How much light in the grow closet?

I've got a 3' x 3' x 5' closet that I might do a grow in ...

What I'm trying to decide is whether to get a 400 watt MH/HPS or a 600 watt MH/HPS (switchable)...
I'm wondering if a 600 watt would be too hot in the small closet ...

any help, thanx ...

As long as you have good ventilation it shouldn't be a problem to use the 600. One thing to consider is that if you want to move to a little bit larger area the 600 will do you more good than the 400.

A 400 would be easier and produce better 4 u. go 600 when more experience.

it might be, a remote ballast system that you can keep outside the grow area(the ballast makes alot of the heat) and an forced air cooled hood to deal with the heat from the bulb and youll be good most likely for the 600w some will say thats overkill but ive got my 400w hps in a 2x4x4 area and im doing good(i have the option and do use it if i need that i can expand my height to 6-7 feet, but never had to go that far yet, but if i didnt top and lst them i would of.

you will need to do height control training btw unless you wish to have a seperate taller flower cab. 5-6 feet isnt that uncommon for indica, sativa get even taller.

darkdestruction420 said:

it might be, a remote ballast system that you can keep outside the grow area(the ballast makes alot of the heat) and an forced air cooled hood to deal with the heat from the bulb and youll be good most likely for the 600w some will say thats overkill but ive got my 400w hps in a 2x4x4 area and im doing good(i have the option and do use it if i need that i can expand my height to 6-7 feet, but never had to go that far yet, but if i didnt top and lst them i would of.

Click to expand...

That sounds like a pretty good idea, the remote ballast idea...How much more would one of those run me???

I might just have to give that a shot...


See the thing is, is that I really dont want to put any holes in the closet walls for ventilation...
Do I really need to put in a ventillation system??? I plan on putting 1 or 2 oscillating fans in there...One at the bottom area and the other up higher blowing between the plant tops and the lights...

What do ya think.?.


Anyway, thanx for all the help ...

not much, actually none at all. lol, this is the one ive got-hell of a good deal imo. I went and got the high output bulb and euro reflector option with mine. i know i said use a 600w, but i wasnt thinking of it cost wise, just what would work best and i cant find a good 600w remote ballast for a good enough price to say go for it. Want to know something interesting? ive talked to 3 different electricians i know and despite my thoughts to the contrary, it is ok to use a mh bulb of the same watt in an hps fixture. I've been doing it 2 months now and all is well, got a ceramic metal halide on the way too, looks to be much better than hps or mh alone and makes alot less heat than an hps w/o giving up the benefits of hps. Heres the light i have
http://www.htgsupply.com/growlights.asp?categoryID=1&subcategoryID=155&typeID=55
A ventilation system of some sort is needed, maybe have a fan on the top sucking air up into the attic and a passive intake lower down?