MH or T5s for veg?

Hi, I had this idea for a 5x5x7 tent and my original thought was to have two 600w MH bulbs for veg and then switch to two HPS bulbs for flowering, but in a few places I've seen it suggested that a T5 might be a better way to go. For one, it consumes less power and generates less heat but what about the quality of vegging? Is it about the same or is one method clearly better? In terms of pure lumens it seems to me that two MH's would be better.

Also, how many floros would you need to veg over a 5x5 floor? Would I need an 8 light fixture? Something smaller? Larger?

Thanks.

how long do you plan on vegging? if its only a month of veg stick with t5. the seedlings only need so much light and grow at basically the same rate at such a young ager. if you are planning on vegging for over a month id suggest mh or cfls...mh will make them grow alot faster and with closer nodal growth due to light penetration...unless you shroud the plants in floros. way more heat with mh and $ in electricity...2 600's running constantly would add up. technically you can grow with t5 throughout since it is light afterall...but they will be lanky stretched plants. do you have ventilation under control? do you have the electrical layout planned assuming your going to run 1200watts of power? for a 5x5 space i think 2 is overkill unless your trying to grow Christmas trees this winter.

Thanks for the reply!

I haven't gardened before so I don't know how long I'd veg, I'm thinking whatever time it takes to get 18 inches ... maybe 2 feet.

I want to grow 4 big plants as rather than a lot of small ones. From everything I've heard a square foot of floor space corresponds to 50w of light, so with a 5x5 floor, I'd need roughly 1250w of HID light. I am little concerned about power usage, not so much from a cost perspective but rather from a security perspective. I was thinking the T5s might be a less power consuming way to go in 18/6 veg.

I plan to have adequate ventilation through a carbon filter and another for the hood, which was discussed a bit in another thread.

do you already have the tent? 4 big plants could fit in a much smaller space around 2.5x2.5 thus reducing a shit ton of stuff...lighting,venting,ducting,climate control, co2 regulation, moisture level. if this is just a small personal grow. if you have a 5x5 tent already split that bitch up and make a veg/flower station and have a perpetual grow..use the t5's for mothers/clones (if you choose to which is pretty simple actually..im workin on my 1sts clones now) and even veg plants can go in there, then have a flower room with the lamp in there

i have a 3.5x3.5 tent with a 600w in there. thats 12ish sq ft. go by lumens thats more pertinent then watts. a 600w gives off 90,000 INITIAL lumens...lumens go down as light gets farther away. 90,000 divided by my 12sq ft area is 7,200 lumens/sq ft. you want as little as 5,000 lumens (moon produces about 2,000) and as much as 10,000 (about how much the sun puts out).

mango tango said:

do you already have the tent? 4 big plants could fit in a much smaller space around 2.5x2.5 thus reducing a shit ton of stuff...lighting,venting,ducting,climate control, co2 regulation, moisture level. if this is just a small personal grow.

Click to expand...

yea, since I haven't grown before I wasn't sure how much horizontal space the plants would fill up so I was thinking 4 conservatively, I'd go up to 9 if possible... but then I dunno. I haven't gotten the tent yet, I'm just trying to get my plan straight before I start buying stuff.

good idea. i found my self buyin pointless shit in the beginning cause i went off impulse. get it right the first time so you dont regret it later. good luck brotha. holler if you need ne help

T5's are sweet. Awesome light coverage! I'd tell u though, I don't think a 2'x4' T5 with 8 bulbs is any cooler than a 400 watt mh. They get WARM! If you do some research on them you will find that people who own them swear by them. a 4 ft. 8 lamp fixture would be adequate for a 4x5 area. Another thing to keep in mind is if u veg plants till they are 2 ft. tall you WILL end up with 4-5 footers, maybe taller. GL

i rock a 600w electronic ballast w/mh for the mumz and a 'drofarm 8 bulb T-5 for the kiddies w/4 95w VeryHO's and 4 54w HO's (i like hos, you like hos? ) all 6400 kelvinses both run 24/7. the mh rejuve's those MILFs every 2 weeks good enough for 50 good cuts per mum. the T-5 puts down enough for 5' x 6' space at about 12" from the canopy. whatever you wanna stick in there, there's enough for it. my bill is $150 +/- $5 on that room. temp between 68-75 degrees (f) during winter and 72-80 during summer.

I used a 250cfl for seedling and 400mh for veg my first run. I moved the mh into my flower tent changed bulb to hps. So i have been using the cfl for seedling and veg the foliage really sucks. So now i am thinking of getting another mh its just better but then theres the heat to deal with. this is a hard decision. Good luck with yours.Go Raiders