HPS, CFL's or T5's??? Indoor Closet Grow

Stealth Closet Grow

New to the Indoor scene.

What kind, or combination, of lighting would you use in a closet grow?

I'm building an enclosure about 2ft x 1.5ft x 4.5ft to grow one plant. (as big as my closet will allow)


I'm open to using cfl's, t5's and HID lamps.

What lights? How many? and all that jazz would you recommend?

The only reason i don't wanna use an HID is because of everything I've read about how hot they get. I don't wanna worry about burning my house down. Can i get away with a small HPS lamp?


Any comments and advice are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

use a 250 watt hps they dont get that hot. thats what i got and i can keep i to 4-5 inches from the top with onl a fan. not bd at 28,500 lumens. and you can get one for cheap as hell from www.insidesun.com

Go with 2 foot 4 bulb t5s then for flower go with a 250 watt hps.
One plant veged long enough and fimed right can yeild you up to 4 oz with a simple set up.

use hps all the way veg and flower, or if you wanna use some cheap cfls or even ceaper 40 watt t12s

GoldenGanja13 said:

Go with 2 foot 4 bulb t5s then for flower go with a 250 watt hps.
One plant veged long enough and fimed right can yeild you up to 4 oz with a simple set up.

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Thanks for the advice.

Do you know how much the t5's fixtures and bulbs would cost me? from say home depot?

MrHowe said:

Thanks for the advice.

Do you know how much the t5's fixtures and bulbs would cost me? from say home depot?

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I got my 3ft 2 bulb T5's for around $20 each. I wired them with romex and put a plug end on it so I could plug it in to a timer

chitownsmoking said:

use a 250 watt hps they dont get that hot. thats what i got and i can keep i to 4-5 inches from the top with onl a fan. not bd at 28,500 lumens. and you can get one for cheap as hell from www.insidesun.com

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Nice find.

Not sure if the reflector will fit in my enclosure though. says 18 inches. is that 18 inches measured parallel to the bulb or perpendicular to?

Houser said:

I got my 3ft 2 bulb T5's for around $20 each. I wired them with romex and put a plug end on it so I could plug it in to a timer

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where if you dont mind me asking?

Houser said:

I got my 3ft 2 bulb T5's for around $20 each. I wired them with romex and put a plug end on it so I could plug it in to a timer

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Sweet. Shouldn't cost me much more than that.

MrHowe said:

Thanks for the advice.

Do you know how much the t5's fixtures and bulbs would cost me? from say home depot?

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They don't carry the Ho ( High Output) T5's. You'll need to get them at a hydro store or online.

I'd go T5 all the way. I love mine. I veg under cfl's now and flower under the HOT5's. I'd veg under them too if I had the $'s to get them. Been out of work so $'s are tight. Any thing short of 600 or 1000 hps, I'd use the HOT5's to flower.

The 8-bulb 4-ft. HOT5's have 432 watts and well over 40,000 lumens with very low heat output.

Home Depot but Lowes has them too. I've used them all the way through flowering and I'm close to my first harvest

Knally said:

They don't carry the Ho ( High Output) T5's. You'll need to get them at a hydro store or online.

I'd go T5 all the way. I love mine. I veg under cfl's now and flower under the HOT5's. I'd veg under them too if I had the $'s to get them. Been out of work so $'s are tight. Any thing short of 600 or 1000 hps, I'd use the HOT5's to flower.

The 8-bulb 4-ft. HOT5's have 432 watts and well over 40,000 lumens with very low heat output.

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How much did the HOT5's go for?

If i'm gonna use a 250 watt hps for flowering... why not buy the mh conversion bulb and use that for veg?

GoldenGanja13 said:

Mh is hot so you need to consider that. I was useing 2 600 mh in a 10x10x8. No matter what I did I could not keep the heat down, almost killed them. So I switched to 3 4' 4 bulb hoT5s and wow that was like some seious growing they started doing! Plus no more heat issues

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Good thing i asked.

You recommended 2ft. 4 bulb t5's.

What about 2 - 2ft. 2 bulb t5's?
or even 4 - 2ft. 1 bulb t5's?

I could mount them vertically after veg stage and help supplement lower foliage.

Or will a 250 watt HPS be plenty for one plant?

GoldenGanja13 said:

I just paid $250. for 4' 8 bulb HO-T5s. There the best when it comes to veg. Hands Down.

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Price is why I'm sticking with the regular T5's. My whole goal was to get my two 2'x3' setups build and running for around $100 and it's working well. First harvest is soon and I haven't had any issues flowering under a standard T5. I love the low energy usage and low heat.

HoT5s what ever you can fit in your grow room, and I think they would be good for side lighting when useing a low 250HPS.

My total cost on my veg alone was $600. I still need to put togther my flower room, I figure another $600 at least.

GoldenGanja13 said:

HoT5s what ever you can fit in your grow room, and I think they would be good for side lighting when useing a low 250HPS.

My total cost on my veg alone was $600. I still need to put togther my flower room, I figure another $600 at least.

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I'd say use your 250 hps as side lighting and use the 4-ft, 8 bulb HOT5 to flower with.

Have you flowered with it yet using 4 of the 3500k and 4 of the 6500k bulbs?