Ok I have been growing for about 2 years indoors hydroponics, I have been using 2 emilys garden and a 400 watt light with a ballast attached. (I think from a old barn) I have had really great results with plants coming out over 4ft and yield has been good. The old light is making noise and its time to upgrade. I have been looking at the ss400 and need advice as to if this is the one. Emily garden are 2ft long by 1 1/2 ft wide so the 2 togeather would only be 2ft by 3 ft. Is this light powerful enough to match the 400 light I have been using? Is it worth the money to buy one of these? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks tom

Welcome to the forums!

The SS400 is powerful enough to cover the 2x3 area but I wouldn't want to grow 4' tall plants with it. LED lights are best suited for growing short plants.

If you plan on buying a new HPS (I assume that's what you have now) the 400w, 600w and 1000w versions are all similarly priced so you might even want a bigger one to penetrate deeper or cover more space. That all depends on you wants and needs of course...

Have you changed the bulb in the last 2 years? You can also get parts to rebuild a magnetic ballast if you really wanted but modern ballasts are better designed. Again, it's up to you.


SME

Thank you for the reply, Maybe I just need to stop the Veg earlier to keep the plants from growing so tall, Northern lights went to over 4 ft and I ran out of ceiling space because of the Old light and ballast are one unit. I may just try a new 600w unit and see what happens. Does anyone on here use the emily's garden or is that way Old school. I am just growing for myself so even 6 grown plants is enough at one time. Thanks again tom

I don't remember anybody here saying they use one but they're basically just DWC hydroponic units and we have people that use DWC here, just not the Emily's Garden brand version. They just make their own, either with one big container (like the EG) with multiple plants or with individual 5 gallon buckets. The EG is probably a little over crowded at 4' tall too so stopping your veg earlier isn't a bad idea either. If you're going to flower while they're much shorter then a LED might work for you too but you'll probably get better results with a new 600w HPS than you would a 600w LED. Don't forget to change your bulb every 4-6 months, they lose intensity over time and bulbs are considered maintenance items. A good ballast should last you a long time.

Which ever light you choose you can always come here and start a grow journal and we'll try to help you get the most out of whatever you use.


Hope that helps...