Looking to buy a dedicated veg light for my 5x5 mom tent. I was originally leaning towards LEDs (these specifically Mars Hydro VG80 LED Grow Light For Seedlings, Vegetative, and Cloning — LED Grow Lights Depot) but was also thinking of a 400w MH fixture because of how cold it gets in the winter here. Idk if that will be sufficient for the space though.
Let me know your thoughts.
If you’re having issues keeping temps up, consider a 315w CMH light. Plants in veg absolutely LOOOOOVE being under a CMH light 
will probably be cheaper than both options you mentioned
FWIW I enjoy my Mars Hydro lights, but I’d personally stick with LED fixtures that can also be used for flower if needed. LED veg lights just seem kinda limiting
400 watt MH will work fine in a 5x5 for veg.
Buy a light powerful enough to flower and dim it down. You never know when you’ll want the extra flower space.
I’m with @Foreigner .
My suggestion is look into a 700-1000w led bar light that’ll fill your tent with even light.
Dim it down for veg then crank it for flower.
I never need to move mine as I track the ppfd at canopy level and adjust the light to match my required light output.
Nothing wrong with going rhw mh routw but you cut youraelf out of a lot of variations on how to grow with a hot source lamp.
Not look for a flowering light guys but thanks for the recommendations. This lamp will just be for my mother plant/veg tent. Got 2 HLG fixtures already for the tents I flower in.
Originally I was looking at the HLG 250 veg lamp but I just don’t think it’s worth spending $430 when there are cheaper options that will work just as well.
a 315w CMH light
Might be a good option. How much of a temperature swing do you usually see? It does get pretty hot sometimes in the summer so that’s why I was leaning towards leds cause I run a heater anyways.
Any recommendations when it comes to brands?
I’m running 8 flexstar 18w clone lights 3feet above the canopy in that amount of space and everything is happy , for a total of 144 watts , grows just as good as the 8 fluorescents and those were 54 watts each.
Went from 432 watts fluorescent to 144 led and have had great results.
The flexstar have a heavy blue spectrum ideal for mothers and clones were most led are designed for flower.
You could run them much closer , they are very low temp.
This link has tons of scientific light reviews
If youre only vegging, a bar light designed for a 4x4 likely has a big enough footprint to fully cover a 5x5 in veg.
You might like these. When i was building my 4x4 i considered getting 4 of 150w panels and having each panel covering a 2x2 area so i could run different size plants.
Same light, $179 , EBAY.
I use 2 of the 250 watt versions and like them a lot. I actually just snagged 2 of the UV 300 watt versions to upgrade because the price is so good.
Totally forgot, viparspectra is weird and prices things different all over their distribution network. Definitely worth shopping around for the specific model youre looking for and if its a holiday, one of their sites will have a sale, but not always all of them. Its kinda weird. Got my ks3000 for 25% off for a holiday sale that wasn’t listed on their website. Official ebay store too🤷♂️
They seem like really nice lights. One of the best par maps ive seen
You can find some of the full veg models from HLG in the social media markets. This light was popular but HLG stopped making them. You could probably even find something cheaper if you look hard enough. Cheers !!!
Yea that was something else I was thinking. I’ve seen them come and go a few times in my area.
I know I would I just don’t have the $$$ right now to justify getting it haha. I have 3 of their fixtures and they’re awesome. Very efficient too.
The only thing I don’t like about the viparspectra is it doesn’t have a much blue light as the mars hydro ones and the price is about the same for either option. Other than that they’re great lights.
Led would save money in the long run on power on power if ther just mother plants they don’t need a lot of power
Honestly at this point I’m debating getting both 
. It’s gets cold in the winter and a dimmable 315w fixture isn’t all that expensive to run. Neither options are really all that expensive upfront either.
Look no further than grand master LEDs