want a 2nd light/area suggestions please!

S

sampson0420

Well-Known Member
want a 2nd light/area suggestions please!
I've been on the forums for a while now reading a ton, thanks to everyone for the great info. This is my first grow and am currently using a 1000 watt HPS that my buddy sold to me. I'm about 10 days into my veg state with the HPS and was thinking about setting up a 2nd area for vegging while this first set of plants flower.

With so many people suggesting different setups for vegging, I'm really confused. Seems like everyone is on the same page in regards to flowering, HPS is king. Vegging on the other hand is all over the place.

I hear people say MH because of spectrum, then poeple say HPS because they are more efficient and penatrate better, yet they will stretch because of spectrum....

Honestly, I just want something that is low power usage and will get some decent vegging out of my plants.

As of now I'm leaning towards some t5 flou's, also open to the idea of LED's or another HID.

Thanks!
 
Twistedfunk

Twistedfunk

Active Member
I veg under 3 T5s and 6 t12s most of the year and use them to flower in the summer. The math says its about 13k lumens (which is crap). I would not recomend growing cannabis with fluorescent lights if you have other lighting options available to you. That being said, the T5s are actually pretty nice for fluoro's. They put out twice the lumens of t12s and are less than half the size. If you get one with a reflector, it will take up the same amount of space as a dual bulb t12 ballast. I have mylar insulation lining my walls so I just stick em to the mylar. Natural reflector and no chance of fire! It works for vegging. Your plants can grow nice and healthy under them but it will look miniature compared to what you could have gotten under more lumens. I started with just the t12s and added the t5s when they became available locally and heat suddenly became an issue. My veg box is easily 15 degrees warmer now and my flawed ventilation setup is glaring. (i have the same amount of outtake as intake instead of x3 outtake) They are about as hot as CFLs but their ballast heats up too and take up more space. If you plan on having clones/seedlings in this space for T5s then go for it. Fluoro's are great for young plants. If you plan on using T5s, have proper ventilation and try to keep the area small though.
 
Imlovinit

Imlovinit

Well-Known Member
fluorescents are good for cloning and can be used for vegging. I dont use T5's or 8's but they seem to have a great rep.
 
Imlovinit

Imlovinit

Well-Known Member
Using ebay is an excellent way to get quality lighting in a cost effective way. If u plan on growing a boatload of plants all at once u can buy a couple of those T5 ballasts and throw ur clones under there and veg them. The T5's r better than the T8's but both will be cheap when it comes to electrical. Jst research how much the replacement bulbs cost! On ebay u can buy a 400 w lumatek ballast with HPS/MH bulb + reflector for around $270. Ur elect will be higher but u only have to replace 1 bulb. That MH would cover maybe 3x3 sqft area. Honestly (not to be a dick) if u dont have experience growing I wouldn't recommend using 1000hps on your first grow. You can do it! But it took a couple of grows to fine tune my skills. Good luck. Peace!
 
DoeEyed

DoeEyed

Well-Known Member
Eveyone pretty much does their veg light according to what works best for them - thus the many different opinions. So the question is, what will work best for you? Sounds like your budget isn't really an issue, so pretty much anything goes? What about heat in your vegging room? You know, I'm sure, that the HID lights put off a lot of heat. Is this a concern for you? If so then go for either T5 fluoros, or CFL's. How many plants are you thinking, in how lage a space? If you require more versatility, CFL's can be more easily positioned in a more confined area for best use, whereas T5's will be a set length. But you wouldn't want CFL's for a large number of plants. Another consideration is, any kind of fluorescent light will need to be very close to the plants, as they do not have the same penetration as an MH lamp. One for the downside of that MH - it's usually too powerful for a very young seedling, and the distance away it has to be kept will stretch the baby. The basic moral is that ALL of them work - you just have to look at your space and figure out which will work best for you. :peace:
 
S

sampson0420

Well-Known Member
Imlovinit said:
Using ebay is an excellent way to get quality lighting in a cost effective way. If u plan on growing a boatload of plants all at once u can buy a couple of those T5 ballasts and throw ur clones under there and veg them. The T5's r better than the T8's but both will be cheap when it comes to electrical. Jst research how much the replacement bulbs cost! On ebay u can buy a 400 w lumatek ballast with HPS/MH bulb + reflector for around $270. Ur elect will be higher but u only have to replace 1 bulb. That MH would cover maybe 3x3 sqft area. Honestly (not to be a dick) if u dont have experience growing I wouldn't recommend using 1000hps on your first grow. You can do it! But it took a couple of grows to fine tune my skills. Good luck. Peace!
Click to expand...
Thank you for your input and you're not being a dick at all. I probably would have went with a 600 watt if I were to purchase the equipment new. I just couldn't pass up what I got the 1000 HPS for. Any quick tips other than ventilate and don't cook my plants?


DoeEyed said:
Eveyone pretty much does their veg light according to what works best for them - thus the many different opinions. So the question is, what will work best for you? Sounds like your budget isn't really an issue, so pretty much anything goes? What about heat in your vegging room? You know, I'm sure, that the HID lights put off a lot of heat. Is this a concern for you? If so then go for either T5 fluoros, or CFL's. How many plants are you thinking, in how lage a space? If you require more versatility, CFL's can be more easily positioned in a more confined area for best use, whereas T5's will be a set length. But you wouldn't want CFL's for a large number of plants. Another consideration is, any kind of fluorescent light will need to be very close to the plants, as they do not have the same penetration as an MH lamp. One for the downside of that MH - it's usually too powerful for a very young seedling, and the distance away it has to be kept will stretch the baby. The basic moral is that ALL of them work - you just have to look at your space and figure out which will work best for you. :peace:
Click to expand...
I'm currently having that stretching issue now, I put my HPS down within 18" of the 8 day old babies and my mentor freaked out on me. Told me to put it back up too 5 feet. So me being the stubborn bastard I went to 3 feet.

No temp issues at all, even with the light close to the seedlings. I also do not have any space restrictions. My only concern really is my power bill.

I would like to veg 20-25 plants or so under 6 t5 HO 4' fixture. Transplant to a 2 gallon bucket, veg a bit longer, move over to the HPS, kill the males, then move over to a 4 gallon bucket. So ideally, 10-15 plants would make it to the finish.

I'm not sure if this is a solid gameplan or not, but like you guys say, different people have different successes.
 
DoeEyed

DoeEyed

Well-Known Member
sampson0420 said:
I'm currently having that stretching issue now, I put my HPS down within 18" of the 8 day old babies and my mentor freaked out on me. Told me to put it back up too 5 feet. So me being the stubborn bastard I went to 3 feet.

No temp issues at all, even with the light close to the seedlings. I also do not have any space restrictions. My only concern really is my power bill.

I would like to veg 20-25 plants or so under 6 t5 HO 4' fixture. Transplant to a 2 gallon bucket, veg a bit longer, move over to the HPS, kill the males, then move over to a 4 gallon bucket. So ideally, 10-15 plants would make it to the finish.

I'm not sure if this is a solid gameplan or not, but like you guys say, different people have different successes.
Click to expand...
Yeah it's better to use fluoro's or CFL's for the first week or two to keep the stretching down. I don't think the light needs to be five feet away, seems a bit far. lol
Your plan sounds pretty good - all I can offer, is consider feminized seeds, saves you the trouble of wasting time, space, and resources growing out males.
Good luck!:peace:
 
Twistedfunk

Twistedfunk

Active Member
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