hello fellow gardeners


im currently running a regular 400w magnetic ballast and looking at buying a lumatek ballast from my local grow shop. the price difference between the 400 and 600 is about 20 quid...


what would you do?

Depends on your situation mate. Of course the 600 will be slightly further from the tops, do you stuggle with head height at the moment? Do you ever struggle with temps in your room in the winter or the summer?

If you don't have trouble with height or temps then yes i'd definately go for the 600. The most efficient light you can get

cheers KC33

well i got space, but i don't have my enviroment down yet. 1Msq homebox tent which i dislike (flimsy) and last summer temps did climb some what...

Hmmm....maybe best to wait until you got the environment nailed on the head. Are you desperately needing a new ballast? Summer will soon be here and an extra 200watts of light isn't going to help

thanks for the reply's fellows - Wasabi - if you run a 400 lumatek should be good enough for me. your a cotc'er, innit

ive got enough ventilation i think - though nothing will be able to alter the summer ambient temps..

the reason i dont think i have my environment down pat is my girls always get grotty leaves. and i detest my homebox, to frail and awkward and un-light proof leading to much black gaffer tape alterations...

perhaps i should get my new drobe together before worrying about a ballast. but, you know how it is when considering goodies...

I use a 1mtr square homebox with a lumatek 400watt ballast and have to say apart from 1 or 2 holes where the Velcro is its prity dam lightproof.

I sectioned off a corner of my spare room - 1m sq and 2.3m high - built with a wooden frame and some black/white poly sheeting (doubled up), cost £1 a metre and is 2m wide - plenty of duct tape to hold it together. I was using a 400 diamond in it, but this grow I'm going to see if the 600 makes much difference (the 400 is a MH bulb, the 600 is HPS btw). I think 400 is recommended for 1m sq, whereas 600 and 1000 wts are supposed to cover an area of 1.5m sq. I had a few probs with the 600 in a 1.5m sq area over the winter, mostly with temps and the plants on the outside of the grow suffered most, but have to say they vegged lovely under the 400 MH in the 1m sq room - shame I can't afford to run both lights at the same time, I could a nice wee operation going.