question on lights

Well I would like to buy a mh light kit for vegging before bringing them outside here in a few months, but my grow room is a problem. I read that you want to have the light 4ft from plant for 600watts. my room is around 15 ft long 3ft wide and the height is 1ft than starts slanting so i would say it is probably 4ft. I have cfl lights right now and there is 12 26watt daylight bulbs with 6 0n each side. I dont feel they will be enough. I hope to have pics on tomm.

Your situation sounds like a prime set up for T5's, have you considered them?

Well I hear that there
not as good? Is it true that the plant can touch t5's and it wont burn the plant? Also do they produce much heat? They would be great I think due to the room but I want something that will be good for vegging for 3 months since I will be putting them outside eventually. Does that sound like a good plan? Thanks for the input.

Come on people I need some advice....

stonehead89 said:

Come on people I need some advice....

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T5 lights are what im using, they work amazing for vegging. Green leafy growth, although I understand that T5 have less "light intensity" so therefore will induce stretching on lower leaves. I definately see lower leaves streching on my plant.

Gotta make sure the bulbs are 6500k for vegging

The thing I like about them is the power consumption, as well as heat is generally not a problem. I am looking at getting a 8 lamp 4 foot fixture. each bulb is 54w and creates 5000 lumens.

I used a 2' 2 lamp T5 for a while for my seedlings, it got them to come to life, but didn't help them a whole lot. As soon as they went under the 400w CMH to veg they totally took off. One is out pacing the others so bad I may have to start cloning and manually flowering it.

I use a T5 4 bulb, 2 foot and it's fine for veg. You can let them get close but, I wouldn't let them touch the light, 4-5 inches maybe. The create some heat but, not a ton. If you can't cool these you will never be able to cool HID.

I run my 600 watt about 16" from the tops of my plants, and don't have a problem with heat stress. It's an unsealed 'open air' hood, with no ventilation or cooling, other than a reciprocation fan sweeping across the tops of the plants. You'd still be pushing it though, heigth-wise. I agree that the T5's are a good option for your situation. No, they aren't quite as good as a MH, but you can always keep adding more and more if you wish. You might have to run 1000 watts worth, but, you can definitely make them work as well as the MH, if you want it bad enough.LOL

My smallest 600 watt reflector is 14 tall, plus 18" or so, from the tops of the plants, so that's 32" you're losing right from the beginning. The only way to know for sure, is to get the tape measure out and do some measuring

alright well got my t5 light it has 8 bulbs and is bright as fu*k! Well i passed on the hid due to heat but this should work perfect

hi all ...is my first tme growing and i have 3 plants under 250w CFL . they are 18 day s old and 4-5 inch tall, i whant to know if is realy necesari to cange the light and add a 250wMH or is goed enough the cfl wat til i have to put HPS. olosow i will like to know if i have to put a biger light for them or is enough 250w. tanks

run your own thread for results but id say to get lower wattage cfl 26 watt daylight or t5 lights