Comments on: Plasma Grow Lights: The Promises Of Full Spectrum Plant Lighting

By: greenfinger

greenfinger — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 23:13:49 +0000

Henry J:
I totally agree most info. out there comes from sales/profit driven company’s often all hype,boasting. Regards to the digital ballasts i see your point ive been looking for a while now due to conflicting and somewhat ambiguous bold claims of 30% extra yield. Either extra light or saving in the running costs=still a question ive not had answered. (objectfully) without a sales person trying to get an order.feeling silly askings.,lumatek 600+dimmable looks fantastic but is it worth its $200 tag. Do they really produce 30% extra light,=extra yield/weight. is it worth upgrading or is the bulb equally as imporant. Think sunpluses 4-bulb range $120 per bulb,and replaced every 6-9months. Are they at the cutting edge or are we “hobby”not kept up to date with technologys. Should this information about latest gadgets be available without the need to feel stupid-over anal,knowledge is power,its knowing how to use that power. So compared to the commercial industry will people share there experiences so we as humans can make informed educated choices. the “fake/counterfeiter” goods (often electrical) need to public,
Now leds appear the the future. All coming from china=scary how good these counterfeit goods are available online.Best avoid.

By: Dan Weddle

Dan Weddle — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 09:18:37 +0000

I have been thinking about plasma lighting for horticulture ever since plasma TV’s hit the market. I thought there could be the ability to control the spectrum electronically through software running the power supply (or “ballast).
It looks like the Plasma International people beat me to it except for the mechanical aspects.
******************************************************
Note: to Mr. Danforth, I understand you frustration regarding the digital HID ballasts. They consume bulbs for the most part and the major manufacturers are always tweeking the parameters via software to improve their design but the folks that purchased last years model, with last years software are screwed and must buy a new ballast to update a couple lines of code that could save the life of a hundred dollar bulb by 50%! As far as I know, Sunpulse is the only manufacturer that certifies any digital ballast for use with their bulb -then only a few of the most expensive models. My advice to anybody considering the purchase of digital ballasts is to WAIT! Wait until the manufacturers get off their ass and spend a dollar to include a flash drive or USB port to update the software in their ballasts. And then avoid any off-brand Chinese knock off because of the bulb consumption issue. It’s like buying a PC with Windows Vista (or ME)! Don’t buy digital because it’s the “latest thing” in lighting. Until the time that the industry can come up with some standard, AVOID DIGITAL BALLASTS! The manufacturers owe it to their customers to make a product that can be upgraded if they KNOW there is a problem -They do! Stick with the time-proven cap & coil technology that had lighted our highways and greenhouses for years until something truly better comes around. Plasma may be it! I’ll try a 1Kw plasma system when I can get it for a grand (it seems you could save that in bulb replacement and cooling in a few years).
LED: When Cray or some manufacturer can make a $1 10-watt LED that has similar lumen output per watt as HID that may be the way to go. Current output & efficiency is too low and the cost is too high. But LED is gaining ground because the technology will double the output and cut the cost in half every year. Give it a few years & maybe we’ll all be running Plasma/LED combo’s…

By: james uk

james uk — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 12:06:14 +0000

i can’t wait for the price and size of the kits to come down as more use’s are found

By: Henry J Danforth

Henry J Danforth — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 23:04:52 +0000

While in the process of researching electronic ballasts prior to making a purchase, I discovered that there are no impartial comparisons by gardening industry experts given for the many ballasts offered. The only information I find is either personal opinion by amateur growers based on their inexperience and lack of knowledge or commercial hype by salesmen or company reps. Neither of which is very objective. Am I to believe that the reason for lack of endorsements is due to the fact that the professional gardening community do not want to alienate prospective advertizers? The same can be said for most of the products manufactured for the modern gardening industry. I find no one willing to give an objective opinion based on testing and research. As a new indoor grower, I find this frustrating. There must be varing degrees of product quality that can be quantified through proper testing and research. I would like to have information from qualified industry experts available to make my decisions. Will this happen? Or, will people like me be left to stumble along clueless?
Thank you,

Henry J Danforth

By: greenfinger

greenfinger — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 23:08:48 +0000

After buying a 7200k cool blue sunmaster £45. Ive never seen light that colour 100% loved by plants however after starting/kicked the plants into the flowering period with a HPS, i switched bk to the MH (last 3wks of flower) as the light was much brighter and the plants seem happy.However im just curious whats best for flowering a MH or HPS or a mixture,due to sunpluse’s 4-bulbs,each costing £70-$100.are they worth it or are the other companys behind the times.?? p.s the sunmaster cool blue 7200k is the best bulb ive used,for fast growth and ive tried most brands.

By: farang

farang — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 23:07:05 +0000

Any comments on the Phillips CDM 400W bulbs?

I have heard they rival, maybe even slightly out-perform, the Hortilux 600 in crop weight and quality.

Supposedly it is the color of the light that gives it the ability to provide a complete spectrum…anyone here have any experience with them?