yet ANOTHER lighting question

so I have been doing research and weighing the possibilities for my very thin and long 32inx8ft closet. i am growing 4 plants and want to get maximum yield(5-6 bags) of each plant. for this reason i've been very fixated on an hps set up as opposed to a cfl or t5 set up although i've heard incredibly good things about the t5 route compared to a 150-250w hps set up which i plan on doing. i essentially want to have a two light set up as the footprint in my closet is odd and would really call for 2 lights to illuminate the length of the closet. i have a FEW questions i want to ask before going to home depot and getting a pair of 2 cheap 150w grow lights. People argue about which lights to use for veg. state and from what i have gathered, they say to go with an mh for veg. and hps for flowering. does this matter to a great extent? i was planning on putting the plants real close together during veg. and running them under a single hps and when i switched them to flowering using two lights and putting them at about a foot and a half distance from eachother. i wanted to know if the 150w ballast set ups were digital as well as that keeps the cost down especially on startup and would a 2 2 ft long 4bulb t5 fixtures be the equivalent of 2 150w hps lights. all i can find on craigslist are 400w ballast kits and i am wondering if i can run that and a 150w without burning my precious cargo. would the different light intensity do some crazy voodoo because i will be switching them daily to ensure each side gets good 400w lighting every other day. i found a deal on craigslist for one 430w ballast kit and one 150w for 115 and 75 ducks respectively so that would be 200 ducks which imo is a good deal for this type quality but i just want to make sure before i make a final decision on which lights to purchase that i will be buying the most potent and effecient lights for my 4 plants(again i want a 5-6 oz max yield) and most cost effective in terms of kwh usage which i'm not to concerned about since the rate is .11 cents so i shouldn't see more than a $20 increase using this setup. my main question is if the t5/t8 setup using 2 4ft fixtures would be the equivalent because that'll virtually keep my light costs the same for the same results. i would love to get a definitive answer of yes, danny buy a 400w and a 150w ballast kit, or no danny, for the money, id go with the cheaper t8's

if i can buy cheap t8's and get like 8 4ft 2 bulb tubes and plaster them all over the closet i can do that too but like i said i'm looking for the best option for my 32inx8ft long shaped closet footprint.

TheWiseInfidel said:

if i can buy cheap t8's and get like 8 4ft 2 bulb tubes and plaster them all over the closet i can do that too but like i said i'm looking for the best option for my 32inx8ft long shaped closet footprint.

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now that you \are here, go leds. 250 hps wont give yiu what u r lookin for/. leds is the way to go buddy

Hahaha...yeah you pretty much answered your own question by posting in this section.

i don't have 500 bucks to shell out for a single fixture. i'd rather get 2 250w and pay 150-200 for both, my main concern is not burning them if i was to use an hps for veg. growth

No you wont burn them... the only difference between MH and HPS is MH has more of a blue/purple spike and HPS have higer red yellow orange. Blues are used more in veg reds yellows oranges in flower. Theyre basically the same with those subtle differences. I say subtle as if its not really much of a difference but if the difference wasnt significant enough then why would they make two different bulbs? Why not just get a MH bulb and an HPS? If you have to, yes you can use HPS all the way through.

looks like i lied about the prices, i'm looking on HTG Supply and they have a 4 pack of led lights for $100......my question NOW becomes, if i were to get 2 packs(8 lights) at 16watts, would that be enough to raise 4 plants and would the lights reach far enough to cover a 8ft length? or 2 lights per 2sq. ft i'm assuming i can put the lights relatively close to the plants as well since it won't use any heat practically but let me read some of the stickies and see if i learn some shit. in the meanwhile answer those two questions if you can

to get an mh and hps bulb i'd have to get a switchable ballast, and i'm trying to squeeze 2 400w maybe 250w ballasts KITS into a 200-250 budget so that's why i asked. i'd have to buy at least one switchable ballast kit and an extra mh bulb which will be useless until my next grow. probably will run me more like 300 for everything

i'm looking at a 12inx12in panel with 225 lights totalling 14watts for the panel. i'm clueless on what this means in terms of LED quality but it says it covers a 4sq ft area. seeing it for 50 ducks too. if ya saying that LED work better than hps and i buy two of these then i should be set but iono this my first time even coming into this section of the forums so LEDS are completely new and i don't know what i would be looking for in terms of quality, wattage, sizes