When to switch from T5 to MH or HPS

Houstonhydro

Houstonhydro

Member
Hello, I have 18 girls under 8-4ft T5 veg lights...I also have 3 fixtures available with MH or HPS bulbs..when do y’all recommend switching and to which bulb first...many different opinions available...we are in week 4 from seed...also should I move the T5 up a little? Will this make the plants taller and more bud sites?
 

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Clumpyoyster

Clumpyoyster

Well-Known Member
Most guys use MH for veg and HPS for Bloom. Ive also heard of guys that prefer the MH all the way through the grow which im tryng right now. I dont think i would start off running all three on them but at least get them under the MH with about 24" at the least above these lil ones. Watch your heat, do you run open reflectors or a air cooled sealed reflector?

This ideal for tents....
1575585719732.png
 

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FlyHigh589

FlyHigh589

Well-Known Member
Clumpyoyster said:
Most guys use MH for veg and HPS for Bloom. Ive also heard of guys that prefer the MH all the way through the grow which im tryng right now. I dont think i would start off running all three on them but at least get them under the MH with about 24" at the least above these lil ones. Watch your heat, do you run open reflectors or a air cooled sealed reflector?

This ideal for tents....
View attachment 4432125
Click to expand...
The looks like like an LEC (or CMH) light... those are not the same as normal MH lights I don’t believe.
 
Clumpyoyster

Clumpyoyster

Well-Known Member
FlyHigh589 said:
The looks like like an LEC (or CMH) light... those are not the same as normal MH lights I don’t believe.
Click to expand...
Oh is that right, i just went to HPS/CMH this grow. I was using shitty LED lights up until now. Are yu talking about the older MH ballasts? I think they are "magnetic" or someshit
 
FlyHigh589

FlyHigh589

Well-Known Member
Yeah the newer LEC (Light Emitting Ceramic)are basically built very similar to the older MH lights, except instead of using quartz in the arc tube, they use ceramic. They are much more efficient in growing cannabis and honestly would do fine in Veg and bloom. While I havnt personally run both together, I have heard some very experienced growers talking about using both LEC and HPS lighting in bloom to provide very nice lighting of several spectrums.
 
GanjaGreg.

GanjaGreg.

Well-Known Member
Houstonhydro said:
I have a 400w r400 and a 250w m58...both are MH
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And how big is your space? Are you growing in a tent? I would shoot for between 30-50watts per square ft. So if you have a 3x3 you have 9 square ft.
You would want between 270-450 watts.
9x30= 270 and 9x50= 450.
 
Kingrow1

Kingrow1

Well-Known Member
Move the light up maybe or find the right height with the mh or hps as these look far to small for week 4.

Try find a decent hps bulb that does veg and flower not just an all out flowering hps - i opt for sunmaster duals but theres plenty others.

:-)
 
shorelineOG

shorelineOG

Well-Known Member
If you're in Houston, Texas Growers Supply sells used lights. They don't advertise it but he has a warehouse with used stuff and you can get a 1000 watt hps setup for cheap. The magnetic ballasts will last for decades. You can veg with a sodium light just fine.
 
GanjaGreg.

GanjaGreg.

Well-Known Member
Houstonhydro said:
The space is 8x12ft room...
Click to expand...
That’s a pretty big space! With 650
Watts of light I wouldn’t go much bigger than a 5x5.
how many watts is your hps?
If I were you I would section off a piece of that room for vegging to get the most out of that light... if you put a 5x5 tent or box in the the room you could still have an 8x7 space in there for flower.
 
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