What is HID Grow Lighting?

HID lighting stands for High Intensity Discharge, which is a special type of grow lighting that is much brighter than incandescent or fluorescent. An HID grow lighting system consists of a ballast, reflector, socket and grow lamp (light bulb). The ballast acts like the engine, converting and driving energy to illuminate the lamp. High Pressure Sodium (HPS) and Metal Halide (MH) are typically used for plant growth.

	A ballast is the part of a Grow Light System that conditions and distributes the power to a Socket Assembly that fires your Lamp or Bulb. Most ballasts are "remote" which means they are separate from the Reflector and Socket Assembly and can be placed almost anywhere. There are Metal Halide (MH), High Pressure Sodium (HPS) and switchable units available in Magnetic Coil or Digital/Electronic.
	A reflector is the part of a Grow Light System that focuses the light from a Lamp or Bulb toward your plants. There are Air-Cooled, Parabolic and standard reflectors available.
	A Grow Lamp or Bulb is the part of a Grow Light System that puts out High Intensity light that triggers Photosynthesis in plants. The most important thing to think about when selecting a bulb is what stage of growth you are in and what light spectrums your plants require. Most plants like more blue spectrum in the Vegetative Cycle and more Red in the Bloom Cycle, for instance with peppers or flowers. There are Metal Halide (MH) which are usually more blue, High Pressure Sodium (HPS) which are generally red, Conversion (HPS-to-MH and MH-to-HPS), and Dual Arc lamps (which are both blue and red).