too hot or too cold? which is "better"

gonna have to move my grow to a confined spot for some inlaws coming into town. i dont have a chance to fix the spot for better ventilation or get a new light.

heres the dilemma: which is "better"?? Too hot or too cold when running plants under a 18/6 light cycle.

i can either use my 600w HPS, but it gets 96F during the day. or i can just use my CFLs and get it at about 78F max during the day.

at night, it drops to about 72F using HPS (since it retains heat in the spot before the lights go back on). or 61F using CFLs.

which option sounds safer for the plants and "less" stressful until i can move them back to my ideal growing spot?

I'd totally go with the cfl's on this one.

Cold will slow them down but it shouldn't stress them too bad so long as it doesn't get close to freezing.
Too high heat without proper venting can toast your bud quickly.

Definately go for the low-n-slow CFLs

i was leaning towards the cfl/cool temps too. thanks all.

I would take whatever time and timers you have and try to make the temp work for you. May be hard on ballast and bulb but if you set it to run the 600 for only 30 minutes or so at a time it will allow the temp to drop back down, before it comes back on. Then you are getting your light and heat in the right(ish) parameters. I recently switched my vegg room from 18/6 to 12 hours on 6 hours off, 1 hour on, 5 hours off. That alone has dropped my temps by several degrees.
So maybe this, when your lights come on turn on the hps and the cfls together, run them for 30 mins - hour to build up the heat, then turn off the hps and leave the cfls going. Do just that at the start of everyday and it should help regulate temps

thanks trueno. good idea. my timer can do up to 8 on/off cycles per day. ive also thought that im just about ready to flower, i can maybe cut it to 12/12 and possibly run the HPS over night when its coolest, and have it off during the day (i have a nice light seal for this room)

how about both? during the day have the cfls on and at night put on the hps. if temps allow you could even keep a few or all of the cfls running when you turn on the hps.

I was thinking along the same lines as dark ^^....

Why not have cfl's on for 18 and flick on the HPS for the last 2-3hrs.. should raise temps enough to cover your colder night temps like you said, but not raise the heat to +90.
If that's not an option, go for CFL's. Obviously, I'm just seconding what was already said.

just an update: during the 18hour light cycle, im running the cfls' the whole time, and my HPS the first and last 6 hours. my max temp with them on gets to 84F in the day and 66F overnight. ladies look happy and healthy (for what it's worth). thanks for all the suggestions

If this is really only for a short time I say run the cfls 24 hrs a day, you may get a bit of stretch, but that is way mobetta than 92 degrees even for a very short time.


Peace