ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

What Light Is The Best Lighting for Growing Legal Medical Marijuana in a Hydroponic System

Updated on March 26, 2012

Medical Marijuana Lighting for Fat Buds

Marijuana is a phenomenal plant that grows naturally throughout the planet. Unfortunately it's still illegal to develop marijuana in several countries. Please look at your local laws and regulations before growing weed.

With that stated, let’s get growing!

It’s a standard consensus that growing cannabis is better done with a hydroponic system indoors. Hydroponics is the process of raising a plant without soil. There are quite a few different ways to grow using hydroponics, but regardless, you're going to need some supplies. First and foremost you need a light source to cultivate your herb. There are numerous technologies out there and I will break down the benefits and drawbacks of each available for you.

The cheapest and most inefficient light supply is compact fluorescent lights (CFL). There are two different methods of CFL lighting. Many people grow marijuana with CFL lighting. It’s a wise course of action to get at the very least the 100 watt lamps because anything less is not really giving off sufficient light unless you got mad growing skills. Keep in mind that most are not especially efficient so you might need more lights to grow and flower 3 or more crops. The other form of CFL lighting could be the shop light design. These have a metal bracket used as a reflector and the bulbs themselves will be long and cylindrical. This style of lighting is a tad bit more efficient than the actual CFL bulb however still not perfect for growing marijuana. Whichever type of CFL bulb you want, strive for the actual bluest temperature with regard to vegetative growth as well as the warmest color for flowering.

Your next lighting type is definitely Metal Halide (MH). You can see metal halide lamps anytime you leave your place during night, because that’s what the majority of street lights work with. Metal halide lights works by converting power from a ballast and delivering it to an HIDlight. This lighting type is very good for vegetative growth but less for flowering. These systems use lots of electricity and produce substantial heat so it is wise to use MH jointly with good ventilation.


High Pressure Sodium(HPS) lighting style is arguably the top lighting for the amount of money. Just like that metal halide method, HPS also uses a ballast and also an HID light bulb. The advantage may be a fuller spectrum which plants will recognize the value of and use both for vegetative and flowering. While it is far from the best for vegging its ideal for flowering. This system in addition runs pretty hot therefore it should be used with proper ventilation.

Light-Emitting Diode Technological innovation (LED) is about to become one of the best lighting technology to grow medical marijuana with. It is very efficient and any 90 watt LED can provide as much usable light as a 600 watt hps or metal halide light. A good LED system may be a bit pricey but nevertheless it's worth every dime because it gives off no heat and uses less electricity as compared with your television. Most systems that use blue and reddish colored light should maximize and have a flourishing grow.


Once you choose your light source, purchase some fans to aid with circulation and also heat. Remember, a good light source will be the key to a prosperous hydroponicgrow process. As long as you follow the instructions and use the various tools and information that is out there then you'll be well on your way to growing glorious medical marijuana.

Please make sure that you take all the precautions as far as the legality of your growing situation. Here in California and with my legit history of chronic back pains the medical marijuana license process was a breeze so good luck to all the legal medical marijuana growers out there and future growers also.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)