Finding the right HID grow lights for your plants is one of the most important parts of maintaining any grow room.

When you’re growing plants in an indoor grow tent or grow room, your plants aren’t getting any of the light that they would typically get from the sun if they were growing outdoors. Instead, the plants in your grow room rely on the light that comes from the grow lamps you provide for them.

To ensure you’re giving them the right amount of light, you’ll want to find an HID grow light with the proper wattage. There’s more to grow lights than wattage, though — determining the best wattage for your grow room involves considering a few other factors, as well.

What Does High-Intensity Discharge Lighting (HID) Mean?

High-intensity discharge (HID) is a form of lighting used in indoor growing situations.

High-intensity discharge grow lights produce an electric arc between tungsten electrodes housed inside a translucent tube. This electric charge excites gas molecules, which, as a result, produces high-intensity light.

HID lamps are available in high-pressure sodium (HPS), metal halide (MH) or ceramic metal halide (CMH) versions. HID lighting also includes double-ended lighting systems as opposed to single-ended traditional bulbs.

ECO Farm 1000W Double Ended HPS HID Grow Light Enclosed Kit

Features:

This ECO Farm grow light kit includes a Super HPS Double Ended 1000W HPS Bulb, high PAR 2100um+ output, providing 35% more available energy than Standard HPS Lamp bulb. The high frequency digital dimmable ballast 120V-240V designed specifically for Double Ended Grow Lamps 1000W (HPS/MH), adjustable to 600/750/1000/1150W output. Sturdy reflective hood is made of German aluminum rated at 95% reflectivity, with excellent color rendering and outstanding high quality, and the high quality lamp holder. ETL Certified to ensure the Digital Dimmable Ballast 3 years warranty, DE HPS 1000W Bulb has 1 year warranty. For the Optimal Performance, the bulb should be replaced once a year.

SunStream 1000 Watt DE Double Ended HID Grow Light Kit

Features:

This SunStream grow light kit is made by using quality hardware components and high standard QA process; The system operates both HPS and MH light bulb, offering excellent lamp efficacy. This high-tech ballast has adjustable output power at 600W, 750W, 1000W, 1150W; Support dual voltage Input 120V-240V; Unique graduating fin design for more efficient cooling; Advanced safety protection against short circuit, power surge, ignition failure, overheat. Sturdy reflective hood is made of German aluminum at 95% reflectivity, closed style designed reflector concentrates light distribution towards center, eliminate dead spot; recommended coverage 5x5 sq ft.

HID Grow Lights: What To Consider

There are a few decisions you have to make. The first is what wattage system you want.

Then you need to decide whether you want a kit with only a high-pressure sodium (HPS) bulb or one with both an HPS and a metal halide (MH) bulb.

How Many Watts Do I Need To Grow Indoors?

Quick Summary For Those Who Don’t Like Reading
400 watts covers a 3 by 3-foot area
600 watts covers a 4 by 4-foot area
1000 watts covers a 5 by 5-foot area
If your area is such that you have several options, always go with lower wattage lights over fewer higher wattage lights.
First off, the only wattages you should consider are 400, 600 or 1000. Anything below 400 and above 1000 watts is simply too inefficient.

If you want lower wattages, you’re better off going with fluorescent light and anything over 1000 watts just uses too much power and generates too much heat to make any sense.

In general, we recommend 600 watts. This is where HID lights are at their peak efficiency. That said, there are certainly times where a 1000 watt or 400 watts light makes more sense. It basically comes down to the size of your garden.

To simplify things, a 400-watt bulb lights up a 3 by 3-foot area; a 600-watt bulb covers a 4 by 4-foot area, and a 1000 watt bulb covers a 5 by 5-foot area. Obviously, the reflector style will change the coverage area a bit, but these are the general coverages for each.

Thus, if you have a 3 by 3 grow tent, it would make the most sense to get a 400-watt system. For a 10 by 10 tent, four 1000 watt lights would fit best.

If several options work, more lights of a lower wattage are always preferable to fewer lights of higher wattage, to cover the same area. For example, a 20 by 20-foot space would be better covered by twenty-five 600-watt lights than sixteen 1000 watt lights.

What Type Of Grow Light Bulb Do I Need? HPS or MH?

Get both bulbs. The metal halide bulb maximizes growth during the vegging stage and the high-pressure sodium bulb maximizes bud and flower production during the blooming stage.

You can use one bulb throughout but will get better results switching bulbs when it comes time to switch from veg to flowering.

Of course, the best results come from using both types of bulbs during all stages of growth, but that will increase costs considerably. And the increase in the cost of running both types of bulbs is simply too high to justify the increase in growth rate and yield.

Unless you are a medium to large-scale commercial grower, use only one type of bulb at a time: MH for vegging and HPS for flowering.

Conclusion

Ultimately, figuring out the best HID grow light for your grow room comes down to looking at all the other factors that play into the light your plants are getting.

When selecting the best grow light for your plants and your growing goals, you’ll need to keep everything in mind from the grow light’s footprint to its reflector, and especially the lumen output. These factors are absolutely pivotal to your plants’ growth, so it’s essential that you choose an HID grow light that will offer optimal results within your grow tent or grow room environment.

Finally, once you figure out the proper wattage for your grow room, any one of the lights we’ve listed above will be a great fit for your grow room and help your plants thrive.