Choosing Grow Lights for Hydroponics Gardening

Hydroponics gardening makes a great hobby anytime of year, but especially during those dark cold winter months. In this system of indoor gardening, plants are grown without using soil. Instead, they are grown in a growing medium, feeding off of nutrient solution. As with any type of indoor gardening method, hydroponics gardening requires the use of grow lights in order for the plants to be able to synthesize food, grow, and reproduce, producing flowers or fruit. HID lights are often used for this purpose. HID, or high-intensity discharge lights, come in several varieties, including metal halide grow lights and HPS grow lights. All HID lights require a digital ballast in order to control electrical current through the lamp and ensure its proper function. Most also benefit from being used in conjunction with a reflector, which will direct and intensify the light that the bulb produces. LED grow lights have become very popular. These lightweight lights, using light- emitting diodes, produce a lot of light in colors useful for plant growth, and are cost effective as well. There are many choices for lamps that make great grow lights for hydroponics.

Metal halide grow lights consist of an arc tube made of alumina, inside of which is argon, mercury vapor and a variety of metals. The different metals give color to the light the lamp produces. The argon gas is used to get the lamp going at first when electrical current is introduced inside the arc tube from electrodes on either end. The arc of current vaporizes the metals and mercury, and thus light is produced. The benefit of using these lamps is that for such small bulbs they produce a lot of light, and are efficient to run.

HPS grow lights are also called high-pressure sodium lights. Like the MH lights, HPS lights also use an alumina arc tube. Inside this tube you will find sodium, mercury, and the noble gas Xenon to get the light started. Like the metal halide lights, HPS lights also require a ballast for their use, to stabilize their operation.