T5 high out put flourescent vs 250 w hps

I was wondering what light would be the best for my future grow box?
The dimensions are 4ft x 2.5ft x 3.5ft (H,W,L). I am deciding between a 250 w hps or a T5 high out put fluorescent with four 2ft tubes totaling 96 w. I only plan on growing 4 plants. I think that the heat would be an issue from the hps that is why I'm leaning towards the fluorescents. What are your thoughts?

i have a 8bulb 4ft t5 and it stills get hot but not as hot as my 400w hps but if you got a good fan i would go with the hps are you going to do flowering and veg in same box?

going to need exhaust for either situation. that said,m hps has more and better quality yield. that space could fit a 400 watt hps also...might as well do it

i grew last grow with a 250 and ended up with just over 7 z"s total, off 6 plants. i had the tops all arranged so they were in about a 2.5x2 ft. canopy. i am switching up to a 400hps too try and expand that width to 3.5ft.

Ok if u can cool it u can go wit a 250/400 but i think u should do a sog (sea of green).

My reflector takes up about 7in. in height so lets just say u got somewhere near 41in. of space left.
then the average pots take up bout 12in. if u doin soil bra?
So 29in about of space left after that.

So u should flower them at about 8-10in.
usually double in height so lets say 16-22in max.
never seen triple like pple say.
I advise u grow a indica dominant strain bra, so u get bushy stocky ass plants, instead of lanky tall ass sativas.
Leaves u with about a good 7in of space between ya light n ya plants.

My math might be wrong but u can figure it out better when u find out the meas of ya reflector, pots.

Hope this helps u bra.

oh n i actually got a space kind like yours too. I got a 2*2*4 n i use a 400mh/Hps in it wit a cool tube. So if u can cool it go fo it bra.

I suggest you design your box on standard T5 dimensions. Light engineers say that T5 loose 4-6 percent of their brightness over their lifespan. HPS loose up to 20 percent. Plant research labs, at universities, are installing T5 lights frequently. HPS is an old technology. I can think of ten reasons to buy T5 and no reason to buy HPS unless it is REAL cheap.

grow show said:

I was wondering what light would be the best for my future grow box?
The dimensions are 4ft x 2.5ft x 3.5ft (H,W,L). I am deciding between a 250 w hps or a T5 high out put fluorescent with four 2ft tubes totaling 96 w. I only plan on growing 4 plants. I think that the heat would be an issue from the hps that is why I'm leaning towards the fluorescents. What are your thoughts?

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Usually a four t-5 bulb setup will produce about the same amount of lumens as would a 400 W MH. And of course the heat of 400 W MH surpasses that of a 400 W MH. The question is would those t-5's penetrate the canopy like an HID can. But I have seen people grow all stages with cfl's and have had gr8 success. I am sure you could do the same with your t-5's. Good Luck with your construction and your future grow.

use the HPS, but air cool it. I have a T5 8 bulb and they are amazing lights but the HID lights are gonna get your buds to create way more resin. Any reason why you dont just use a 400 watt? but the t5 does penetrate the canopy very efficiently, see VV's T5 thread(victorvicious) And dont be fooled the T5 will put of a lot of heat too. T5=great veg light for clones and seedlings alike, but for the best results with adequate ventilation, go HPS

calicat said:

Usually a four t-5 bulb setup will produce about the same amount of lumens as would a 400 W MH. And of course the heat of 400 W MH surpasses that of a 400 W MH. The question is would those t-5's penetrate the canopy like an HID can. But I have seen people grow all stages with cfl's and have had gr8 success. I am sure you could do the same with your t-5's. Good Luck with your construction and your future grow.

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I have t-5 and 96w of t5's will only put of 8000lumens and a 400w Mh puts out 38000lumens actually.

mane2008 said:

I have t-5 and 96w of t5's will only put of 8000lumens and a 400w Mh puts out 38000lumens actually.

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There are several retailers I have seen with the same model ( forgot the name ) but claimed that their product puts out 38,000 lumens. I guess they are inviting themselfves for a lawsuit lol.

calicat said:

There are several retailers I have seen with the same model ( forgot the name ) but claimed that their product puts out 38,000 lumens. I guess they are inviting themselfves for a lawsuit lol.

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Hell yea. Neway i checked n i saw one that puts out 40,000lumens but they are 8 4ft tubes.
The ones he talkin about have 8,000lumens. thats y i said go hps/MH.

He would end up spending about $270 on those. They are great tho just costly. Id love to have em on da side of my grow room. U got t5's like that?

mane2008 said:

Hell yea. Neway i checked n i saw one that puts out 40,000lumens but they are 8 4ft tubes.
The ones he talkin about have 8,000lumens. thats y i said go hps/MH.

He would end up spending about $270 on those. They are great tho just costly. Id love to have em on da side of my grow room. U got t5's like that?

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Nope if you were asking me that question. I am still debating if I want to invest in that system. My fluoros do what they need to do as well as my 400 W MH.

yeah i think I'm going to veg and flower in the same box.

Is the intake fan supposed to be more powerful than the exhaust for ventilation, what would be adequate cooling for a 250 w hps?