Grow Lights, Grow Lamps  Light is necessary for all plants to grow. When creating an artificial growing environment, bear in mind that good plant lighting is the most important equipment in the growroom and you are trying to re-create sunlight, albeit on a far smaller scale. Blue spectrum light (6400K) is most effective for vegetative growing, whilst red spectrum (2700K) is suitable for flower or fruit growing. Red spectrum and reducing light hours triggers hormonal changes in a plant fruit and flower production.

High Pressure Sodium (HPS) is best for flowering, whilst Metal Halide (MH) is good for growing on or veg growth. Grolux and Sunmaster Dual Spectrum lamps cover both spectrums and can be used for lighting in both periods. Use an HPS Nav T-super or Son T-plus for flowering with good results. We are also stocking High Output lamps 95000 Lumens from Sunmaster.

Always use a contactor with all HPS systems if working with a timer! For stock plants/ mother plants and seedlings or cuttings you should use a high output fluorescent in a blue spectrum (Metal Halide, T5’s or Eco-lights 125w or 250w). The T5 units are available in 4 and 8 tube versions and are the newest Propagation light on the market, although some customers use the Red Spectrum T5 tubes for flowering close to the plant canopy.

Bulbs’ light output degrades through use and it is highly recommended that you change your flowering bulb every 2-3 cycles. In the fourth harvest, without changing bulbs, yields are significantly decreased.

We offer two types of plant lighting ballast for HPS/ MH use. The industry standard for years was the Magnetic type ballast. Our Compact Magnetic MK3 ballast units from Maxibright are precision wired and we very rarely, if ever have to replace a unit (like 0.001%) of our sales and of course the Compact ballasts come with a 1 year manufacturer’s warranty. We sell them as complete systems with ballast, reflector and bulb or of course as separates.

Digital Ballasts are somewhat newer to the horticultural grower. We stock Lumatek Digital 600w systems and also Maxibright DigiLight’s in a 250w, 400w and 600w unit. They have all been field tested for extended periods of time with proven reliability and the ability to increase Lumen output as a given. They are the most efficient horticultural ballast that we have seen and are slightly less sore on your electric bill than traditional Magnetic ballasts.

Watch this site for affordable LED growlights...coming soon!