HID grow lights have been present for a long time even before the emergence of some of the modern light fixtures such as LEDs and Plasma grow light. For numerous years, they have been the most reliable choice a cannabis grower may choose for their farm. HID bulbs contain two different types of gas that light up when you turn them on. These two gases are Metal Halide (MH) and High-Pressure Sodium (HPS). With a high number of HID manufacturers releasing their product to the market, it has become even harder to get a top-quality HID grow light. Due to increased competition in bringing products to the market, it impacts the quality of lamps flowing into the market.
Numerous brands are registering massive failures with bulbs blowing up within the first few weeks of use. Still, the top HID grow lights in the market can deliver excellent results. If you are looking for an HID grow lamp to use on your farm, then you should select one of those listed below.
Table of Contents
- Our Top Picks Best Hid Grow Lights
- What Should You Consider When Choosing An HID Bulb
- LED vs. HID Grow Lights?
- Conclusion
Our Top Picks Best Hid Grow Lights
iPower 400 Watt HPS MH Digital Dimmable Grow Light System
iPower has dominated the horticultural industry for more than a decade as one of the leading grow light manufacturers. The iPower 400 Watt HPS MH Digital Dimmable Grow Light System provides your plants with the necessary light it requires to rise from the seedling stage till it starts to flower. It gives a flicker-free light of high intensity and a better quality spectrum. It comes with a wing reflector measuring 19 inches that support a light coverage of up to 4 foot by 4 foot. The reflector has a German aluminum texture that helps to maximize the amount of light fed to the plants. It also has a digital dimmable ballast that you can use to dim the amount of power output by 100 percent, 75 percent, and 50 percent increasing the efficiency of your grow light. IPower focuses their strength on improving the security of all their lighting devices to ensure that you will not have
When using the iPower HPS MH Digital Dimmable Grow Light System, you need to ensure that you have a working ventilation system. The lamp produces a lot of heat that would damage your plants if you do not have a way to control the internal grow room climate.
Pros
- The lamp provides your plants with a full spectrum light that is beneficial for plant growth
- It eliminates the need to use different types of lights in your grow room
- It comes with a hood and reflector that ensures light distributes well to your plants
- Since it contains a dimmer, you can regulate the amount of light flowing to the plants
- It saves you on cost since it is a fully comprehensive system. You can, therefore, start planting immediately
- The materials that make up the light are of top quality
- It comes with a long-lasting bulb that has low instances of failure
Cons
- It produces a lot of heat that would otherwise destroy your plants if you do not have a proper ventilation system
Hydroplanet™ 600W Digital Dimmable Ballast HPS MH System
If you are looking for versatility in the type of lighting that you use, then the Hydroplanet™ Digital Dimmable Ballast HPS MH System may offer just that. You can choose to use either the MH or the HPS lamps with the fixture. You may as well decide to use both types of lamps and covert from one to another with ease. Once you set your lighting cycle, the lights will continually stay on due to an inbuilt protection mechanism by the lighting system. The bulbs will give you a flicker-free light of 90,000 lumens, which is good enough to provide you with a healthy plant yield. Its 600 watts digital ballast can support both 120 volts and 240 volts. The kit as well contains a high quality reflector that helps to distribute the right amount of light to your plants. Alongside, the bulbs in the fixture are double-ended, providing your plants with the right amount of light.
Pros
- The grow light is ETL certified
- It has a highly reflective surface that aids in uniform light distribution
- It is easy to install
- The light is highly effective and specially made for the flowering and fruiting stages of growth.
- The lamp comes with a two-year warranty
Cons
- The grow light fixture is slightly heavy
iPower 1000 Watt HPS Digital Dimmable Ballast Grow Light System
Another iPower light to grace the list is the 1000W HPS digital dimmable Ballast Grow Light. The lighting fixture is an excellent alternative to an LED light. Similar to the 400W, it stands out due to its dimmable feature with options ranging from 50 percent, 75 percent, and 100 percent. The iPower 1000W can as well support a power input of 120 volts and 240 volts. You may control the amount of light to that of need by the plants using the dimming feature. It, however, produces a brighter light output of about 140,000 lumens. The light bulb in use can last for about 24,000 hours in continuous use without flickering or blacking out. After 5000 hours of use, the bulb will maintain a 90 percent brightness throughout. The lamp produces a full spectrum light that can support growth through all the growing stages of your weed plants. It is the next best thing to an LED light.
