So you have decided to grow plants indoors, and one of the most obvious things you will think of buying is a grow light. But which one?
The most widely used light on the market today is the High Intensity Discharge (HID) light. This light is probably the best all round lighting kit on the market. It comes with control gear (ballast) that will control either a high pressure sodium, or a metal halide lamp. These have been proven to be reliable over time with some magnetic ballasts carrying a manufactures warranty of up to twenty-five years.
Whats the difference between a High Pressure Sodium and a Metal Halide lamp?
The difference is a metal halide lamp gives off a light with a lot of blue in the spectral output, ideal for the veg stage of any plant growth. The high pressure sodium lamp on the other hand gives off a light with a lot of red in the spectral output, ideal for the flowering phase of any plant.
HID lighting does, however have its down sides such as heat generation. Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium lamps create a lot of undesirable heat. It is essential to remove excess heat from your growing area to cut the risk of harming your plants. This can be done by use of extract fans, air-cooled lighting, and air conditioning etc. It is in my opinion well worth the effort.
There are other lighting options available when it comes to plant lighting such as CFL and LED grow lights which are becoming more popular due to low energy usage and low heat output. These lights do work but are a fairly new technology for plant lighting and would be more suited to supplementing existing HID lighting, helping to cut costs and temperatures.
Other factors to take into account are reflectors. These spread the light from your lamp over your plant canopy and come in many shapes and sizes. Reflectors start with the basic Euro wing or Dutch barn. These come with most standard grow light kits on the market, and are great for the beginner. Reflectors such as the Mantis give a much larger, more even spread of light, increasing harvest size and quality.
In my opinion the best grow lights to use would be HID grow lights using the MH lamp for your veg phase and switching to the High Pressure Sodium lamp upon flower induction. Blue and red CFL grow lights can be used to add light, avoiding dark patches in your canopy. In my opinion, for the time being at least, High Intensity Discharge grow lights represent the best value light per watt on the market.
