ive just been into my local fish shop and asked about decent lights, and he's said he's got a 250watt metal halide system with ballest ect secondhand and will sell it for 70 quid. is that a good price for what it is?. this would be my first grow and idealy i would get a sodium system but its to expensive and if i do this i will basicly be getting it for free because ive got a 70quid credit note from fish ive sold him. im growing a belladonna, but havent started to plant it yet. so would that system be sutible for me?. thanks for any help.

You can get a new system for that price with a HPS bulb.
I'd be thinking no more than £40

Hope this helps

G.A.T.I

seems a bit pricy to me but then i'm a stingy fecker the only differencr between hps and mh is the bulbs the lights and ballasts are the same( although you get different ballasts)

I never thought of asking in the chippy for high power lighting, I just went to the growshop
It does seem a bit expensive mate and the bulb might need replacing if it is old.

yeah the bulb thing is what i was thinking about, its 80 quid for a new bulb it is the full system with reflector ect. where sells full hps sytems for 40quid?. the ones ive been seeing are around 70-80£ for the cheapest ones.if i can get one of those for under 50 i would go for that. like i say though it would be like getting it for free because ive got a credit note. i read the halides are good for veg and hps for flowering?. would i be alble to put a hps in the halide ballest?. also what would the elecy bill be on something like that a month?. can you tell im a noob thanks for the help guys/girls.

Look in the 420 shop for bulbs. A decent 250 should not cost you more than 30 notes.

Get yourself a decent reflector, lasts for years and will benefit your grow Hugely. One of the things that new players do not consider seriously.

HPS or MH lighting throughout grow will be OK. Tried them both, IMHO, MH for vegging then HPS for flowering is probably the best if you can afford it, depending on strain. Indicas love HPS lighting throughout wherease sativas, fussy as they are, like MH then HPS.

As to leccy costs, about £2.50 during veg and then £3.75 during flowering/ week depending on your supplier. Based on a 400w HID with 5 fans. Not sure on their consumption, pretty much ball-park though.