4x4 and 5x5 lights

so my friend is asking me what is best for their 4x4 and 5x5 tent. right now they have a 1000 watt metal halide in the 5x5 vegging 26 plants. all about a foot tall after 3 weeks of growing. they are going to switch to a 400 watt metal halide to for the 5x5. they want to flower with the 1000 watt high pressure sodium when the switch bulbs in the 4x4 to flower 6 plants.

what would be better? 1000 watt hps in 5x5 and 400 metal halide vegging in the 4x4 or 1000 watt hps in 4x4 flowering 6 plants and 400 metal halide vegging in 5x5.

will 5x5 hold more than six 5 gallon pots under a 1000 watt hps? is that enough light for say 10 plants? they want more opinions from people on here but can't log on themselves.

i say they should use the 1000 watt to flower in the 5x5 and bud 6-8 maybe 10 plants in 5 gallon pots and keep the 400 watt metal halide in cool tube to veg anywhere from 4-8 maybe 10 vegetative growth. 1000 is plenty for 4x4 and enough for 5x5. but a 400 is not enough for the 5x5. 600 watt is enough for 4x4.

any suggestions are welcome. because i don't know everything and i'm sure lots of people know better than i do. so please reply.

Definitely put the bigger light in the bigger tent... that just seems obvious. A 1kW can cover a 5x5 area and it's heat will be easier to deal with with the extra volume. Plant count/pot size is personal preference.

well a 1000w is Ideal coverage for a 4x4 tent but like gastanker said it dosent make much sence to put the smaller light in the bigger tent....Id put the 1000w in the 5x5 and use that as your flower room......And i wouldnt put more then 6 5gallon pots in there.... Also if you go 1000w in 5x5 then your probably going to loose a little light on the outer edge (foot) of the tent.....You might want a light mover or get a hood that has more coverage over penatration.....Some hoods direct the light downward and some spread it out more..... Now you could get a hood that spreads the light out better and that would be great for a 5x5 tent since its a little larger then you would want for a 1000w.. but on the flip side you are talking about growing in 5gallon pots so that makes me assume you are going to grow BIG trees in which case you would want a hood that directs the light downward and gives you better penatration.......

So to answer you question i would run the 1000w in a 5x5 tent i would get rid of the 5gal pots and go to 3gal pots i would then put 9 3gallon pots under the 1000w light in the 5x5 and i would flower them to 3ft tall and i would get a hood that SPREADS the light rather then directs it downward.....

Yes you have less penatration but you are only doing 3ft tall plants so you dont need as much downward penatration...... anyways as you can see its not black and white theres no one right way its a matter of how you grow what kinda plants you grow what kinda hood you have your cubic area.....It all plays into accound.......

ya i told them bigger light in bigger tent. but my friend does two 1000 watts in a 4x8. so 1000 in a 4x4 would be ok but the heat will be a lot more. smaller area. plus that tent sucks and has shitty vent holes. plus the 400 is in a cool tube cooled with an inline fan. so heat is not an issue in the 4x4.

i was over there last night talking with them. they are setting it up on sunday. the 1000watt is already set up in the 5x5 but we have to move the tents to the back room. and re duct the vents.

also in an air cooled hood can a light spreader be used? you know those things that attach to the mogul socket that spread the heat and light more evenly through out the grow area? i heard mixed views. also heard some only use them with the basic wing reflector only.

well i do 2 1000watts in a 4x8 tent and its perfect.....But like i said its not just about the 5x5 verse 4x4 theres more to consider like i said the size of the plant and pot size make a difference too.....

yea.for some reason they have all their plants in 2 gallons right now and want to put into 5 gallons to flower. i told them 3 is plenty big for plants 2-4 feet tall. not even 4 feet tall. its personal choice like you said. but i see everyone using no bigger than 3 gallons under 1000 watts. the light foot print is only so big. and you can only lift the light so high before its effectiveness goes down.

bonghittersanber said:

also in an air cooled hood can a light spreader be used? you know those things that attach to the mogul socket that spread the heat and light more evenly through out the grow area? i heard mixed views. also heard some only use them with the basic wing reflector only.

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ya ive only seen them on wing reflectors but im not sure if that can be used on a aircooled hood and really probably dosent matter much eather...Your time will be better spent concentrating on the main factors like Temp, Humid, Light, Medium,water,co2, nutes. etc etc....... those are most important everything after that is secondary

I run 2 400W in a 4X4 with hps bulbs, it seems perfect....

i know more light the better. but a 1000 is plenty for the 5x5 for 9 plants.