T5 for veg room - How much light?

[growstrong]

Hello all. I am looking for a little advice on setting up a veg tent. I plan on setting up a 3x3' tent strictly for veg. I plan on 2 plants at a time and lst them for more bushier plants then move them to my flower tent (also 3x3') under an already existing 600 watt hps. I have been doing the full grow in just 1 tent and switching between mh/hps for veg/flower.

So the question is what would you recommend for t-5 veg? 2' 4 bulb x 2 light fixtures? or say 1 fixture 2' long but 8 bulbs? I would like to get as close as possible to my old mh results but need to save on that power bill on my veg tent. Also would you recommend duel spectrum? (couple of red bulbs mixed with the blue?) I kind of need to keep this as cheap as possible on both equipment and power bill hence the t-5.

Thanks guys!

 

[Kbomb]

Hey growstrong,

I'm no expert by any means but I can say from past experience that I have managed the entire seedling to harvest on T5 lights. Not great yields but I put that down to inexperience and environmental issues. Quality was better than average, even if yields were not ideal. The point is that veg has gone quite well despite my errors and that with modification and experience I reckon yield could be significantly increased.

What was used? 4-6 HO T5 bulbs 2' long (24w each bulb). Kelvin of 8500k or 2700k, or a mixture of, depending on veg/flower stage. This was on 1-2 plants at a time.

 

[growstrong]

So far this is what I'm thinking. 2 lights. 4 tubes each. 2 foot long each. And I will use 1 light per plant just for the veg, and switch them over to flower tent for 12/12 flip with my already existing 600 watt hps. I'm hoping someone can chime in here with some experience. I know these lights will veg just fine, but I am wondering about node spacing and such. I want to make sure there will be enough light to keep my girls nice, tight, bushy, and healthy. I am only really worried about them growing a little more lanky and stretchy using some t-5's vs 600 watt mh. Will there be a huge difference in quality of veg? I know every option has there pros and cons, I'm just wondering if I will be trading a lot of quality to save on electricity and heat issues. I like to top/supercrop/scrog and keep a nice lush canopy, so the tight node spacing and healthy veg session are pretty important to me.