Are my lights good enough?

[Danny Boy]

Hey.

I've now got my self in posession of some northen lights seeds,

I was wondering if the light i have is good enough on its own,

Its 4ft 36w UltraViolet, any good for a few plants (3 - 4)?

I also have a basic 60w desk lamp would that do any thing to help my cause?

Or do i actually have to go out and buy a cool white light & fitting as well? (If i can get by, i'd like to save my money as i owe the tax man a little bit.) :curse:  

Thanks everyone!

[tom_servo]

you need to be a bit more specific with your lighting. i.e. is it flourescent, halogen, hps, or metal haldide lighting?

[Delta Bravo]

Hi Danny, sounds like a flourescent light fitting you have there.

Unfortunately, ultra-violet is not suitable for growing. It`s out of the useable spectrum. You need to change to cool white for vegging (general growing) and warm white for flowering. A mix of the two would be the best.

The desk lamp is also totaly unuseable, It`s incandescant and gives more heat than useable light. For 3-4 plants you would require at least 4 of the light fitting you have with the cool white bulbs. Sorry mate, but it would not be worth it without them. You get out what you invest.

[TrichomeUK]

High there,

You'll need to flower under High Intensity Discharge (HID) light to achieve a decent crop: High Pressure Sodium or Metal Halide.

www.growell.co.uk sell all you need

All the best,

Trichome

[ICaneBud]

Without doubt the best value for those on a budget is this....

400W HPS delivered for £68.70  

They are very secure and deliver in 3 days, you can split the ballast (heavy hot bit) out into a separate box very easily.

[Danny Boy]

Yeah, it is flourescent, So i guess i'm back at sq 1 huh?

Where would i go about buying a light from the actual growing area is just 3 x 5ft so its not that big.

Thanks guys,

A deserned smoker.

:thumbs:

[ICaneBud]

Is that 3'x5' on the floor + unknown height?  If so that's actually quite a big space, 15 sq ft, and you'd want a 1000W HPS to light it really well although you could get away with a 600W.  

A general rule of thumb is about 50W of HID lighting per sq ft so a 600W is good for a 3x4 area, a 1000W for 4'x5'.  Regular reflectors give asymmetrical distribution so the bulb goes across the narrowest part of the garden and hence the reflector throws light out over the wider part.

If you're talking 3x3x5high then you could get away with a 400W.  Buy the light I put a link to and then do this to it.  Or spend an extra £80 for a "grow light".