Hello family! I am torn between the Mars Hydro 400w and the Mars Hydro 700w.
I have a 2x2x5 and plan on topping. I have an inline fan rated at 90cfm and a carbon filter.
I plan on only doing one plant in a 5 gallon or maybe 7 gallon pot.
The more I research the more confused and torn I get in which one to get. PLEASE HELP!!!
a 700 will be too much and might need better ventilation - how tall is you grow room celing ? this is you only concern. If a tent a 400 will work just find 400 watt =5 gallon 700 watt = 7 gallon
It’s a tent and it 5 feet high. Sorry I am confused at the ratios you threw out at the end
For a 2x2 foot space, you’ve got four squares of grow space. You want about 50W per square. The 400W should be an actual 200 ish watt light. This will be perfect for your space. The 700W will just create excess heat, stressing the plants.
The mars hydro 400w is 175 actual watts. Is that still good?
Yeah, that should be about perfect. The actual rule is 35-50W per square. You’re right about in the middle of that.
I know you said Mars hydro but this is what I have for the exact space:wink: and I’m more than pleased 
… Meizhi 450w (192w real on 220v)
The meizhi are pretty good and at a decent price. I have 2 of their 300w and 1 600w and love them equally haha
USE 5 GALLON FOR 400 WATT AND 7 GALLON 700 WATT (USE 5 GALLON) yOUR TENT IS 60 INCHES TALL SO: 5 GALLON BUCKET IS 12 INCHES LEAVING 58 INCHES ONE NEED 30+ INCHES FOR GERMINATION AND sEEDLINF AND 28 INCHES + FOR VEG AND THEN 18 + FOR FLOWER. SO A 700 WOUKLD BE TOO MUCH IT NEEDING 3 FEET + JUST TO START
Do Meizhi have a good warranty like the Mars Hydro? Are they UL certified and RoHs? Thank you
Lol I don’t know, I have 2 warranty for mine, you can read more about it on the website I guess 
The only thing I can tell you is that I love it!
From what I have learned on this site is the Mars Hydro has a more even blue / red graph therefore better from veg to harvest. The Meizhi has a higher blue spectrum and therefore better for veg. If you are going to use the light from veg to harvest I would go with the mars hydro. IMO. Some have a veg flower switch you can use depending on what state your girl is in.
You all have been more than helpful i greatly appreciated all of the responses!!!
The latest Meizhi 900W Reflector that I bought is considerably more red than the two I bought a year ago. I think they’ve addressed the issue with the lights being too blue.
This isn’t necessarily the case 
. Shorter veg time equates to a shorter plant, higher output light in too red a spectrum will promote tight node spacing and a bushier plant.
I would recommend fabric pots and depending on the veg time, 5 or 7 gallon. Autos are fine with 3.
35 watts for veg, 50 watts for flower would be my preference. Led’s are very confusing and it’s good you are on top of it now.
I own 8 lights of various manufacture. The best one for veg is the 300 watt Meizhi. But one thing to remember is most of your plants’ veg time takes up very little space. You need the wattage and coverage for flower. That said: these lights are built from obsolete tech and one could do a WHOLE lot better to invest in a quality light now instead of later. I will be replacing all of mine with home built fixtures shortly.
RapidLED has some nice kits that are very easy to assemble. Or they can assemble them for you. Just a lot more difficult to ship. With your five foot tent you will have to control height very much. Probably use a SCROG because without it plants can stretch to double the height once you flip to 12/12 to flower.
Use cloth pots. MUCH better. They air prune roots so you can’t get root-bound. Lots more oxygen gets to the roots. Also super cheap on Amazon.
Great advice! Those fabric pots are so inexpensive that I often transplant with scissors now haha!
I just dont like that they are more wide than deep. I am cooking super soil at the moment and would prefer deeper pots.
Cannabis is actually a shallow rooted plant FYI.
Yea but reading Subcools journal he reccomends super soil be done in 7 gallon pots at minimum. I guess it’s so you can fill 1/3 of the pot with the super soil and then mix the super soil with the base soil for a few layers and then just base soil on top of that.