# Ready to flower.., T5, or HPS 600w/1000w? You decide!



## Cesar Chavez (Aug 10, 2009)

So I am looking to purchase the next stage of lights for my four flower-readying plants. Problem is, can't decide which way to go. My flowering room is:
5 feet long
3 feet deep
8 feet high (To the top of ceiling; Will be using steel chains to adjust height)

Temps range between 70-80 in a well ventilated area.

Here are the options I am considering:
T5 8 Bulb with 4 Grow tubes and 4 Bloom tubes. 54w each bulb.
HPS 600w or 1000w.?

Please help me decide what is best for my closet grow. Looking to starting as soon as light is purchased. Have read a couple of books, and read countless articles, and it seems everyone has a different formula to figure this out. But I rather rely on the forum; yall have been GREAT so far! Thanks in advance.


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## Budders Keeper (Aug 10, 2009)

I would go with the 600 + best bulb you can get. IMO a 1k would be a little overkill...I understand some people like a little overkill, but the 1k will also be much hotter.


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## DLtoker (Aug 10, 2009)

I love the T5s... However, you probably will be like everyone else and grow a few tall plants rather than many small ones.  (My state's laws work with weight, not plant count.)  

T5s don't have the juice to penetrate a thick canopy.  However, they do provide an even distribution of light and they can go as close to the growth as you want... As long as they don't touch.  GL man.  Whatever you do, just chose one that will compliment your grow style.


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## Smokey Mcpotster (Aug 10, 2009)

5'x3'=15 sq ft. 5k lumen MIN. per square foot. 15 sq ft x5k =75k lumens min. A 600 watt light will give off approx 95k lumens. If you were to get a cool tube it would help your temps. I have a 3x3 area and I'm about a week away from firing it up for the first time. I also got a 424cfm fan to hook up to the tube. You will be able to lower your light much closer to your plants, not to mention getting rid of the heat as well. I'm a noob grower, others may have better answers. 


What flavor you growing? any pics?  I hope all grows well.


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## BuddyLuv (Aug 10, 2009)

I would use the 600w HPS.


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## smokingjoe (Aug 11, 2009)

Are 2 600's an option?  about the same cost as 1kw light.


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## DonJones (Aug 12, 2009)

Most information sources list optimum growing area as 6' X 6" for 600 watt HIDs -- either MH or HPS -- and only 7' x 7' for 1000 watt ones.  The heat goes way up (400 watts more or approximately 60%) between the 600 and 1000 and as you can see the increase in usable area doesn't go up nearly as fast. (36 square ' to 49 square feet = 13 square feet or approximately 30%).

I usually recommend 2 600s over 1 1000 for the above reason that 2 600s double the growing area for double the heat while a 1000 nearly doubles the heat for only about a third more growing area, PLUS with 2 600s, if one fails you can limp along while you get a replacement but with a 1000, if it fails you now have nothing and an crisis.

Good luck.

As an aside, in a small narrow area like you have, using T 5 lights for side lighting around the sides rather than over head will give you a lot better results than even the 600 HPS overhead, provided you use the number of T 5 tubes needed to produce 600 watts (approximately 12 54 watt tubes) and equally space them around the sides of the plants.  Some people say you can't replace watt for watt, and theoretically they are correct, but when you allow for being able to locate the T 5 s closer than the MH or HPS, then the difference in lumen/watt is nearly offset.

*If you are going to use T 5s, then use the standard cool white 54 watt HO tubes for vegging and then replace them with the reddish -- usually called warm white and some places also sell very reddish ones specifically for flowering, so that you are approximating using the MH spectrum for vegging and the HPS spectrum for flowering/budding - - using just the standard cool white tubes is very similar to using just a MH for the entire cycle.*

Good luck.

Don Jones


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## dirtyolsouth (Aug 12, 2009)

Hello...

