Issue #36 - Sunday, December 23, 2012 Dear Fellow Grower, In today's issue you'll discover...
- How to set up the perfect grow room if you want to use high-powered grow lights like High Pressure Sodium (HPS) or Metal Halide (MH).
- See an incredibly sparkly trichome-covered bud sent in by one of our awesome readers.
- Learn where you can buy a complete HID grow light set, for a limited time, with everything you need, including both Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium bulbs.
We hope you enjoy this issue of Grow Weed Easy!
Happy Growing!
Nebula Haze and Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com)
"Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity."
― Oprah
How To Choose And Setup Your
MH / HPS Grow Light System
by Sirius Fourside |
First of all, you should know that an HID (High Intensity Discharge) Grow Light System isn't the right choice for all growers.
HID lights are ultra-powerful grow lights, including the popular "Metal Halide" and "High Pressure Sodium" grow lights.
Yes, this type of system has been used for decades and will generally get better results, bigger yields, and be easier to maintain
than just about any other grow light system for marijuana...
(Where can I buy seeds?)
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Though in addition to all the awesome benefits, this system will cost you a bigger initial investment and may take a little bit more time right in the beginning to get things set up. 
Yet it's worth it when you can grow rows of high-yielding marijuana plants like the ones displayed here to the left. These plants were grown using an HID grow light system. The High Pressure Sodium lights is what makes flowering plants look golden in pictures, though they look normal under regular light.
When I originally started growing weed, I was worried about excess heat, high electricity bills, and making sure I was as stealthy as possible. Yet at the same time, I was also worried about spending a whole bunch of money on grow equipment since I wasn't even sure if I could successfully grow.
I ended up going for the cheapest stealth grow light I could find, CFLs, which work fantastic for growing weed, yet are hard to scale up to a bigger garden. After I got the hang of growing weed, CFLs started to become a huge pain as I wanted to grow more than 1-2 plants at a time.
I'm glad I started with CFLs, because they were cheap, gave me beautiful buds, and taught me how to grow, but about a year ago I realized I was ready to take my grow room to a new level of efficiency.
I knew that if I upgraded to HID grow lights, I could spend less time worrying about adjusting lights, and more time on learning new, better ways to improve yields, potency, and taste.
The results of the switch have been amazing, and today, I will walk you through the whole process so you can understand exactly what you need if you're ready to go pro and set up the perfect MH/HPS grow light system for your indoor garden.
The Different Components of an HID Grow Light System- MH and/or HPS Light Bulbs
- MH/HPS bulbs give off the right kind of light for marijuana. MH (Metal Halide) is perfect for the vegetative stage and HPS (High Pressure Sodium) is perfect for the flowering stage. Either one can be used for the whole grow, though most growers who choose just one opt to use HPS for the whole grow.
- Ballast
- MH/HPS grow lights use special bulbs that can't connect to a regular light bulb socket. Instead, they need a special ballast to start and maintain their arcs for power. Some ballasts can accommodate both MH and HPS bulbs. Some are digital which give you additional options for controlling the amount of light given off and electricity used.
- Hood - This properly reflects the light from the bulbs for maximum effect, and many are enclosed to keep heat away from the plants and for easy venting.
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Exhaust - A fan and ducting is used to pull the hot air away from the bulb and outside, so that the hot air doesn't heat up your grow room or plants.
- Timer - Standard electrical timer to turn your lights on and off for you on a schedule.
- Odor control (optional)
- Carbon scrubber will remove odors from the air before it's exhausted outside.
- Grow tent (optional) - My closets are too small and not really a suitable shape for growing. Plus there is no convenient way to exhaust hot air out of my closets. I ended up opting for a grow tent because it's made for growing with an HID light, and is a discrete way to set up my garden and exhaust right next to a window.
Choose Your Ballast - A ballast is a special piece of equipment which is needed to run HID lights. You plug the ballast into an electrical outlet, and then connect your hood to your ballast. The ballast converts the electricity from the wall into what's needed by your bulb to ignite and stay lit.
Think of your ballast as a power source and "transformer"(the electrical component, not the awesome robot) for your HID bulbs.