It is essential to have a sound ventilation system in your grow tent when operating the iPower 1000 Watt HPS Digital Dimmable Ballast Grow Light System. It produces heat that if you do not get rid of, it may burn your plants.
Pros
- The grow light has a long lifespan of 24,000 hours.
- It provides your plants with a full spectrum light that can support all the stages of your cannabis weed growth.
- The light it produces does not flicker
- It comes with a reflector that helps to distribute heat to your plants
- You can control the amount of light for your plants using the digital dimmable feature of the lamp.
Cons
- The lamp has some parts that may be difficult to replace once it damages
- It is costlier than its HPS counterparts in the market
Yield Lab 600w High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) Digital HID Grow Light Bulb
If you want a grow light that will provide you more lumens that power it consumes, then you should get the Yield Lab 600w HPS Digital HID Grow Light Bulb. All the HID products by Yield Labs go through a UL and CE testing to ensure that they are safe for use in an indoor environment. You can get a yield growing fixture with a 400w, 600W and 1000W ballast depending on the size of your grow area. The 600W grow light can effectively cover an area ranging from 4ft by 4ft to 5ft by 5ft. The lamp can produce a vigorous light intensity of about 90,000 lumens made up of different light wavelengths comprising of the yellow, red, orange, and blue spectrum. The light it produces helps to increase the yields of your plants effortlessly. By using the Yield Grow Light Bulb, you will get a 20 percent increase in the amount of flowering than any other bulb in the market.
Pros
- The bulb has a high PAR efficiency
- It can have a long lifespan of 24,000 hours.
- The bulbs provide a light spectrum that supports dense vegetative growth together with the flowering stage.
- The bulb has a higher blue spectrum production than any other in the market
- It leads to an increase in the budding of your cannabis plants by 20 percent
Cons
- The bulbs produce a lot of heat. Therefore, you need a fan to control the heat in your grow room
Eye Hortilux HX66620 Super HPS Lamp
One other grow light that deserves plenty of mention is the Eye Hortilux HX66620 Super HPS Lamp. The 400W grow light is a product of one of the premium horticultural lighting brands that have been in the market for more than 20 years. Among its kind, the bulbs lead in the PAR and lumens that they produce according to the PPFDD. THE grow light leads to the development of bigger and fuller flowers with overall high yields. The bulbs are environmentally friendly, and you can dispose off them without the need to recycle. You should, however, carefully consider the laws of the area you reside in to prevent charges of pollution. You may find some differences between the Eye Hortilux HX66620 Super HPS Lamp and other HPS grow light. However, you should go for the Eye Hortilux HPS Lamp if you want a top-quality product.
Pros
- The grow light is especially helpful during the flowering phase of your cannabis plants
- The grow light registers a high lumen and PAR value
- The lamp is made of top quality products and delivers top quality results
- The lamp is environmentally friendly and free from lead
- The grow lamp comes with a one year warranty
Cons
- The bulb has a pretty high cost, mainly due to the replacement that you have to do after every 9 to 12 months.
What Should You Consider When Choosing An HID Bulb
When purchasing an HID grow light, there are several factors you should consider that affect your growing setup. By considering these matters, you can be sure of experiencing bigger and better yield during the harvesting period.
The type of ballast your grow light uses
Every HID grow light requires a ballast to operate. It is, therefore, essential to get the right ballast. But how do you tell if a ballast is good enough? You should consider factors such as bulb protection, its dimming abilities, and flexibility in power usage.
It is best to consider a digital ballast since it can run with different types of bulbs without consuming much electricity while still maintaining high light output.
Single-Ended or Double-Ended bulbs?