Just a thought...  How about buying a 1K Quantum dimmable switchable (hps or mh) digital ballast that you can run at either 100% (1Kw), 75% (750w), or 50% (500w)?   I've got one of these and it's like having 6 ballasts in one package.   The flexibility is awesome.  I'm growing in my 2x4x8 closet now and the dimmer really helps me adapt the light to the current conditions.  When it's around 100º and humid around here I can back off the wattage to 750w or 500w and it helps bring down the temp several degrees per step.  Someday I hope to have a larger grow room and this ballast gives me the ability to adapt the lighting to the space. 

Happy Growing!


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## DonJones (Aug 12, 2009)

Dirtysouth,

Do you have to change bulbs as you change the wattage or can you use the 1000 bulb all the way down to say 250 watts?

thank you.

Don Jones


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## dirtyolsouth (Aug 12, 2009)

DonJones said:
			
		

> Dirtysouth,
> 
> Do you have to change bulbs as you change the wattage or can you use the 1000 bulb all the way down to say 250 watts?
> 
> ...



Hi Don...  

You just load it with a 1K bulb...  either a HPS or MH or a dual arc.  

Happy Growing!


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## Cesar Chavez (Sep 6, 2009)

Thanks to all who responded. After much research, I have decided/purchased the Nextgen 400/600 watt ballast. Also, instead of the 'closet' grow, it has now become a 'tent'; 2'7" x 4'11" x 6'7". However, I am still somewhat back and forth on the light. I am currently using 8 4' HO T5's for the vegetative stage, but since I have decided on going HID for the flowering stage, still need the actual bulb for the switchable ballast. I am seriously thinking I should go with Hortilux. What do you think? Also, do you think I could adequately light this area with a 400 watt bulb? Or is the 600 a no brainer? I could go with either the 400 or 600 watt Super HPS EN. What do you think.?


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## The Hemp Goddess (Sep 7, 2009)

Light should be figured by lumens per sq ft.  You have 12.7 sq ft.  You should have approx 63,500 lumens.  A 400W HPS puts out about 50000 lumens.  A 600W HPS bulb will put out from 90,000 to 95,000 lumens.  A 400 will leave you underlit.


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## Rolling Thunder (Sep 7, 2009)

DonJones said:
			
		

> I usually recommend 2 600s over 1 1000 ...


 
That would be my recommendation as well: two 600w HPS lamps. Like DJ said, though, the T5's work well as side lighting, but I'm not inclined at all toward growing with them alone, or any top-lighting. If you wish to combine the two, you could go with two 400w HPS instead, and use the 8 T5's for side lighting: 4 of them mounted horizontally along the back wall, and two mounted vertically at each end; with the two 400w HPS above. With two 600w HPS in a space that size, though, you would really need to have a good CO2 system as well, in order to fully realize the growth or yield-potential of that much wattage. 

RT


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## The Effen Gee (Sep 7, 2009)

dirtyolsouth said:
			
		

> Hello...
> 
> Just a thought...  How about buying a 1K Quantum dimmable switchable (hps or mh) digital ballast that you can run at either 100% (1Kw), 75% (750w), or 50% (500w)?   I've got one of these and it's like having 6 ballasts in one package.   The flexibility is awesome.  I'm growing in my 2x4x8 closet now and the dimmer really helps me adapt the light to the current conditions.  When it's around 100º and humid around here I can back off the wattage to 750w or 500w and it helps bring down the temp several degrees per step.  Someday I hope to have a larger grow room and this ballast gives me the ability to adapt the lighting to the space.
> 
> Happy Growing!



Careful with using the dimmer option, it puts added stress on the ballast and the bulb.

I run quantums and there is no going back.

Get the 600, do not waste your time and energy with the thousands.


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## Cesar Chavez (Sep 7, 2009)

600 watter it is. Thanks. I will be purchasing the Hortilux HPS EN. .. I am not to sure about using T5's for side lighting, not that it isn't a good suggestion, it is, but I am a little strapped for cash at the moment. Maybe sometime in the future. The Hemp Goddess.., how did you come up with the total square feet? You multiply L x W, right.? What do you type, or round up the "7/"11 to? Anyways, thanks again to all who have responded.


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