You will need to choose a ballast that is made for the type of HID light you would like to get. For example, if you want to run a 600W HPS bulb, you'll need a 600W ballast that supports HPS bulbs.
Ballasts generally come in a few standard "sizes," 150W, 400W, 600W and 1000W.
For first-time growers, I recommend getting a 400W or 600W ballast.
A 150W ballast is not as efficient on electricity as the bigger models, and will only be able to cover about one plant, maybe about 2' x 2' (0.6m x 0.6m). If you're growing in this small of a space, I recommend going with several smaller CFLs instead, which will allow you to get better light distribution in a small space for the same amount of electricity.
A 400W ballast will be able to cover an area of about 3' x 3' (1m x 1m). This is popular choice for beginner growers.
A 600W ballast is the most efficient of all ballasts as far as electricity used per amount of light produced, and will cover an area of about 4' x 4' (1.2m x 1.2m). I use a 600W ballast.
A 1000W ballast will cover an area of about 5' x 5' (1.5m x 1.5m). They also need a significant amount of cooling power as the bulbs get very hot in a small amount of space. In big grow operations, many growers opt to use several 1000W grow lights, as even plants along the edges get strong amounts of light, and this reduces the total number of grow lights to adjust up and down as rows of plants grow taller.
Digital vs Magnetic Ballasts -
Digital ballasts cost quite a bit more than a magnetic ballast, yet a digital ballast runs cooler, uses less electricity, produces higher light intensity, and will save you money in the long run.
Digital ballasts are also more likely to be compatible with more types of bulbs, where a magnetic ballast needs special bulbs and will burn out the wrong type of bulb.
For the sake of ease of use, I recommend getting a ballast that is digital
, dimmable, and supports both MH and HPS bulbs.
This gives you the most flexibility as you can use either type of bulb, and digitally control how intense you want the light to be at any moment.
With a digital, dimmable ballast, you can adjust the ballast to put out less light (and use less electricity) when plants are small and don't need full-strength light yet. This can shave quite a bit off your electricity bill and make it easier to nurture young plants.I highly recommend getting the best ballast you can afford, as better ballasts last longer, are easier to use, and offer the "bells and whistles" you'll wish for after you start growing. Even the most expensive ballast will pay for itself after a single successful harvest.
Choose Your Bulbs - Your bulbs will need to match your ballast. If your ballast supports 600W Metal Halide, you need to get 600W Metal Halide bulbs. If your ballast supports 1000W High Pressure Sodium, you need to get 1000W High Pressure Sodium bulbs. Some ballasts support both Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium, and will clearly state that on the box.
Some ballasts are digital and dimmable, which means you need to get bulbs that support digital/dimmable features.Some bulbs claim to be "enhanced" or be ultra-efficient. While there is not a whole lot of difference between the different bulbs, you will tend to get slightly better results from the higher quality bulbs, and they tend to be more durable/long-lasting.
Therefore, like with the ballast, I recommend getting the best bulbs you can afford. These bulbs generally last 1-2 years of normal use, so you will not have to replace them for quite a while. Some sellers will actually replace burnt out bulbs within a certain time period, so definitely take advantage of bulbs with guarantees if you can!
For longer lasting bulbs, remember....
- The biggest wear to HID light bulbs come from turning the lights on and off, as opposed to how long they run. The worst thing you can do as far as wear and tear is turn off an HID light and then turn it on again before it's had a chance to fully cool off.
Choose Your Hood
- There are many different kinds of hoods, from wings to cooltubes to air-cooled hoods. In my experience, and from talking to all the growers I know who've experimented with different hoods, most seem to agree that an air-cooled hood works best for growing marijuana.
Wings are not good at managing heat, unless you have a great exhaust system and a cold room. This is because they do nothing to contain the heat in a specific area.
Cooltubes are better than a wing, because they trap the air and allow it to be easily exhausted, but cooltubes are not as good at reflecting light as a real air-cooled hood. Additionally, many cooltube owners have reported that they can create unexpected hot spots. A cooltube is better than a wing, but not as good as an air-cooled hood.
Air-cooled hoods reflect light directly towards your plants, and have piece of glass or plastic which keeps hot air contained near the bulb (and away from your plants). They're called "air-cooled" because they are set up to easily connect to an exhaust system, so a fan can pull all the hot air away from the bulbs and directly out a window (or wherever you're exhausting your air).
