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Elagrow · April 22, 2015

Eye Hortilux developed a new T5 bulb that has a PAR that is off the chart, its really an amazing bulb. But they also run at around $30 each, and are just now becoming more available.

The Ipower setup is a low quality brand, sure its cheap, but everyone I know that has used ipower has replaced it within a few months claiming the ballast shorts out. if you want to go with HPS or MH I would recommend Nanolux ballasts, with eye hortilux bulbs, and depending on the area you need to light, I would recommend anything from small area's (2x2 to 3x3) an simple wing reflector like the one in the picture, but if you start getting larger area then that, go with something like the sunburst, radiant, or raptor hoods.

LED lights are a hard one, most you find on amazon wont work for squat, only about 2% of all the LED's on the market will actually promote growth. The good ones I have tested personally so far is California Lightworks "Solar Flare (tm)", Kind LED, Envirolux Rail LED systems, and a china made system we are currently testing works great to. (that is less then 1/4 of all the LED's I have tried so far) we are looking at trying the PowerPar LED bulbs in the next month also.

another great alternative for lighting is CFL's but not just any CFL's, most people think the kelvin temp. is what you want to look for with lights, although the kelvin temp does point out the base spectrum's of the bulb, it doesn't tell you what colors it actually produces, (You want to look at the PAR Chart) many CFL's only produce the PAR value to make it easier for the human eye to see. We do use CFL's alot, they are cheaper to maintain, last along time, and work great. our favorites are the Flourowing CFL bulbs (Hydrofarm sponsored brand)

April 22, 2015	#30
Elagrow Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: West KY Zone 6b Posts: 92	Eye Hortilux developed a new T5 bulb that has a PAR that is off the chart, its really an amazing bulb. But they also run at around $30 each, and are just now becoming more available. The Ipower setup is a low quality brand, sure its cheap, but everyone I know that has used ipower has replaced it within a few months claiming the ballast shorts out. if you want to go with HPS or MH I would recommend Nanolux ballasts, with eye hortilux bulbs, and depending on the area you need to light, I would recommend anything from small area's (2x2 to 3x3) an simple wing reflector like the one in the picture, but if you start getting larger area then that, go with something like the sunburst, radiant, or raptor hoods. LED lights are a hard one, most you find on amazon wont work for squat, only about 2% of all the LED's on the market will actually promote growth. The good ones I have tested personally so far is California Lightworks "Solar Flare (tm)", Kind LED, Envirolux Rail LED systems, and a china made system we are currently testing works great to. (that is less then 1/4 of all the LED's I have tried so far) we are looking at trying the PowerPar LED bulbs in the next month also. another great alternative for lighting is CFL's but not just any CFL's, most people think the kelvin temp. is what you want to look for with lights, although the kelvin temp does point out the base spectrum's of the bulb, it doesn't tell you what colors it actually produces, (You want to look at the PAR Chart) many CFL's only produce the PAR value to make it easier for the human eye to see. We do use CFL's alot, they are cheaper to maintain, last along time, and work great. our favorites are the Flourowing CFL bulbs (Hydrofarm sponsored brand) __________________ WAY TO GRO!