Right I am royally confused.

I have been trawling through the envirolite threads as I am interested in purchasing a double reflector with two 200w enviros in. I will be building a drobe which will be as compact as possible and growing two/three plants at a time. I looked into the enviros due to their reputation as being cheaper on the leccy and cooler than hps.


Now I know the harvest potential is much higher with hps but I am not overly concerned with massive harvests just QUALITY bud.

Now I get two stories when I research this, some people say they rock and others say they are below shit.






Help me! I don't want a debate on how hps is the best and always will be, Yes I agree its the best now but trust me something better will come along and one day your just going to have to let go of your hps... Until that happens we need people to try out new forms of lighting thats how it evolves into something better. Dont come here to slate enviros if you bum hps too much basicly.

I want practical advice, as I am planning to build a stealthy as fook drobe so I want low temps low noise etc etc.

I have used them, they worked well enough. low cost and low heat were the good points. Less yeild compaired to HPS. Some folk like them some folk dont, its a decission only you can make yourself.

Goodluck

maybe you would be better with a 250w hps and a cool tube

Thats the thing I need to take running costs into consideration, would a cooltube and 250w hps be better than a 400w (well two 200w) enviro? what about long term running costs? and bud quality?

Pyrocat 250 watt is 250 watt whether its hps or enviros. Im currently a drobe grower, My space is 1m by 40 cm area, 1.8 mtrs high. I use a 250 hps and with the right ventilation, you have no problems with heat at all, no need for cooltube.

Greenmonster

from past experience bud quality and also yeild will be better with 250w hps and as you also pointed out cheaper to run than 400w of enviro. Also replacement hps bulbs will be cheaper. others may say different. thats why i tried both methods for myself. I started with enviro's and then went on to a 250w hps, now using a 600w but not in a drobe. my first enviro grow was in a drove however. choices choices my friend!

Indeed,


I am looking at hps 250 watts now.


Im starting this all from scratch so I want the best for my plants.

The only good reason to choose enviros over HPS is if you don't have much vertical headroom in your grow space, as enviros can be placed much closer to the plants without burning them.

HPS are superior in most ways, and even the headroom issue can be partly solved if you have the £ (or DIY ability) to install a cool tube. A 400w HPS should give you roughly twice as much weed as 400w of enviros, for the same electricity cost.

right looks like I will be working towards getting a 250 hps,


I seem to be convinced now

I use a 125 enviro once my seeds pop their heads for about 4 wks 24hrs a day. Then i change to 400hps for main growth and flower. I know its lesser watts and different lighting hrs but i notice very little difference in electric bills.

HPS lamps aren't "hot".
A 250 watt HPS is as sweet as a nut - 4 to 6 ounces in compost.
... and of course 150 watts cooler than 400 watts of fluorescents.

You can scale down, but you can't skimp on ventilaton - if only because of the pong.

If I thought fluorescents were a good idea (or even LEDs ) you can bet your life I would have gone back to them after 12 years.

Try Metal Halide if you're interested in quality experiments.

i used viros on my 1st grows with great success .. however i used two 200 watt red viros .. one vert one horozontal .. had to rotate plants daily .. now using 250 hps and geting same results

I am used to using a 600w hps in a much bigger setup but my new place requires the ultimate in stealthy growing, so Im planning to scale right down.

I dont suppose anyone has built a grow drobe before? Im pretty swift with DIY but I am on a budget that cant afford any fuck ups.


I need safety, stealth and good bud.

It's my first grow and I'm using an envirolite (200w).

I have to say I'm happy with it, but then I would as I know nothing else.

That said, I know there's something better, so my plan is to 'upgrade' to mh/hps with cool tube
and use the enviro's for mother/clones/rooting.

As posted earlier, only you can make that decision, with me that is always a battle
between my wallet, my weed and my wife!

Quality is good, as you said, but quality and quantity - well let's just say I'm greedy!

Good luck with your grow and enjoy whatever decision you make - it's better than street weed ;-)

vangraffe

i would choose high output linear fluorescents over envirolites, and i'd choose HID over them, envirolites would be my last option

hey dudes
have been using hps and enviro combinations throughout veg and flowering.Idont really know if this is a good idea.The reason i do it is to try
and get a better spectrum of light if this is the right word.Ihad read that lumens would be down but the quality is better with enviros .They talk about the PAR on there web site.Anyway it could be bullshit .but i seem to get good results imo using combos

cheers pir

I was put of hps because of the heat talk but it is just that, talk. The only real allowance you need to make when changing to a small hps like a 250w is to allow an extra 8" height but since the bulbs and reflectors take up less depth there is'nt much in it really and you will be able to sustain a deeper canopy as well. If you are set on enviros though more 125w ones spread over a larger area would be better.

tough one...

