Working with Metal Halide lights.

So I've got another project I'm trying to figure out with a new-to-me source of light. Basically I've been trying to grow habenero peppers all summer but amazingly growing plants that originate from Mexico in the cold Atlantic weather doesn't go so well. Anyways its getting to cold for my small pepper plants so I've had to move them indoors. Right now they're under a T5 high output fluorescent light but I've been told by plant experts that it wont be enough light when the plants get bigger. Thus, after much research I've concluded I'll need a metal halide lamp to grow these plants indoors.

My first question is, is 1001bulbs.com a good place to buy from? None of the hardware stores where I live sell what I need to buying online is my only viable option.

I need 400-500 watts for the plants, I like the look of this bulb here: https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/6529/MH-04005.html

I know MH lamps need a ballast, does this one look suitable? [URL="https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/116866/BU-1111247SCTC.html"l[/URL]

I'm assuming the ballast doesn't include a socket but I cant find the appropriate socket on 1001bulbs so does anyone know where I can find one?

Will I need anything else? Is the wiring for these things complicated or is it as simple as AC in one end halide lamp on the other end?

Thanks for all the help!

I'm so fucking stupid.



Literally everything I need is there and its all plug and play. I'm so dumb.

You can also just go to any local hydro shops/indoor gardening shops and they'll be happy to help you.

Razako said:

You can also just go to any local hydro shops/indoor gardening shops and they'll be happy to help you.

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I did but the only one around wants 300$ for a ballast and 100$ for a halide bulb. Oh and another 200$ for a reflector fixture.

Blarg King said:

I did but the only one around wants 300$ for a ballast and 100$ for a halide bulb. Oh and another 200$ for a reflector fixture.

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For what wattage? That's a huge ripoff if it's for a 400W unit.

I think its a 600 watt magnetic ballast unit. But still on 1000Bulbs its 120$ for a 1000 watt electronic ballast that can run both halide and high pressure sodium bulbs.

Could it be an option to go for hydrophonic LED lighting as a solution here?

It would not be that much more expensive to purchase and save on your power bills over time as the well-tuned light is used by plants much more efficiently.

Also the problem might not be the amount of light or temperature in the first place. If you have problems with your soil no amount of light or heat will fix that. As such pepper plants tend to grow quite easily during summer in colder climates you might just have a problem with that.

Peppers like habeneros are perennial plants in there native regions but more annual ones further away from the equator. They may not grow very well in winter even with artificial light and they require good soil conditions, dry air and warmth to grow really well.

Eh, LEDs are more costly upfront than I like, and still cant put out as much light. I'm thinking of using a 1000 Watt dual-arc lamp now as it has both a HPS and MH tube inside one bulb which gives off pretty much the whole spectrum.

I'm going to be setting this up in my garage which is normally heated anyways, I'll just be turning the baseboard heaters off and using the waste heat from the lamp to warm my garage, so the energy impact shouldn't be much of an issue.

As for the soil, I was told to make a mixture using plain potting soil, compost, and regular play sand as habeneros prefer a sandy soil. Unless I was misled by several people my soil should be fine. I've been giving them a pinch of sulfur every 2 weeks and giving them plant food once a week so they should have plenty of nutrients. They're growing okay its just the past few weeks have been all rain and the temperature drops to around 8-12 C at night which is far too cold.

I don't have much to add, however I will say this - in an age where everything is being converted to LED (rightly or wrongly, the market seems to be saturated with a lot of crap at the moment) it's getting harder and harder to find good quality HID lamps. Iwasaki EYE seem to be the one of the only HID lamp companies that still believes in mercury and MH lamps and isn't just chucking out cheap chinese crap. If you can get Iwasaki EYE lamps (they won't be cheap) you will have good quality and long life.

Blarg King said:

So I've got another project I'm trying to figure out with a new-to-me source of light. Basically I've been trying to grow habenero peppers all summer but amazingly growing plants that originate from Mexico in the cold Atlantic weather doesn't go so well. Anyways its getting to cold for my small pepper plants so I've had to move them indoors. Right now they're under a T5 high output fluorescent light but I've been told by plant experts that it wont be enough light when the plants get bigger. Thus, after much research I've concluded I'll need a metal halide lamp to grow these plants indoors.

My first question is, is 1001bulbs.com a good place to buy from? None of the hardware stores where I live sell what I need to buying online is my only viable option.

