should i/can i switch from HPS to T-5

If you were 3-4 weeks from harvest using 600w HPS but started to have excessive heat problems can you without shocking the flowers switch to a t-5 4ft X 8 bulb total 432 watts system? I have heard the t-5 produce much less heat but the HPS is a workhorse so i am not sure. Thanks in advance for opinions/ideas.

hell no...dont do it. Find a way to deal with the heat. going from hps's to t5's is like going from a brand new benz to a 1987 toyota with 200,000 miles on it

ouch that hurt but i'm sure your right. 87 with 200k + thats not so good! cant get ac but cant think 95 is a good plant temp either. prob let this go as is for now. Thanks Johnny Retro

Whats your ventilation situation like?

Only justification for T5 over HPS is a short SOG, or a SCROG and the convenience factor. Even then, I'd recommend several small wattage HPS spread out evenly over a big one, and I'd keep the ballasts a ways from the grow. The spectrum that HPS emits is so much better that even with less lumens, it's better than T5 bloom bulbs.

my grow is 100% t5ho 6 bulb, and not even using the lower spectrum bulbs due to financial issues, and my grows seem to be producing fine, dense buds, one of which is quite frosty when the others have barely started. check out my journals for pics.

it is like going from a benz to a honda, but that doesnt mean you cant make a honda an awesome performance machine. just dont get all the luxuries =D

-edit- my avatar is the cola off one of them, ya they are smaller buds, but remember that i started flower @ 10", and even now (3 weeks from harvest) they are only about 20".

Actually a little research would show you that t5's have many advantages over hps (not saying it is better for you). The light the produce is spread much more evenly and it is a much more usable type of light for plants. They run cooler so you can put them much closer to your plants greatly reducing lumen loss. The light spectrum is also tunable to the stage your grow is in. I will also add that you do not have a hot ballast to deal with. I will include a lumen loss chart to explain the lumens lost to distance between the light and the plants.

Johnny Retro said:

hell no...dont do it. Find a way to deal with the heat. going from hps's to t5's is like going from a brand new benz to a 1987 toyota with 200,000 miles on it

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agreed terrible idea deal with the heat