So Ive been trying to come up with a plan to downsize my garden, and I was just looking for some thoughts and/or suggestions. Thanks in advance.

Ive never owned a tent before, but I was planning on getting a couple of the 48in wide, 24in deep, 60in tall tents. My 4 foot t5 8 bulb fixture isnt going to fit in there, so I was looking into getting one that was 36 inches and 4 bulbs wondering if that would produce an optimal amount of light for the space.

As for the flowering tent, I was thinking a 400w HPS setup. The thing Im unsure about is the decision between one of the ballast-in-hood units, or getting a separate ballast with a tube style hood?

I know the decision will eventually be up to me, and my style. But any input could be infinitely helpful. Thanks.

I actually just upgraded my grow room from 2 grow tents the same size. 4 t5 bulbs should work just fine for the vegetation part as for the flower room, I used a combination of cfls and a 150watt hps. optimally you would forsure want your separate ballast with a tube style hood, I had problem at the beginnning with heat with just a 150 watt hps

For some reason, and I imagine because it may be the most underused size... but the 3 foot CFL fixtures are so expensive compared to the other ones. The 3 foot 4 bulb is just as much as my 4 foot 8 bulb. Lol.

But, I did go ahead and pick up everything I needed except for that. I cant wait to post pictures of everything up and running. I scouted and scouted until I found a particular ballast/hood combo with a bunch of great reviews, most commenting on how "cool" it ran which is always a plus.

We will see.

I have been using a 4'x4' tent for some time now and you will most likely want to go with a tube style reflector in you tent. Being that they are are basically completely sealed you will want to get all the equipment necessary to control the environment in them. You will need a tube some ducting and an inline fan with temp. and humidity control. In the end it is your own choice but as I said these tents are designed to allow you the control environment why not do what they are designed to do...

Thanks, thats what I figured. But having someone with experience say is what I was looking for. I already understand the environmental control part, Im just downsizing. Its really the lighting I was wondering about and you all did a great job answering that.

I appreciate it always.

If you were to buy a 6" cool tube with, bulb, fan, filter, , and run that 400 in that tent. If you do it right you can have a real fine flower room.

the below link is 2 4x4 tents. One has a 1000 watt hps and the other has 2 x 600 hps for a total of 1200 in that tent. With the high wattage lighting I had to run a special ac where I route the cold air directly back into the tents and keep them at 70f at the heat of day and 65f overnight.

Well the heat of the summer is kind of whats getting to me at the current moment too, so excitingly enough I already got my cool tube on the way.

Im excited to try some stuff I havent yet. Thanks for your input Rebel I found it super helpful.