i have both lights but currently am only using my 54 watt x 6 bulb t5 hydrofarm light that covers about a 4 foot long by 2 foot or so width. im noticing the veg babies under the t5 dont grow as tall but yet are more stocky,small bushes. is this a fact with growing under t5? do plants grow taller and faster under a 400 mh compared to a t5.
you can't beat HID's with T5's. T5's are great for clones. that's it. there's no replacement for displacement. If you get a nice new 400MH with a tight reflector, and you even air cool it, you'll be able to drop it 18" off the tops. look at it like this.... light rays have density and intensity. the light coming from the HID is coming from a sigle smaller source, not 6 different ones spread over 4'. or here's another way....what's more powerful in terms of force...getting hit with 6 small rocks, or getting hit with 1 large one? there's just "more" coming out of the HID, as long as you don't lose it in terms of distance. which translates to being able to keep lights as close as possible. if you flowered 2 identical plants under them lights, the T5 would not be as dense, the 400 would be denser. even denser under a 600...and so on. (potency is more determined by a host of other factors....with spectrum being one...)
thanks for the info.i also thought about the light spectrum being spread over 4 feet which i thought its got to get divided even smaller compared to a 1 bulb 400 watt light.each plant under my 4 foot floro gets less light bc its such a long bulb.i think i ll hang back up my MH
Thanks for straightening my head out on lighting. No more messing around with CFL's and T%'s. MH and HPS from now on.
This is something that I am really curious about. I talked to a guy at a local hydro store and he said he`s trying one grow vegging under a 8 bulb T5 set up then switche to HPS for flowering. He said with the T5 they grew thick and bushy with short internodes and that with his MH they grew well also but not as thick and internodes farther apart. He also went on to say that the T5 lights you can have as close as 1 inch from the plants. He said he loved the results for veging sofar. His light set up was a 8 bulb T5. I would really like to hear from someone who may have tried this and what their results and opinions are.
ReadyToGo says "T5's are great for clones. that's it." I say BS. Before you going and listening to anything anyone has to say about T5's go and read through this guys grow. All done with T5's and really amazing. http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/462512-16-plant-sog-under-6-bulb-t5.html The reason your babies are short and stout is because you can keep the T5 closer to the plants that you can with the 400W, if you want some stretch raise that T5 up about a foot. Wolf
Its all watts in the end. My 8 bulb Hydrofarm T5 is approx 436watts...thats more, not much, but still more than the 400 MH I was vegging under.... I have it in a 2.5X4 tent, basicly fills the whole thing. With the 400MH I could see drop off in growth at 3 feet or just under. SO with the T5 I get complete coverage. Room to veg 4 for my perpepual system. 2in and 2 out each month. Now...the rest of the story as to why I switched form MH to T5 veg....In short I moved my 400, MH/HPS, to flower. Adding 400 watts to my 600 watts . For a total of 1000watts. But not adding any extra heat, since the T5 heat is nominal, to the room that houses my grow, Im all about HIDs, as far as light output...but the heat is as much, if not MORE of an issue than the light is 'better'.