Need a good light to start beans and veg to 12'' or so

[CanaDan420]

I am really stuck on what kind of light I should have that will pop my beans and still be able to keep them under it and get optimum veg out of it till Im ready to transplant out of the 16oz cups into the 2 gal smart pots then move them under the 400 watt to finish off in veg, but until Im at that point what kind of T5 would be optimum? Should I get a small 1 light t5 to sprout with? Then get a bigger one to veg under? If so which size should I get?
It seems the 400 watt m/h is too much. I have what looks like they sprouted 5 days ago and are going no where so I need to down grade to something that will be good for when I first take my cuts off the mothers Im starting under these. Any help is much much appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Philosophelon]

You can use the same T5 for seedlings and veg if you are only vegging to 12" -- I'd just start out with the size you'll need for veg, no need to get two different T5 fixtures, as they're kinda expensive. I'd tell you what size T5s to get, but you didn't say how many plants you plan to veg.

As a side note, if you've already got a 400w MH, that is fine for seedlings too (and even better than T5s for veg imo, but it also generates more intense heat), you just need to hang it farther away for seedlings and then move it closer as your seedlings harden off.

 

[FreezerBoy]

It seems the 400 watt m/h is too much.

Seedlings are built for the Sun. They laugh at your puny 400 watts It's heat proximity, as Dan points out, you need worry about.

Not saying you should use the 400. Just that it's no where near too much light.

 

[stink.whistler]

Agree with Freezer and Phil, would just add that it is a bit of a waste of electricity to use the 400, when much lower watts of CFL or T5 would do you just fine.

Though it is an interesting question, what would a good ratio be of fluorescent wattage vegging clones to HID wattage flowering? Opinions on optimum amount of fluorescent wattage to keep a 400 HID busy?

 

[Philosophelon]

Stink: That depends on whether or not you run a staggered harvest, and how many moms you keep. You need less veg space/light with a staggered harvest because you don't veg all the plants to full size at the same time. For a 38"x24" space w/ a 400w CMH, probably like 100-300w, depending on all factors.

 

[BeeBee]

T5 lights are pretty pricey. If you have the space, a standard fluorescent worklight (about $12 for a 48 inch, two-tube including bulbs at Home Depot) is a good choice . Two fixtures are 140 to 160 watts, and would cover enough area.
T5 lights are a little more efficient than T12 lights, but not enough to justify the additional cost in most applications.
Compact fluorescents are another good option. Right now, you can often find them cheap because they are subsidized by electricity providers. Many compact fluorescents are actually T5s, because T5 refers to the size (diameter) of the tube. You can make an array of cfls to cover whatever space you have. In California, I've seen them as cheap as $.25 per bulb at my local hardware store, subsidized by PG&E.