You can find HID grow lights as either double-ended or single-ended, with single-ended bulbs taking the form of incandescent light and using an arc tube to produce light. Double-ended bulbs, on the other hand, are similar to fluorescent tubes and are the most popular to cannabis growers. You should strive to get a double-ended bulb since they emit more light than single-ended bulbs. Instead of a vacuum, the bulbs have nitrogen that they use to produce more light.
What is the size of the coverage Area
The size of your growing area will determine the size of the HID grow lamp and the wattage to use. You can find various wattage levels of grow lights from 150W to 1000W. Each lap wattage has a distance of its reach, with the lowest having the lowest spread while the highest has the highest reach. The wattage of a grow light also determines the distance that you should hang your grow light above the plants. The higher the wattage, the higher the amount of heat the lamp provides. Therefore, you should place it a bit further from the plants to prevent any instances of burning.
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LED vs. HID Grow Lights?
HPS and MH bulbs have been around the market for more time than LED lamps due to their reliability in an indoor setting. The bulbs are bright, powerful, and inexpensive. However, LEDs have gone through various innovations over time and today provide similar results to HID bulbs while solving some of the problems facing the HID bulbs. With an LED lamp, you can get a full spectrum light that gets rid of the need to switch the bulbs you are using through the different stages of your cannabis plant growth. It produces an equal amount of heat to an HID while consuming less energy and running at relatively cooler temperatures. LED lights are therefore significantly superior that HID grow lights in its technicalities. However, you can choose to use either depending on the results you want to achieve.
Conclusion
The most challenging part of setting up an indoor grow room is selecting the light to use. The competition is not only in the different brands creating lights but the different types of lamps to use. However, one of the best ways to escape this confusion is by choosing a grow light by considering the phases of your plant growth. HID light bulbs can provide you with the best results once your cannabis plants start flowering. You can trust them to increase the amount of yield leading to better harvests.
- MAXIMIZE YIELDS & CROP QUALITY: MARS HYDRO FC8000 LED growing light with 2968pcs Samsung LM301B & Osram 660nm Diodes, boast the market-leading efficiency 2.9 µmol/J, Max 3.0g yield per wattage with 30% higher Average PPFD,achieve 50% higher yield & quality compared with the old lights! Only consumes 800w perfect light for 4x4ft flowering.
- FLEXIBLE DIMMING DAISY CHAIN,prefect as commercial LED grow lights, FC8000 dimmable grow lamp with daisy chain,up to 15 lights connected, master light controlled offers great convenience to your planting! IP65 Waterproof wide 8-bar offers even & broad canopy coverage,maximizes grow space,flexible 180 degree design,ideal for home & vertical farming.
- UPGRADED FULL SPECTRUM GROW LIGHT: High-intensity spectrum with enhanced red (Top-Bin Samsung 2800k-5000knm Warm White,4800-5000k White,Osram 660nm Deep Red),speed up blooming & fruiting, FC8000 grow lamp born for Density Buds,widely suit for full-cycle commercial, home, grow tent, grow room, hydroponic,soil growth.Input Voltage 100-277V.
- BEST SAMSUNG DIODES COMMERICAL GROW LAMP: MARS HYDRO FC8000 has Top Bin ture Samsung Osram Diodes,combined with remarkable 2.8µmol/J Efficacy,30% higher Average PPFD,50% less energy consumption,to maximize your yields & profits.Trusted 5 full years warranty,any question,feel free to email us,100% Satisfactory Solution guaranteed!!
