Lots of light. Make your own.
 

You invest in good seeds, you invest in good soil, you invest in good fertilizers, you invest in all kinds of sprays ---------------.

For me in zone 6, nothing comes close to the biggest payback than the investment of a powerful set of lights to get me started with big plants in ground as early as possible. I get lots more production of late varieties at the end of the season. One 400W HPS bulb gives more light than 42 48" fluorescent bulbs.

Metal halide/high pressure sodium lights give you tons of light but they are expensive, especially the ones with electronic ballasts. If you are patient, you can get something quite reasonable on eBay.

For $50.00, I built this 400 watt electronic ballasted MH/HPS light.

Although the work involved is not much, if you want to build one, [B]you[/B] [B]should have a good working knowledge of high voltage electricity and high temperature fixture construction, otherwise you should not try.[/B]

Materials: sheet aluminum, which can be easily cut on a table saw with a woodcutting bade. The aluminum can be polished with car polish to a mirror finish.

Assembly: pop-rivets.

[FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]Approximate size: 12” x 12” x 6”[/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]dcarch[/SIZE][/FONT][/FONT]

[IMG]http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i240/dcarch/light7.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i240/dcarch/light6.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i240/dcarch/light5.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i240/dcarch/light4.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i240/dcarch/light3.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i240/dcarch/light2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i240/dcarch/light1.jpg[/IMG]

That's some very impressive DIY dcarch! ... nice work!


I always thought the ballasts/bulb holders were different for Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium? So your fixture will drive either? Is your bulb MH or HPS?


Thanks,
- Bitwise

[quote=Bitwise Gamgee;88710]That's some very impressive DIY dcarch! ... nice work!

I always thought the ballasts/bulb holders were different for Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium? So your fixture will drive either? Is your bulb MH or HPS?
Thanks,
- Bitwise[/quote]
Thanks.
MH and HPS bulbs can both have mogul type bases which will go into the same sockets.

Many electronic ballasts can fire both MH and HPS bulbs. Mine does. I switch from MH to HPS bulbs when I want to force the plants to blossom.

dcarch

Your work looks like an aircraft sheetmetal mechanic. Very well done indeed dcarch. Thumbs up on that.

Beautiful work. Man, we have some talented people on this site.

~Thalia

dcarch, meticulous work as with all your projects. Very nice indeed.:yes:

robin303. Roger the sheetmetal mechanics. Worked F4's in the Air Force for 10 years as an airborne avionics tech and those guys could work magic and make awesome BBQ grills out of 55 gallon drums!:)

My uncle gave me some lights that a friend of his confiscated from a "grower." I haven't researched exactly what he gave me, but the bulbs are huge, like the one in your picture and they are 400 W. He gave me 3 fixtures and 6 bulbs. He was told by his friend that there are two types of bulbs, three of each. There is also what appears to be some kind of transformer that would probably allow you to use a regular 120V or 240 V outlet.

The first question I had when I looked at the fixtures and bulbs was, how close do these need to be to the plants? With my regular fluorescent shop lights I have to get those within 2 inches of my plants. I'm sure these can be farther away, but how far away is the sweet spot? The fixture on this unit itself is probably no more than 22" x 22", so I was wondering how many square feet of space beneath this single fixture could plants be placed in and receive enough light?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Jason

[quote=sic transit gloria;88835]My uncle gave me some lights that a friend of his confiscated from a "grower." I haven't researched exactly what he gave me, but the bulbs are huge, like the one in your picture and they are 400 W. He gave me 3 fixtures and 6 bulbs. He was told by his friend that there are two types of bulbs, three of each. There is also what appears to be some kind of transformer that would probably allow you to use a regular 120V or 240 V outlet.

The first question I had when I looked at the fixtures and bulbs was, how close do these need to be to the plants? With my regular fluorescent shop lights I have to get those within 2 inches of my plants. I'm sure these can be farther away, but how far away is the sweet spot? The fixture on this unit itself is probably no more than 22" x 22", so I was wondering how many square feet of space beneath this single fixture could plants be placed in and receive enough light?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Jason[/quote]

Can you post some pictures of the fixtures? A lot depends on the reflector design.

dcarch

I'll try to post them tonight. It appeared to be some kind of aluminum reflector, not perfectly smooth, though.

How much space (sq. ft) can one of your lights cover and still produce good, strong (non-leggy) seedlings?

[FONT=Times New Roman]Could be metal halide or mercury vapor? [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman] [/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman] [/FONT]
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_halide_lamp"][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=#800080]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_halide_lamp[/COLOR][/FONT][/URL]
[FONT=Times New Roman] [/FONT]
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-vapor_lamp"][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=#800080]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-vapor_lamp[/COLOR][/FONT][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] [/FONT]

[quote=robin303;88924][FONT=Times New Roman]Could be metal halide or mercury vapor? [/FONT]

[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_halide_lamp"][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=#800080]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_halide_lamp[/COLOR][/FONT][/URL]

[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-vapor_lamp"][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=#800080][URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-vapor_lamp[/URL][/COLOR][/FONT][/URL][/quote]

Mine can fire both MH and HPS bulbs, I don't think it can fire mercury vapor bulbs. There is no reason to use mercury bulbs anyway, too blue.

dcarch

[quote=sic transit gloria;88899]I'll try to post them tonight. It appeared to be some kind of aluminum reflector, not perfectly smooth, though.

How much space (sq. ft) can one of your lights cover and still produce good, strong (non-leggy) seedlings?[/quote]

I hang mine about 36" above the seedlings. I also suround the growing area with reflective aluminum foil.

dcarch

What happened to quartz iodine lights, I cant find them anymore?

I liked the nice bright white light it put off outside.

Worth

[quote=Worth1;88949]What happened to quartz iodine lights, I cant find them anymore?

I liked the nice bright white light it put off outside.

Worth[/quote]

Quartz iodine bulb is the same as quartz bulb or halogen bulb. Quartz bulbs are run at a higher temperature, therefore the light is whiter.

dcarch

Just a quick cautionary note. I once asked at the police station here re: getting access to such confiscated types of fixtures for a gardening group. He replied that most of them were very unsafe due to the type of treatment they had received and the conditions they had been subjected to - not to rain on any parades, but please make sure they are in good condition and are checked for safe operation.