Best lighting for 4x2x5 Seedling/Veg tent?

I have an existing 4x2x5 tent I'd like to convert into a staging area for seedlings/veg. I plan on primarily growing autos to start, and then moving on the standard strains once I increase my skills.

Main question: what is the best lighting to use for this tent? I have a 400W HPS in the main flowering tent 4x4x6.5 that they will be moved to.

I'm looking for a good balance between affordability and performance for the veg lighting.

t5 HO
4 bulb should cover that
or you could go with some led's 2 or 3 of them ufo's or something so you could have staggered size plants

i grow in a 3x4x5 box
and my light is basically fixed only move one end up or down about 10-12 inches at around 3-4'
400w hps cooltube
2 135w led ufo's ebay special
move up and down
the 2' kinda limits what you can use
cost effective would be cfl
or t5's

I use 400 HPS in a 4x4 box.

Id say for seedlings and veg get a T5HO I just got a new one here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002TJOGLE/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Really a good deal each bulb is about 54W so a total of 200W should be enough for seedlings. Would recommend getting a HPS for after tho.
Hope this helps.

Great info, thanks guys. Something like http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002TJOGLE/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 will probably suit pretty well, awesome. I'm gonna take a look around.

With that T5 HO, how close would you need those bulbs to the actual top of plants / seedlings? I know with CFL bulbs it seems people have them like 1-2 inches away? I'm assuming that wouldn't be necessary?

thcme said:

Great info, thanks guys. Something like http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002TJOGLE/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 will probably suit pretty well, awesome. I'm gonna take a look around.

With that T5 HO, how close would you need those bulbs to the actual top of plants / seedlings? I know with CFL bulbs it seems people have them like 1-2 inches away? I'm assuming that wouldn't be necessary?

Click to expand...

...you can't see it very well but i used some scrap wood to mount 2 double bulb shop lights together for my vegging and so 4 bulbs at 40watts each for a total of 160watts, ...the shop lights i got at Lowes for approx. $20.00USD each so $40.00 for the fixture and the bulbs were less than 2 bucks each.

...ignore the 3 CFLs as they were only used for a short time to generate some heat in the tent during the cold months last year and instead notice the vigorous growth under these cheap ass shop lights.



...T5's will work better, how much better i don't know but i think maybe i get more bang for my buck with the shop lights than i would with a $100.00 plus dollar T5.

peace, bozo

sorry, i almost forgot, but yes, no matter which style of fluoro you go with they will all need to be as close as possible to the plants, fluorescent light isn't very intense so as close as you can without burning the plants.

68w 2700k bulbs are like 15-20 bucks a peice
i ran 6 of them full term on 3 1-2 oz photo's in a 2x6 closet
they make fluffy buds but veg like crazy

thcme said:

Great info, thanks guys. Something like http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002TJOGLE/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 will probably suit pretty well, awesome. I'm gonna take a look around.

With that T5 HO, how close would you need those bulbs to the actual top of plants / seedlings? I know with CFL bulbs it seems people have them like 1-2 inches away? I'm assuming that wouldn't be necessary?

Click to expand...

I have mine about 2 inches from the top the closer the better is what ive always heard about them as you can see in my pic below. I used a smaller T5 on my previous grow during veg and they all turned out pretty well. Also I am in about the same space as you you are going to need to vent it somehow as I have a little more space outerways but it still heats up to 86 F with the lights on. Have to have the door opened when I can to get good airflow.