i have a grow tent and was told to use a metal halide light for vegetative stage and has for flowering. is this correct way to go?
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Hi @newbie19, welcome to the growers network
What size tent do you have and do you already have a light?
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With out some more details. Yes MH is best for veg and HPS is best for flower (in my opinion) I run 2 double ended 150w MH and a supposably compairable 1000w LED in my 3x8 closet and a 600w HPS in my 4x4 tent. I don’t like the LED my self but then again it’s a lower end led. Heat is something to consider running MH/HPS. Be sure to have it vent with an inline fan going outside or another room. One perk is you won’t have to run your heater as much during the winter but will need AC in the summer if not well ventilation and some cool fresh air to keep it cool in side your grow space.
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I personally use a T5 fluorescent 4 bulb fixture for medium veg and then i go to a 400watt MH for large final veg. Seedlings and clones i use a single t5 bulb. Works great.
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I do believe MH and hps put out alot more heat than an led would… You can always find equivalent light if you don’t like the heat output they produce… Just shop around but don’t make the mistake I did by buying a blurple LED your light will be one of the things you don’t want to get cheap with
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What kelvin do you use? I have 3000k and 6500k. A 4 light 2’ adjustable wing fixture and also my main veg light is a 4’ hybrid light with 2 t5, 2 mh and 2 blue led. I need to rebuild the t5 system, get new ballasts and sockets but the others work great. I want to expand a little and fixing that would almost double my coverage.
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If you want to try cheap check out Craigslist or your local grow/hydroponic shop and see if they have any used hood and ballast but I highly recomend buying a new bulb. Again your local grow shop can help with that.
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If they’re not stuck up assholes 
… My local hydro looked at me when I first walked in like your only growing 2-4 at a time sorry we can’t help you so I said fuck it I’ll do it on my own lol
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That’s nuts but it’s how ppl are man I know I brought it up once too some areas ppl are secretive and kinda weird about sharing genetics and processes and tips of the trade but I love sharing all of those things
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Oh I get that for sure I just went in there before I even started growing to see what products they had…it was all good great service friendly people but as soon as I told em I’m just doing a small closet grow they flipped the switch on me and were pretty rude… Told me we straight up don’t supply to growers like you yet everything I saw in the shop I’d probably try I gave em the middle finger and walked out… It’s been Amazon ever since
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Same and honestly amazons cheaper for 99.8% of what I need
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Exactly!! 
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That’s a good deal, you have me thinking of running the t5 instead of my led for extra space.
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I’ve gotten respectable yields with the T5 ranges(of5), over a 2x4 table
I always just bought them at the local electric store or home depot, ask for the 6500k bulbs. (one’s marketed toward horticulture used to cost more, not sure if that’s still the case)
Keep them very close to the canopy once the plants are hard enough
Dude its cheap hardly any heat and come with the correct bulbs for growing. My top shelf is a single bulb. It works great also but the reflector is trash. I want a 2 bulb but decent. Don’t go to cheap sometimes its trash. Hydrofarm is good stuff. I have 50% of my setup equipment from them.
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I just switched from mh/hps to cmh/led and should have done it much sooner!! Heat and electricity dropped significantly and the plants LOVE IT
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I’m using my mh and HPS to my advantage with the heat. Exhausting into the hall way so we don’t have to run the heater lol Maybe I’ll give it a shot with the 4 light fixture I have. I have my last few seeds germinating so I’ll start those on the t5 since there is no room left in veg. The flowers need to hurry the hell up. Here is the fixture I have and also a cool pic I took last night.
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For my early seedlings/veg/clones they go under my eight tube t5. I use the hortilux full spectrum tubes. A little pricy but never fail me.
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