T5 HO Flowering Questions

[WFO1955]

my first grow; I have an eight tube 4' t5 HO sunblaze that allows the switching of either four or eight bulbs to be on. I have eight plants that are doing extremely well. About 6-7wks old.

History: mexican strain grown in FFOF and guano, kelp, superthrive tea every other feed up til now. Kept at 80 degrees day, 70-75 at night on 20/4. I can't beleive it but out of 12 seeds eight appear to be fems.

They are rather small (8-12") but bushy and in about 2-3 weeks I want to prepare for flowering. No more pruning.

There were no instructions with the lamp, however when I contacted the dude from ebay (seemingly clueless) he said use the center four for flowering.

I was under the impression that I had to switch from 54w 6500 lumen bulbs to 3000 lumen bulbs; I am confused. I intended on some cfl's but need to know about the main lights and how far they should be from the tops, up til now I have kept them about 12" above.

Aside from y'alls opinions 'bout flowering lights I should use, should I maintain the previous nutes or change it up for the ladies during flowering/harvest.

I have researched alot but tend to listen more to experienced growers like on this site; books are outdated. Awesome site, but hard to search for specifics, heck, I can't even find replies to my first post.......thanks.

[Dutch Pimp]

check out this grow...http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-log/181201-raiz-first-grow-log-3-white-widow-seeds-nirvana.html

...and talk with him...:thumbsup:

[keenan7899]

I'm confused, I'm currently using t5s to flower, why would you want to only have certain lights on?? Dude put all those things on those bitches need lumens!! Lght doesn't penetrate all that great .. Side lighting is helpful.

[WFO1955]

Dude, that's what I want to hear.....are yours close to the plant tops?

Would CFL's do the trick for the sides and in betweens?

Thanks man, you're the first to answer a direct question....

[Dutch Pimp]

I'm confused, I'm currently using t5s to flower, why would you want to only have certain lights on?? Dude put all those things on those bitches need lumens!! Lght doesn't penetrate all that great .. Side lighting is helpful.
He was asking about changing color temp (kelvin temp)...going into flowering.

Most growers switch bulbs...from vegging (k) temp of 5000k-6500k...to 2000k-3500k for flowering.

ok...reading closer..:stoned:...use all the lights

[keenan7899]

Yeah.... Flowering bulbs are nice. But I still keep 1-2 white lights to help with growth.

Cfls for aide lighting are perfect. Depending on how many plants you have or how big they are, you made need one to several.
Dude, I bought those plant hangers from wal mart, like the chains or whatever, I keep them about 1-4 inches from the top. Like an inch from the highest branch, I'll wake up in the morning and they'll benlike touching the plant haha. But that's fine t5 s haven't burned any of my crop yet!

I'm doing this from my phone, give me your email and I can send you photos or video of any ?s you have.

But just keep them closer the better. 1-5" is ideal, with 18-24" being max ( I have little plants under the big ones, they're doing just fine, but can tell they're "surviving" haha

Word hope this helps

[keenan7899]

Also, YouTube a guy named kbgrowkid420. He uses all cfl an t5 lighting, with fucking amazing results and tips. Hope it helps!

[khyberkitsune]

I used to use T5HO (switched to LED) and I'd use 6 3000K bulbs and 2 6500K bulbs. Nice happy colas. Keep the lights about 3 inches from the tops of your plant if you can do it and keep it cool. Four 3000K bulbs in the center, put the two 6500K bulbs in, one on each side of the center four, and finish off with the last two 3000K on the outsides.

[WFO1955]

Thanks to all a' y'alls help. THe babes are growing 1-2' per day, green and bushy as hell from the T5hox8, gonna use cfl's to augment flowering, can't afford LED's right now, crap, that T5 was like $220.00!