Is 600 watts in veg enough for a 5x5 tent?

ganjafather27 · Oct 23, 2016

hello all, im currently setting up a new tent and am wondering if 600 watts in veg is sufficient for a 5x5 tent.

Man plan is to buy this ballast: https://www.amazon.com/Galaxy-902220-Ballast-Turbo-Charge/dp/B00KMACPW4

As you can see the ballast accepts 600,750 and 1000 watt bulbs. I have a brand new 600w agromax mh blue bulb and I'd like to use it.

SO, I would like to buy this tent: https://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horti...id=1477251005&sr=8-1&keywords=apollo+5x5+tent

And this hood: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Indoor-Grow...c248ff9507d1e7f05790a6&pid=100643&rk=1&rkt=1& (the xxl 8" option) (the hood is 36"x32")

And I would like to use my new 600watt bulb during veg, then come flower, I'll buy a new 1000 watt hortilux.

I'm going to grow in sog style, 4-6 plants, haven't quite decided yet. Do you guys think 600w is enough for veg in a tent that size? If not, should I run 1000w in veg as well or should I just buy a 4x4 tent instead?

Thanks for any advice.

Roger A. Shrubber · Oct 23, 2016

i've never actually tried to use a smaller bulb in a dialed down ballast. some people say it works fine, and some say its just a matter of (usually not very much) time before it blows the bulb. i would just get a 1k of each and use them dialed down.
of course, a 1k dialed down to 50% is 500, not 600, and a 750 at 75%. so...
5 x 5 = 25 sq ft. 500/25 = 20 watts per sq foot. that seems a little light (no pun intended)
the 750 watt setting would give you 30 watts per sq foot, which is still a little low for my liking, but acceptable.
the 1k setting only gives you 40 watts per sq foot in flower. the minimum in flower is 50, and 65 or so seems like the sweet spot to me. just to get to 50 you'd need 1250 watts in there.
if you went with a 4x4 those numbers would change to 31 watts sq.ft at 500, 46 at 750 watts, and 62.5 at 1k watts....much better numbers for the light you want to use

ganjafather27 · Oct 23, 2016

Roger A. Shrubber said:
i've never actually tried to use a smaller bulb in a dialed down ballast. some people say it works fine, and some say its just a matter of (usually not very much) time before it blows the bulb. i would just get a 1k of each and use them dialed down.
of course, a 1k dialed down to 50% is 500, not 600, and a 750 at 75%. so...
5 x 5 = 25 sq ft. 500/25 = 20 watts per sq foot. that seems a little light (no pun intended)
the 750 watt setting would give you 30 watts per sq foot, which is still a little low for my liking, but acceptable.
the 1k setting only gives you 40 watts per sq foot in flower. the minimum in flower is 50, and 65 or so seems like the sweet spot to me. just to get to 50 you'd need 1250 watts in there.
if you went with a 4x4 those numbers would change to 31 watts sq.ft at 500, 46 at 750 watts, and 62.5 at 1k watts....much better numbers for the light you want to use

Thanks for the reply, roger, It looks like a 4x4 tent will be a better idea. Do you think that veg is as necessary to have as much light as flowering? I'd really like to use the 600w for flower, even if that means I need to go with the 4x4 tent.

As for the ballast, did you take a look at it? It's not just a digital, dimmable ballast. It claims to actually be able to run different wattage bulbs, not just dim down a 1000 watter. The only real reason Im interested in it, is because my local hydro shop sells them. The owner claims he uses them and runs a 600 watt bulb in 1 of them with no issues. They also sell for $300 at their shop, but are only $160 on amazon.

Thankns

Roger A. Shrubber · Oct 23, 2016

i did not read it all, thats a nice unit if it works as advertised, 600 in a 4x4 would give you 37.5 per sq.ft., more than enough for veg, you might have to raise it up a good bit. 750 would be 46.8, nice for early flowering transition, 1k would still be 62.5, good number for post stretch flower.
the 1k limit is what screws up the 5x5 really, 40 watts per sq.ft. is just not enough to produce good flowers.

ganjafather27 · Oct 23, 2016

Roger A. Shrubber said:
i did not read it all, thats a nice unit if it works as advertised, 600 in a 4x4 would give you 37.5 per sq.ft., more than enough for veg, you might have to raise it up a good bit. 750 would be 46.8, nice for early flowering transition, 1k would still be 62.5, good number for post stretch flower.
the 1k limit is what screws up the 5x5 really, 40 watts per sq.ft. is just not enough to produce good flowers.

Awesome that's what I thought. I'll go with a 4x4 then, with 600 in veg and 1k in flower.

Is 600 watts in veg enough for a 5x5 tent?

ganjafather27

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Roger A. Shrubber

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ganjafather27

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Roger A. Shrubber

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ganjafather27

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