Can I use HPS for entire grow?

Is it good to use HPS for veg and flowering? I've heard a lot of people talk about only using HPS for flowering, but can I just use it for the whole process start to finish?

Also, I plan on growing 5-10 plants in a rather large room, so I was thinking of basically hanging a mylar curtain around the plants to max light efficiency, rather than lining the whole room with mylar or painting. If I do this, would 1 HPS bulb be enough and what kind of wattage would I need for 5-10 plants? I want to keep power usage down if possible..

Thanks for any guidance you guys can offer.

Well, I can tell you this. I have done both, that is I have used HPS for both vegging and flowering and I have also used MH for the veg phase and the HPS for the flowering phase. Currently, I do the latter of the two because the MH does make a difference. If you can't afford the conversion bulb, you'll still be fine. But the plant grows much lusher with the MH during the Veg phase.

Plenty of ous use only one light all the way threw,wheather it is a MH or a HPS. You would probably need a 400 or 600 watt light. Hope this helps. Kiwi.

Hey thanks for the words of wisdom guys! I appreciate it.

Would one 400 or 600 watt HPS do the trick for the setup I described?

5 or 10 makes a difference. a good rule of thumb is to multiply the number of plants by 75 to obtain the wattage you need.

the metal halide light has more of a blue light spectrum
because its what the plants would have if they

were being grown outside. which is better for the
vegetative phase.

but its ok to use the HPS for the veg phase,
but using the MH during the veg phase
will help with bigger yields.