T5 HO vs MH vs CMH?

Im looking to upgrade my grow at the moment. I have a 4x4 tent I want to use for flowering, I use a 600W Phantom II Ballast with an air cooled hood-6" Hurricane Inline Fan/Phresh Filter.

I have been using a couple 105W/26W cfl for early veg but its not enough. My issue with getting another HID is the heat/electricity, Ive seen graphs and such with pros between all 3 having pros. Im leaning towards a T5 HO 4X8. I dont have another tent, so itll be a corner room/white wall.

What brands? Opinions on all these?

If your going with t5 look at Oracle lighting I believe they are distributed by elite lighting and they also have a 4x8. Although for better light coverage id do 2 4x4 hanging them like this / \

t5 ho are great for veg!

Mints nailed it, T5/T8 are great for veg, with 50/50 cool white and warm whites

then bud them under your 600w, I've done many times

see this: https://www.rollitup.org/t/skanky-hot-white-russian-chicks.892841/#post-12149262

Look at CMH. Phillips makes an All Start bulb which runs in a magnetic MH ballast. (Also a "Retro" bulb which runs in magnetic HPS ballasts.). CMH runs cooler, fewer watts/sq ft.

I began with T5HO. They work well for short, 2.5' tall plants. But, they're hot too. You need 40w/sq ft in flower (supplementing with sidelighting helps, and you'll be 45-50w/sq ft). CMH runs 35-40w/sq ft, by comparison. And, better suited to taller grows.

I use LED now, but that's a treacherous learning curve. A lot of junk out there. If you have some DIY skills, you can make a very efficient LED. (They talk about building COBs in the LED forum.).

lol...if you are the DIY type of grower ...

you can simply add another ballast to your T5/T8 existing ballast

double the ballast load gives 2x the lux .

but shortens the tube ...imo

maybe something on utube..?

I have a 600W MH/HPS combo, so was thinking worst case scenario I would veg under T5HO then flower under 600W HPS.

Im confused on what to do, as Ive gotten suggestions to use all 3. I am leaning towards T5HO, theres a guy on here who only uses T5HO and his plants look great. Granted he seems quite intelligent with this stuff.

Not sure what to do

Kind Sir said:

I have a 600W MH/HPS combo, so was thinking worst case scenario I would veg under T5HO then flower under 600W HPS.

Im confused on what to do, as Ive gotten suggestions to use all 3. I am leaning towards T5HO, theres a guy on here who only uses T5HO and his plants look great. Granted he seems quite intelligent with this stuff.

Not sure what to do

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use the 600w but if you have heat issues then use the T5's

Look at rm3's grows. The pros of using t5 is you can supplement with different bulbs all on one fixture

pseudobotanist said:

Look at rm3's grows. The pros of using t5 is you can supplement with different bulbs all on one fixture

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Thats who Im talking about, ironic. Exactly, the bulbs are pretty cheap too. I was looking at getting a cheaper one for now, but make sure it has nice bulbs?

The bulbs he uses arnt too cheap. But it also depends on how many you're going to run