulbs should be interchangeable on the same ballast. You’ll notice a distinctive warm-up time for the light-bulbs, but once they get going you’ll really feel like you’ve got a miniature sun stashed in your grow room.

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