is 250w hps enough for 3x3 cab?

[HAT TRICK STEVE]

hi guys, i just bought 2- 250 watt hps and was wondering if that is enough light for a 3x3 x 6 ft high closet grow,

i could have got 400watters for about 10 bucks more but i was worried about heat

the guy said it puts out 31000 lumens, so 9 sq ft is about 3444 lum per sf

im going to build these closets when the lights come so i have 2 bud closets,.. i already have one closet split in the middle with a sheet of plywood (shelf) and in the bottom i have a phototron for sprouting and cloning, and then the top half was going to be for budding but im a little worried about light leak up from the bottom and its impossible to get in it to check for light leaks as its sealed off with a piece of pleather with velcro,

anyway this closet is only about 2 ft x 3.25 and i want to convert it to all 18/6 (top half and bottom) use the bottom for clones and sprouting and then use the top half as a mini veg chamber then move them to one of the 3x3's for budding, that way i could put 6 or 8 small plants into bud every 30 days,...

and i was thinking of putting clones into bud within 2-3 weeks of rooting,

but back to the orig question,.. is 31000 lumens enough for 9 square feet cab.,... i can augment each cab with a 65 watt cfl 2700k,.. and 3900 lum if need be

 

[Hairy Bob]

It should work, reckon about 7500 lumens per sq ft for good growth, and 5000 for average results. If you can chuck a few cfls round the edge, say, one in each corner, you'll be about there.

 

[Mattplusness]

It should work, reckon about 7500 lumens per sq ft for good growth, and 5000 for average results. If you can chuck a few cfls round the edge, say, one in each corner, you'll be about there.

if you do that, mind as well get the 400 instead, 250 would work, but 400 would be a great deal better

 

[HAT TRICK STEVE]

well even with 400 watts that comes out to about 4755 lumins sq ft for a 3x3 closet

 

[HAT TRICK STEVE]

i see on ebay these hortilux bulbs that seem to be much more expensive than standard bulbs,... and they claim 25% more energy output,.. does this translate directly to lumins? are these hortilux bulbs really worth more money ? 69.00 for a 400watt

 

[Hairy Bob]

if you do that, mind as well get the 400 instead, 250 would work, but 400 would be a great deal better

That did occur to me, but I thought it'd be better to advise how to work with the light he'd bought rather than just saying 'shoulda got the 400, mate'.
I should have pointed out that a 400 would be workable in that space, and, if ambient temperatures are low, with good ventilation, a 600 isn't unfeasible.
Hindsight's a great thing ain't it?
I just don't like to tell people that what they've bought won't work if there's a simple solution. A 250 with sidelighting might well promote more dense, bushy growth than a single powerful light source in any case. It's not like you can definitively say one will always give better results than the other in every situation. I think in the space available, either might work as well, in different ways.
That said, if a 4/600w hps is cheaper than 4 65w cfls, then that's the way I'd go.