Please note that you want the hot air exhausted out a window or up a chimney. You don't just want to exhaust this air into your grow room, or you'll just end up with an incredibly hot room as the hot air will have no where to go. 
Things to look for in a good hood: - Seals well (as air-tight as possible) to keep heat contained and ensure odor-proof ventilation. This is why the "Wing" type hoods tend to cause problems with heat management.
- Easy to open the glass so you can easily change the bulb as needed. For Air-Cooled hoods, the best design is when you have latches on one side and a hinge at the other.
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The more wide and smoothly curved the reflector is, the more even the light spread will be. So look for a wider hood that has an even curve or at least a lot of "sections" to it.
Notice in the picture above that the "Wing" hood only has a few convolutions. The "Cool Tube" is smoothly curved, but not wide. That's part of why these hoods are less efficient at spreading light than the smooth, wide curve from the "Air-Cooled" hood.
How To Set Up Your Exhaust - Optimally, you want the exhaust to pull air from your hot lights and directly out a window, in a short, straight line if possible. Exhausts become less and less efficient at cooling the further your air has to travel, and the less straight the path. A short, straight, direct line to a window is the best case scenario when it comes to setting up your exhaust. Use ducting and a strong fan to pull air directly from your air-cooled hood and out your exhaust.
How To Control Odors
- You have a few options. One option is to control odor with 'odor neutralizing' products like Ona Gel. These are great in a pinch, or when you're just growing a few plants. However, an even better way to control odors is to get a carbon scrubber and install it where you're exhausting your hot air. This cleans the air of any smells right before the air is vented outside.
Choose Your Grow Tent Or Grow Area Carefully
- Consider that you want a direct line to the exhaust, with as short a distance as possible, so that hot air is quickly and easily released outside of your home.
You now know everything I wish I'd known before I started growing with HID lights. If you're serious about growing, HID grow lights are going to give you the best yields, most ease of use, and (in my opinion) the most enjoyable growing experience.
Now that you know exactly how to get started...
Is 2013 the year you decide to go pro with your garden? 
Who Runs This Newsletter?
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Nebula Haze:Marijuana has literally saved my life, and I'm dedicated to showing you how easy it can be to grow.
I have made it my mission in life to build the best growing resources available for new and advanced growers, while working to get marijuana legalized for everyone.
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Sirius Fourside:Sirius Fourside is a hobbyist grower who has gained the bulk of his experience growing in water as a medium(deep water culture, bubbleponics). "Growing cannabis is a relaxing hobby in and of itself, but it also saves you money and keeps you from having to deal with shady characters. Cannabis is much easier to grow than people give it credit for, and growing in water doesn't increase the difficulty much, if any. But whether you want to grow in water, perlite, or a different medium, we'll show you how easy it can be!"
For a limited time, you can buy a complete HID grow light system and starter kit for cheap on Amazon!
Getting a complete set is much easier and cheaper than getting these parts individually, plus everything you need to start growing with an HID grow light is included!
Wing Set - Good
CoolTube Set - Better
Air-Cooled Set (BEST CHOICE)
Each Set Includes...
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Digital ballast that supports Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium
- Metal Halide Bulb
- High Pressure Sodium Bulb
- Premium HID Hood
- Electrical Light Timer
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Even comes with convenient pulleys to hang everything
Get Your Entire HID Light System Today!
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If you're ready to go completely pro in your garden, and take all the steps outlined in the article today to make the perfect exhaust system, you may want to also invest in a...
Feedback From Our Readers
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One of our readers sent in this incredible picture of a trichome-covered beauty. This bud is so sparkly she's practically glowing!
Give yourself a pat on the back, you deserve it.
Click for a closeup!
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Buy Marijuana Seeds Safely Online |
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Common Question:
Where do I get marijuana seeds?
Now you have 2 real options:
1.) Use random bagseed that you find
2.) Buy seeds of specific marijuana strains online
Now if you want to pick the perfect strain for your needs, it's going to be hard with bagseed.
So...
Learn how to buy marijuana seeds online safely
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