- High Efficiency: The improved VIVOSUN 100W LED Grow Light comes with 238 Samsung diodes; With an output of 2.5 μmol/J and only 100W of energy consumption
- ETL-Certified Safe Driver: The driver is an ETL-certified low voltage driver; The driver is isolated, which means it is not directly on the LED board and thus significantly reduces the risk of electric shock
- Sunlike Spectrum Lighting: The grow light has an optimal full-spectrum coverage that includes 3000K, 5000K, 660nm, 750nm light (i.e., white, warm white, red, and far-red light)
- More Light, Less Heat: Our LED grow light allows more energy to be converted into light rather than heat; The aluminum heat sink enables the light to cool down faster and run quietly
- Bonus Hangers & Well-made Details: Comes with an extra set of hangers for easy hanging; IP65 waterproof level can tackle the typical moisture in the tent; Perfect for 2 x 2 ft. tent
- 💡Full Spectrum: The full spectrum indoor plant growth lamp closely matches sunlight to better promote plant growt, so this light is perfect for planting flowers, herbs, succulents, peppermint, small tomatoes, catmint, cat grass seeds and other types of plants
- 💡Automatic Smart Timer: Featuring an automatic 16hrs on, 8hrs off timer, you never have to worry about turning your light on or off. Simulating both sunrise and sunset, this light maximizes the growth rhythm of plants
- 💡CRI95+: This full spectrum light matches color light visible to the human eye. Provide colorful lighting to bring out the natural color of plants while still promoting growth
- 💡Sufficient Lighting: Providing the needed light quantum flex density for plant growth, this light provides the lighting needs of 112umol/m²/s PPFD for most plants when 7.9inches away from the plant
- 💡Trusted Quality: Durable, waterproof, insulated, heat resistant, and anti-static, this light comes with all the needed accessories (plants and flowerpots are not included). Installing this light is easy that does not need screws and the UL-certified power adapter makes it safe to use. Lasting up to 25,000hrs this light comes with a 2-year warranty
- MAXIMIZE YIELDS & CROP QUALITY - MARS HYDRO FC4800 led grow light with 1680 Pcs Samsung LM301B & Osram 660nm Diodes, boast the incredible efficiency 2.85 µmol/J max 3g yield per wattage with 30% higher Average PPFD, achieve 50% higher yield & quality compared with the old lights! Only consumes 480W perfect light for 3x3ft of high-yielding full-cycle growth.
- FLEXIBLE DIMMING DAISY CHAIN - Prefect as commercial LED grow lights, FC4800 dimmable grow lamp with daisy chain, allows you to connect up to 30 mars grow light to your commercial grow, horizontal and vertical farming, greenhouse planting, pipeline cultivation, hydroponics. Perfect for the mars hydro 4x4grow tent growing the whole cycle.
- FULL SPECTRUM GROW LIGHT - High-intensity spectrum with enhanced red(3200-4200K,4800-5000k, 650-665nm) is perfect for veg to bloom, to adapt to each phase of the plant cycle. The dimming knob is ideal for growers to adjust the light intensity based on different growing stages.
- FREE INSTALLATION - Open and use, 6 passive-cooled bars, aluminum heat-sink, fanless zero noise design, offers even & broad canopy coverage, maximizes grow space, flexible 180 degree design, ideal for home & vertical farming commercial growth.
- 5 YEARS WARRANTY SERVICE - US local repair center makes your purchase worry-free, any problem or question, feel free to contact our customer service first.
- Lower Running Costs & Energy Saving---This UFO Grow Light uses high quality LEDs very similar to Samsung LEDs, high Energy Efficiency with 2.2 μmol/J, delivers powerful light output and uniform canopy penetration to resulting maximum higher yields. Only consumes 65W, running 50% less power than the other SMD LEDs or Blurple lamps or HPS.
- Ideal Full Spectrum for All Growth Stages---Excellent full spectrum- white, blue, red (3000K, 5000K, 660nm). 3000K diodes providing more reddish light and the 5000K providing more blueish. The 660nm red light is especially useful during bloom, where it speeds up flowering time and boost yields. Turn your seeds into your own supply, And the light looks fairly natural sunlight.
- NEWEST DIMMING DESIGN ---Upgraded UFO series growing lights only have a dimming knob not only used as dimming function but also used as light switch. It is easier to use, You can adjust the brightness to any intensity just as you like.
- Well Made & Aesthetic Premium Appearance ---This grow light designed with thicker aluminum heat sink and super silent fan, cooling system is stronger. Aesthetic and premium appearance and user-friendly packaging get your heart at first time. Quality components mean the light lasts longer, but they also save you money.
- 100% Satisfied After-sale Customer Service---Each of our led plant grow light has passed strict inspection before they leave the factory. If there is any problem or you are not satisfied 100%, please feel free to contact us by anyway on the product at once.