I think I may go for a 250 hps with a lot of high reflective sheets around... just need to work out how to build it now...

Certainly not in veg. If there are any quality factors in veg, it's putting on weight - and HID wins hands down - and quite possibly HPS does better for the same wattage than MH.

The subtle chemistry is happening in the trichomes that only appear in mid to late flowering - so there might be something in using different light in late flowering ... but it would be MH, not fluorescent.

But my sativas seem psychedelic enough and my indicas chill me - and they're all tasty.

If cash flow is an issue, what's wrong with using a small HPS, rather than a fluorescent of the same wattage. ?


Questionable - this may be a cue for me to try to start a fire with an HPS lamp and dry foliage - they really aren't that hot ... grows simply need to be built correctly and not abandoned for long periods. (another reason for optimising yields).


I agree - very interesting - certainly from the 12/12 all the way through and the quality point of view, but I note they've now got themselves a new 400 watt HPS.



I started growing because I wanted nothing remotely to do with dealers or the selling of cannabis. These days it's more about the growing than the toking.

Some of us simply prefer to grow no more than once a year in limited space - so 50 percent increase in yields (with small, relatively inefficient HPS lamps) to 100 percent more yield (with large lamps) is always welcome.
The £50 to £100 electricity saving for a given yield is also welcome.
I admit I paid rather over the odds for my lamps - 12 years ago. - but they seem rather more robust than fluorescents - I know as I've broken enough small CFLs....

Given that the proper ventilation will cost a lot more than a lamp of any kind, this "budget" business is a somewhat moot point.
(and as I am sure you realise, you need the same ventilation for the space, no matter whether your lighting watts are HPS or fluorescent).
.

But, with a Watt being a Watt no matter what device is consuming it, you're using exactly the same amount of electricity as a 400W HID lamp & ballast would.

And with HIDs producing significantly more lumens/Watt than flouros, you would get better yields from using one.

I'm also not terribly convinced about there being a significant risk of fire from using HIDs over CFLs - so long as you make sure that there's nothing touching or too near the hot bulb, it will be fine.

enviros are better for stealth grows as they create less smell, because they give off less heat. Less fancy extraction
needed.

Two 200w enviro lights setup together would probably be better than a 250 hps aswell.

Sorry, but that is complete and utter and dangerous bollocks.

well at least explain why you think that way?

Whatever we might think we have got away with in our own circumstances with different lamps, genetics, scale of grow, prevailing wind, location (or laid-back-ness) of neighbours etc....

There is only one correct sort of advice and that is to do things properly. Sort out the stink - and hence ventilation for plant growth - and the type of lamp is irrelevant.

Doubtless you might think a small fluorescent grow wasn't a risk, smell-wise, but the law is kicking in front doors because of ornamental plants in people's gardens.

This whole thread is about capital investment up front versus cash-flow, but what price not losing your job / home / liberty ?
(And I bet for most, the real threat comes from the local scrotes rather than the law).

I'm guessing most people enthusiastic to grow their own will have bought several ounces of dealer schwag - a fan and filter will cost less than an ounce.

My own expertise comes from doing it the wrong way since 1994 !

Actually, 400w of enviros would give off more heat than a 400w HPS.

Look at it this way: You put 400 watts of energy into a light. That energy is converted into 2 main components, Heat and Light. The fact that HPS puts out more light than enviros means that there is less energy left over as heat.

The only reason that HPS lights feel hotter is the type of heat that they put out (more heat radiated, rather than convected). The growroom would still heat up the same with enviros, just the area around the bulb wouldn't be as hot. For this reason, you would still need the same "fancy extraction".




Maybe slightly, but not by much. 250w HPS has similar lumens to 400w of enviros. Not worth the extra 150 watts for the few advantages that enviros may offer, in my opinion.

fair enough all plants are going to smell no matter what lamps is used , so I would always recommend using a carbon filter no matter what.

I still think enviros are the best bet as you said you would be growing in a drobe ,and they will be best at keeping the heat down in small spaces.

my enviro 125w runs very hot in my box. but good for veg as it only runs 125w and you cant buy a 125 hps yet and i dont have space for a ballast. but hps will out perform every time.

or you could combo them with a blue and a hps for better results in flowering

sorry but smell is smell, it does not depend on which type of light you are using.

bad advice.

I use an enviro for mums and cloning, 600w MH for veg, 2*600w HPS for flower.

I find enviro's superb in that regime but I need extraction.

serious habit or serious hobby? Some people may just have one camera cos they like to take a few pictures. Others may have 3 dedicated SLR's and a couple of grands worth of lenses to screw on the ends, prompted by their love for taking a few pics

That just isn't true - plenty of us started with fluorescents, (in my case, skunk#1 wrapped around four 4 foot verticals) and blab's a full-on hero round here 'ere parts :-

http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?show...p;#entry1187969