If you’re a grower, you’re probably looking into Metal Halide Grow Lights to give your garden a healthy beautiful green lush. Metal Halide grow lights have been in the market long enough to prove themselves as one of the favorite go to grow lights for growing plentiful, beautiful and nutritious green canopies

·       What is a Metal Halide Grow Light?

 

Metal halides are a type of HID lamp widely regarded as one of the best grow light alternatives for growing greens. They’ve been around since the early 60’s and have been further developed for several applications like car headlamps, street lighting and our favorite: Growing lush greens!

Usually they’re rated with a high lumen output of around 100 lm per watt, a lamp life of up to 20,000 hours and pretty decent degradation rates. This makes them a valuable addition to our gardens. Because of the nature of the processes that produce light within these lamps, they output significant heat into their immediate area. In fact, touching a bulb that has been running for a long time can result in serious burns.

 

  • Benefits of HPS Grow Lights:

When choosing a high pressure sodium grow light, use the wattage to determine how large of a grow area the lamp can cover.1000-Watt HPS grow lights are the most powerful and cover a wider area of around 49 square feet.

High pressure sodium grow lights generate heat, so higher wattages should be mounted farther away from your plants. Depending on what plants you are growing, HPS grow lights can be mounted anywhere between 6 to 34 inches away. Make sure to fully research your plants so you can create the ideal growing conditions and not burn your plants by having them too close to the light. You will also need to set up a ventilation system. Some HPS grow lights are designed to have a higher blue light spectrum allowing them to also be beneficial to the vegetative stage, eliminating the need for MH grow lights. High pressure sodium lights can also be used without MH bulbs if they are in an area that receives natural sunlight. The sunlight fills in the missing blue light.

To maximize your growing potential, HPS grow lights can be used with timers and light rails. Timers allow you to keep your crop on a schedule, making sure the lights are turned on and off at the same times each day. Light rails slowly move your fixtures along rows, ensuring that plants get an equal amount of light. HPS grow lights should be replaced every 10 to 14 months to ensure plants are getting full light.

  • Where Can HPS Grow Light Be Used?

High pressure sodium grow lights can be used in grow tents, large grow rooms in homes, and green houses. HPS grow lights are paired with reflector fixtures that are purchased separately. You will need to purchase compatible ballast as well. To find a ballast, you will need to look for one that has the matching ANSI code as your HPS grow light. If you are planning on switching between HPS and MH bulbs, look for a system with a ballast that can operate both bulbs.