hps or t5? "advice please"

I am going to keep it short so here goes. If you had to choose between a 250 watt hps - 18,500 lumens or 4 foot long 8 bulb t5 - 40,000 lumens which would you use to flower with? Also which one would have the highest yield?

hps is better for flowering. It's the reds in the spectrum that's good.
And the T5 for veging.

t5 also has bloom bulbs i can put every other bloom bulbs to get both color spec i just put tree of my plants under a 2 foot t5 8 bulb there not very tall so its good enough light ill post after there done and ready to light

i went for both changing the bulbs over tomorrow my signature has some links as to what i did

I use t5's fpr veg and hps for flower ,by a 400 watt hps from htg supply for 160 shipped

I am a little confused by the original question. Why is the choice between a 250w HPS and a 400w T5 fixture?

They are both great lights in their own respect, but here's the thing. The T5 is going to give you more coverage and space. You could theoritically anyway flower 40 - 60 plants under the T5. Very small plants, flowered straight from clone and lollipopped that is...

The 250w HPS you could grow about 3 fairly decent sized plants and try to aim for a yield around 4 oz's. I would think the T5 (at least T5HO's) would outyield that with sheer numbers.

But really I would opt for a 400w HPS and compare apples to apples. @ 400w the HPS is going to stomp the T5 and @ 600w you'll never look back. When you're trying to squeeze a LB out of your 600w lights and laughing about the thought of using a 250w to get 4 oz's.

I use t-5 high output and use red spectrem bulbs in the flowering cycle ever other bulb my yield from my first grow plus the two that are still under there are posted on my profile didnt do to

Hey buddy,

To give you a balanced opinion...

Many users on this forum chose to use T5s or fluorescents as the lighting for the vegetative state. When it comes to flowering, some will go for a Metal Halide Lamp, but in general, most will take the HPS because of it's intensity of "red light".

Simply speaking, an HPS is probably the most practical solution for both stages due to it's documented sucess.
However, fluorescents are also practical due to the fact that they don't emit so much heat and don't need that much electricity... You decide.

Happy farming,

-Rich

If you ask anyone who has used T5HO's or even large CFL's they'll tell you, they put off PLENTY of heat. The same way that they spread the light across a large surface they spread their heat across a large surface or surfaces.

The cumulative effect of the heat from T5 is more substantial than the heat from air cooled 600w. It's easier to keep my room cooler with a 600w, but I can keep the lights closer with the Floro.

If the 250 hps would yeild 4 oz as you say what could be expected from the 400 hps for yeild?

corvetteguy said:

If the 250 hps would yeild 4 oz as you say what could be expected from the 400 hps for yeild?

Click to expand...

Logically, the answer is almost double the yield of a 250 watter.

However, yield does not depend on light alone... Everything from water pH to humidity to temperature will determine the amount of bud you can get.

-Rich

RichiRich said:

Logically, the answer is almost double the yield of a 250 watter.

However, yield does not depend on light alone... Everything from water pH to humidity to temperature will determine the amount of bud you can get.

-Rich

Click to expand...

There's really too many factors to tell, but I would say 8 is achievable with the 400w. But if you hav the room for a 4' 6 bulb floro you have the room for a 600w air cooled and you can try to get 13-16oz's out of the damn thing.

But I understand the need for keeping it small. I only ask becaues I currently own:
1- 6 bulb T5 HO (I use it for veg)
1- 250w HPS
2- 400w HPS/MH
1- 600w HPS

If I could do it all over I would start with the 600w. I'm actually adding 2 more 600w's to bring the total to 3, but nonetheless, I never shoulda messed with anything smaller than 600w in the first place. The 400w's where good, I tried running two of them side by side and I yielded I think about 12 oz's and I've yielded about 14 oz's consistently with the single 600w. So for 200w less I get 2 oz's more pretty consistently.

You are better off flowering under the HPS.. T5's don't have the correct spectrum or intensity to maximize flowering. You will get much denser and fuller buds under HPS and you will get better growth on your lower parts with HPS compared to Flourscent. Just make sure you can handle the heat the HPS will produce compared to the Flourscent. Heat control will be key to a good harvest..

so, if you have to pick one or the other.. go with the hps for sure. good luck