Plasma Lighting. Is it good

[growstudent1]

I am a newbie starting from scratch. The guy at my local store is telling me that Plasma is the way to go because you dont have heat issues, and it is far better then HPS.

Can anyone verify that this is the way to go?

Also he is suggesting the "lighthead plasma grow gen 3" which is due out soon

Thank you

 

[budbro]

I think it is great technology, but there is a lot of hype surrounding it as well. Without knowing the details of what you are trying to achieve, it would be hard to say. Gen 3 specifics are not up on their website, but according to Gen 2 specs it operates at 5600k. 5600k or greater is very good for vegetation, but way too high for flowering and bud production. Again, the hype is out there going strong and before you plop down that much cash, you have to be careful. If you are looking for one light to use from start to finish, plasma is probably not the way to go yet. If they come up with a way to switch out bulbs with different kelvins, then you have a winner.

 

[Karr]

Plasma is much too generic of a term these days. The plasma that most likely rock the indoor growing world is sulphur plasma. Unfortunately sulfur plasma is quite a few years off for home use. What we are seeing more and more of is metal halide plasma. It's is good for veg indeed but lacks the complete spectrum they all seem to claim. Specifically they lack the red needed for good flower cycle. If the plasma lights you see are based on the luxim engine, then yes they are mh plasma. Really not worth the cost at this time.

If you want a light that will give you a great spectrum and lower heat do some research on ceramic metal halide.

 

[Hosebomber]

Plasma not generating heat? If I remember correctly it requires 2500 degrees C to arch plasma and has an operating temp of around 45 degrees C

 

[budbro]

I'm not sure how much heat is required, but the heat is generated and dissipated at the transformer, while the bulb part of the light remains fairly cool.

 

[Eshine Robin]

Nowadays, there are only two companies producing the sulfur plasma lamp in China, but the power of their lamp is all more than 1000W and only used in outdoors lighting and warehouse lighting. As there is no company who can build the power of the sulfur plasma light in China because of the technology problem is too difficult to solve, so I think there are still many years for sulfur plasma lamp to develop. For indoors growing lighting, 100W-300W sulfur plasma lamp would be perfect option, but it's really hard to find available product in current market.

 

[slimm]

...
If you want a light that will give you a great spectrum and lower heat do some research on ceramic metal halide.

Agreed; although they are nowhere near as cool as LEDs. Are they making them larger than 600w these days?