250w or 400w in my 2x2x55 grow tent?

[Sweetgreen]

I'm probably going to order a Secret Jardin DR60 for a little nook I have in my room. I don't know if I should put a 250 or 400 watt HID in it. I will be buying bigger tents in the future but for at least the next grow or two everything will happen in this tent. I don't want to buy equipment now that will be useless when I buy more equipment later. I'm thinking once I get my other tents, this one will be used for clones and seeding. So if that were the case, would the 400w be too much for clones and seeding, or is 400 the best choice for everything I've mentioned?

Yield is important to me, but only if it's quality yield.

Thanks in advance

 

[numnuts]

I have a DR80 with a t5 Sun System New Wave flourescent light.

I use the t5 because it produces less heat and when growing in a tent.The heat from an HID in a small tent can be a big problem unless vented correctly.

If you start with a T5 8lamp flourescent you do not have to worrry about the heat and you can grow plants form veg to flower.

If you get a bigger tent you can use the t5 for vegging and the HId in a bigger tent for flowering. It may be easier to control the heat in a bigger tent.

Good Luck! I hope this info helps

 

[SnowBender]

100 watts per sq foot HID?

might need an water cooled light...or maybe even slurpee/shlushy cooled.

 

[Sweetgreen]

I've been thinking about CFL for veg, just need to do my homework and find out which and from where.

Ducting a cool tube or sealed hood seems pretty easy with these tents, just not sure how practical it is to put ducting in such a small tent. Do you think there is at least enough room for the ducting on both sides of the light to make a good round 90 degree bend? It's my first grow so I'm having a little trouble picturing the scale and the amount of room everything needs.

What about one of those new digital ballasts with dimmer? That way I can lower the power when necessary but have all 400 for when I get a bigger tent.

 

[SnowBender]

I think cool tubes are ~20" long sans ducting and fan.

 

[Wingman420]

Use the 400wt

 

[foxfarmguyZ]

if you get a 400 watt geta 6 " to cool it with . you will need it unless you like your plants to tan

 

[raiderdave]

i have a 250 in growlab gl60 same size you have doing good

 

[Stealyourface]

I would definitely go with the 400w. Even if you have to back the light off a bit due to heat (which is easily solved with an air cooled reflector), You will still have many more lumens than you could achieve with the 250. Which of-course means more dense and larger buds. You should be able to work the ducting around enough to make it work, or even get an in-line reflector and angle your light a little.
The key is to not pinch on quality ventilation, and as long as you have that, temps won't be a problem.