I need 400-500 watts for the plants, I like the look of this bulb here: https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/6529/MH-04005.html

I know MH lamps need a ballast, does this one look suitable? [URL="https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/116866/BU-1111247SCTC.html"l[/URL]

I'm assuming the ballast doesn't include a socket but I cant find the appropriate socket on 1001bulbs so does anyone know where I can find one?

Will I need anything else? Is the wiring for these things complicated or is it as simple as AC in one end halide lamp on the other end?

Thanks for all the help!

Click to expand...

One option not mentioned is fluorescent induction lightbulbs. One thing you said which is a misunderstanding is the wattage. Wattage tells you how much electricity is used in one hour to produce the lumen output. In short lumens are what to look for and also spectral distribution.

steve001 said:

One option not mentioned is fluorescent induction lightbulbs. One thing you said which is a misunderstanding is the wattage. Wattage tells you how much electricity is used in one hour to produce the lumen output. In short lumens are what to look for and also spectral distribution.

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Oh I know how watts work. A 60 Watt incandescent gives off less light than say a 60 fluorescent. But for the purpose of this since it's all the same tyoe of light source a 1000 watt MH will produce more light than a 400 MH.

Fluorescent isnt really ideal. I believe MH and HPS give off more lumens per watt, not to mention to get a similar light spread and output from fluorescent would take a lot of fluorescent bulbs which means more fixtures and ballasts and more cost.

Blarg King said:

Oh I know how watts work. A 60 Watt incandescent gives off less light than say a 60 fluorescent. But for the purpose of this since it's all the same tyoe of light source a 1000 watt MH will produce more light than a 400 MH.

Fluorescent isnt really ideal. I believe MH and HPS give off more lumens per watt, not to mention to get a similar light spread and output from fluorescent would take a lot of fluorescent bulbs which means more fixtures and ballasts and more cost.

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They are used in horticulture. I have a feeling you aren't familiar with this type of lighting. Take a look see, it won't hurt to take a look.

Are you growing them in pots, hydroponically, aeroponically? I have done extensive research on hydroponics in the past so if you have hydroponics questions let me know. How big is the grow or is it just one plant? Make sure when you grow plants indoors regardless of your method that you have a well ventilated area because those lamps get very hot and can cause fires. Also be wary with those higher wattage lights because you may burn your plants to death as well. That being said, here are two good ones I found for good prices.
$11.99 - https://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-GLBMH400-Metal-Halide/dp/B0081IC0DI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474764612&sr=8-1&keywords=metal+halide+lamp
$9.99 - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005HJJ3WK/ref=abs_brd_tag_dp?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

steve001 said:

They are used in horticulture. I have a feeling you aren't familiar with this type of lighting. Take a look see, it won't hurt to take a look.

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I took a look, and theres a scarcity of information about these lights. All of the vendors I could find seem to have the same webpage: A picture of Nikola Tesla, a short story on how he discovered wireless power/induction, and a quote along the lines of "We've tested it it works great". Not exactly confidence inspiring.

Even still, they claim around 45 lumens/Watt which isn't nearly as much as MH (80-100 lumens/Watt) or HPS (120-145 lumens/Watt). I also find their claims suspicious. They say the induction fluorescent has 96% absorption yet they show a light producing bright white light which means theres going to be a decent chunk of green light that plants don't use being produced.

Really it comes down to the same aversion I have with LED grow lights, and that its a relatively new technology, and as such everyone is scrambling to bring a product to market. For every 1 well build LED grow light theres 10 poorly made Chinese knockoffs. When the technology is more mature and people have gathered long-term evaluations of these new types of lighting I would be happy to take a look. But right now with only a modest budget for hardware I would much rather stick with tried and true methods.

From what I've learned my best course of action is to buy a ballast that can run both MH and HPS bulbs, and buy one of each kind of light. MH stimulates leafy growth and once my plants start flowering I switch to HPS which promotes fruit growth.

HydroSean said:

Are you growing them in pots, hydroponically, aeroponically?

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I'm just growing them in pots with soil. I have 4 habenero and 4 jalapeno plants that need light.

My plan is to get a ballast with a dimming feature so I can adjust the light output as needed to I don't burn the plants.

I'm going to be using a reflector fixture with slots to attach venting and use a fan to pull cool air from outside and blow it over the light to keep it cool.

As of right now my plants are in my bedroom with the window open and a couple small fans circulating air around my room and over the plants. I will be addressing airflow as I build my setup.

Sounds like you can take it from here, from what I've read you know what you're doing. Let us know what happens :beer: