CFL or HPS or HID?

So I'm stuck between the 3.
I only have a small grow tent 90x90x160
The idea was going for a 250w cfl with other smaller ones, due to the heat and venting.
3 autoflowering plants.. can I grow more?

Well, I was also pondering this question recently as well as I was intending on doing my first grow this thanksgiving. The question takes alot into account, if you have the money, and air circulation (intake and outtake vents), as well as the space then generally speaking I think the most consistent answer would be HPS. If your taking into account a budget factor, or space/heating are going to be issues, then LED might be a more suitable choice however you will find some that will disagree, even with cheaper hps setup you would still need ballast - cooling fan/tube - and really good circulation (not closed closet space), to give the plants adequate temperature and control humidity, keep in mind I have not grown yet but its a question I myself was thinking over and weighing possible options n such.

With a tent you shouldn't have as much of a problem with intake space n such, so I guess if you have the available funds, and can anticipate the kwh useage ect, go for HPS I guess, its most commonly used I would say, atleast over LED. While I have not grown yet, CFL seems to be more of a supplemental lighting as far as getting the most yield, although I'm sure theres plenty of CFL only growers or something who will come out and prove me wrong so it's all good, I personally chose LED because of the space/heating and other issues that prevented me from going HPS, but I would if I could.

I'm sure there is a higher rep forum user who can answer the question about tent space and amount of wattage to use for total amount of plants growing.

LED = great if you buy the more expensive once and cost is the the key here as they are expensive to buy, but in the long run they pay you back in full, by power safe and the fact that they last for +5 years instead of a HPS/MH/CLF/Tube that have to be changes every year or so, and the fact that they don't make much heat either is nice as you can do with less ventilation/fans etc. and safe more power here, but do count to use +400$ on a decent one, cheap once from China will not give you the result your looking for (do some research)

CLF and Tube is great for the Vegetive grow and can be used in lack of money Etc. to flower with, but key here is penetrations as they don't provide much light after 6 inch`s if you do choose to flower with em do get the strongest once with the highest Watt and in the right Kelvin (2700K) and try to use a technic (LST/Scorg) so you keep the canopy even and with all the Bud sites close to the fluorescence light (2-4 Inch`s)


HID lights as HPS and MH is the way to go indoor IMO
they do use some power and do make some heat so I would suggest some kind of cooling (cool tube/hood) specially for the bigger once.

for a small space like that I would suggest you to get nice 400W MH/HPS ballast with a cool tube and use the MH for Veg and HPS for flowering fit a good 5" ventilation with a filter on it for flowering ..

CFL vs MH or HPS= no comparison. You want every bit of light penetration that you can get. Your dimensions can take a 400 W

3x3 ft is so a 400w hps or t5 will bring you in a top notch yield on about 4 large autos

if your extraction is up to par heat should be ok but an aircooled hood would be a good idea

i also own a 150w cfl and they do put out alot more heat than you think

sumthing like that will work well for 4 plants in that space

i would dodge the cool tube though

400 watt hid , no question , dual ballast with mh for veg and hps for flower.

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two 135 watt ufo led grow lights...100 each.
buds are already hard.

I say go big, get a 600w hps.

I personally use a 600w hps in a 2x4x5, which is actually one square foot less from your 3x3x5. Just gotta watch those temps and height of the tops (for light bleaching).

400w digital ballast so you can use mh globe then switch to hps for flowering and the carbon filter fan already posed is good. cool tubes waste too much light. if you use a dimmable ballast you can also dim for early grow and up it as plants get bigger. depends on your budget as has been posted.

I think autoflowers are mostly for outdoor use, I would recommend doing 12/12 from seed with photoperiod instead, it will take 1-2 weeks longer than an auto but you have better strain selection, higher potency, better yield, all that using less power...