Components and accessories

Components and accessories

In this section you can find components and accessories for you grow lights and anything you might need to keep the lightning equipment of your grow op under control. Time your lights, lower the power of your extraction system or measure the intensity in your bulbs to decide whether they're working properly or they need to be changed.

One of the most indispensable accessories for indoor growing are timers. They are in charge of controlling when your lights turn on and off. They are very precise and will turn the lights on and off exactly at the time you want. You'll be able to spare your plants the stress of light fluctuations.

If you only use one light, an Analogue Timer might be ideal for you: they're very easy to use. It's a clock with knobs and depending what time they are set, and whether they are up or down, you'll be able to your lights turn on and off. The truth is this timer is ideal if you use just one light, but if you use 2 lamps or more it's advisable to get a different model. Analogue timers are very sensitive and if you use 2 lamps with a 600W magnetic ballast, they will most likely stop working. It can endure up to 6A approx. but a 600W with magnetic ballast uses 4A, so two units will burn this timer out. However, it is true it could be used with an electronic ballast that would only use 2.6A and two lamps.

Digital timers are very similar to analogue ones but they are controlled by means of a digital screen. If you use them with lamps, they are actually very similar and they support the same range of power. However, these types of timers have many other potential uses since you could set them to perform up to 8 additional functions. They are ideal for irrigation or extraction systems. They are so precise and have so many options, you could set them to work for just one minute at an exact day of the week.

If you want to use two lamps without the timer blowing a fuse, you can resort to a Legrand timer, one of the best on the market. They use a system similar to Cornwall's, but are made of much finer materials and components. They hardly break down and will maintain the right photoperiod for your plants. If anything goes wrong with the lighting in your indoor garden you might lose your plants, so investing in a good timer is well worth it.

If you are going to use more than 2 lamps, the best way to go is to use multi socket timers. These timers can control and withstand the intensity requirements of 4 to 12 lamps. Besides, they are incredibly safe since they have a thermal cutoff inside that will cut out when a problem is detected. In this way, you can prevent incidents such as short-circuits that might cause serious damage. Many timers come with two sockets for plugs, so the current can be splitted in two lines. If you don't plug in both, none of the lamps will work: it is not that there's a socket for each of the lamps but that both plugs must be connected so that current can run through.

We have white-label 4x600W and 8x600W timers of really good quality. They have from 2 to 4 sockets at each side of the box, where lamps are placed. Another socket, located at the top of the box is used to turn on the heating so when the lamps go off, temperature doesn't go down during the night cycle and plants don't suffer any stress due to temperature differences. A clock, located in the middle of the box, will make all the lights turn on and off at the chosen time, with no risk of the timer blowing or the light staying lit due to excess power. It is an indispensable accessory for big grow ops.

If you don't trust white-label products entirely you can choose one of our GSE Timers, a brand that will never disappoint you. It has two models of several timers, some with a switch that turns the heating on for the night cycle. Models include from 4x600W sockets to 12x600W, so you can use even more lamps. These boxes come with a quality warranty, when you buy any product from GSE you know you have a device for life.

Other components such as the CII-Mate controller, besides controlling the light cycles of up to 4x600W lamps, can adjust the temperature of your garden with extractors. Time A/C and lighting equipment with the same device: a whole central station for a very good price. It also has maximum speed, minimum speed and hysteresis functions. You can set your extractor to work just up to a certain speed so it doesn't make so much noise, you can set a minimum speed so there is always a negative pressure and also, the temperature at which we want our plants to be exposed. Our plants require luminosity levels that you need to supply with grow lights. When lights are new they emit a very powerful light that lets plants carry out their processes with no problem. However, luminosity declines with time and use. If you want to know if bulbs need to be replaced or if plants are getting enough energy, you need a light meter. This instrument lets you know the exact amount of lumens that reach the plants and if bulbs are still fully functional.

We sell two models of light meter in our catalogue, both with a detailed description of their characteristics and how to use them. In short, you will have to ensure the plants are getting about 5000 lumens at the tips during the vegetative stage and 45000 during the flowering: if you can't place them at a such distance so that the tips don't get burned, you will have to replace them.

Pulleys are other accessories that will help you to install your lamps. As the cycle goes on, you will need to rise the lights little by little as plants grow up and, once the cycle is over, you will have to get them down again. Pulleys simplify this task: by simply pulling from a rope, the lights will go up and by removing the breaks they will go down. You won't have to use inconvenient chains or ropes or anything of the kind. Depending on the weight you want to hang, you'll have to use anything between the smallest pulleys (5 kg) and the biggest ones (up to 69 Kg). The product description includes all the details for each of them.

If you need a cable for your reflector or your ballast, we sell cables by the meter (available in 1.5mm and 2.5mm sections). The 1.5 mm cable allows you to connect a plug to the ballast or drive power from the ballast to the reflector easily. If you need cable for higher currents, such as a main cable for 6 to 8 lamps, you'll need to use the 2.5mm one.

There are also 2m cables with a Plug & Play jack for connecting your reflector to your ballast without needing to cut the peg of the ballast. There are also spare jacks for ballasts that don't come with an integrated cable to connect to the lamp and need to have the cable attached separately. Extractors come often without a cable or a jack, so you can also use the spare plugs with them.

We also offer Ceramic Light Socket For Reflectors to which you can attach both your CFL grow lights and HPS lamps. The standard reflector comes with a special light fitting that you can now replace easily. CFL lights are the ones that require more of spare fittings since this type of lamps is usually set looking down and hanging in the middle of the plants. With a main lamp and CFL lights among your plants, production in the branches tends to increase a lot and results in heavier yields.

So, if you are looking for lighting accessories for your plants and information on them, you're in the right section. Each product comes with an explanatory video and a detailed description that will get rid of any doubts when it comes to choosing the right product or how to use it once you get it home.