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I'm currently vegging under T5's and love them so so very much. I have been thinking quite seriously of replacing my 600watt HPS with a dump truck load of T5's for flowering too. I'd be curious to hear from others who flower under T5's and anyone who might veg and flower under T5's. I have a 3'x2' table, so maybe 8 plants at most, but their in a confined closet type space so heat tends to be bad in the summer.
T5's work good for flower. They still give off a fair amount of heat. I was using 16 four foot T5's and swapped to a 1000w hps. Haven't noticed any increase in yield with the hps.
Why did you switch? I'm trying to go the other way. If your coming this direction then maybe I should just stay here, keep the 600watt and forget replacing it with T5's for flower.
I would like to hear more about this as well I have enough room to fit two T5s
How much yield can one get from these lights I do understand there are a lot of
variables to this answer. So a ball park answer would be nifty.
Also if someone could point us in the right direction to a T5 grow log would
be great as well.
you won't have as big and dense nugs with the t-5s as you would with the 600W HPS. they are still fluroescents, just more efficient than the spiral type and the heat is dissepated over a greater area. your resin production might lack a bit as well. to get results anywhere close to the 600W you will need so many t-5s that the heat will be the same or more. HPS is a more efficient light than fluros. if i were you i would invest in an air-cooled hood or a portable a/c or both.
-shake
So how about quality? Could one grow at least a c+ grade using 2 T5s? I'm in a closet that is 2' deep, 6' ft. long 8' tall. Not that was relevant to the conversation.
Hypo...with due respect to the responses thus far, I think T5's are a little more powerful then most people will give them credit for. I can testify to their power under vegetation which is a 6500k or 6000k bulb depending on which bulb and technology you end up with. I have been looking into something called Power Compact which is a socketed bulb with a square end. It basically takes a T5 and bends it around like a CFL, which allows you to not need wires on both end. Depending on the application, it can make or break the decision to use the technology.
Take a look a utube for T5 grows or floro grows. It will at least get you started. I would like to see some data or comparisons though before deciding to pull out my 600watt light.
I'm sure in 12 months time I will have this information, but since I have so little experience right now nor do I have enough harvests under my belt to be able to speak about this stuff knowledgeably. I know having grown for nearly a year now (and not a single successful harvest..lol), what works and does not work for me and my space. Past that, what works and doesn't, I guess I wont know till I try it and see what happens.
http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-log/...ow-t5-e-f.html
if used correctly, T5's can give you great results.
Raizla did a grow log and got about 90% finished before he bailed the board. :what: It did look impressive.
http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-log/...s-nirvana.html
:D...
Oops, uhh..... Yeah, what he said!
;)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutch Pimp
The problem with T5s (or any fluoro lights) is their lack of canopy penetration. You have to keep fluoros of any type close to the plants (1-2?) to get top results. Obviously, if you've got a 30? plant, you're going to have some problems if you've got bud sites 12? below the top of your plant...or if your top buds go down more than a few inches. This is also why CFLs and T5s are terrific in veg or SCROG/SOG grows; the plants are smaller, and canopy penetration isn't an issue (or much of one) for a 10-14? plant in veg, or plants that arne't going be to be to tall when fully grown..
I'm thinking that one way to get around this??but it be more of a pain to set up in real life??would be to have two T5's in an inverted V pattern ^ around a plant. You'd probably do pretty well.
And it's also true that CFLs or T5s won't be as efficient as HIDs. CFLs give you around 65-70 lumens per watt. T5s are a little better; around 80-90. A pretty average 250w HPS bulb gives you over 26000 lumens, so you'd be over the 100 lumens/watt mark. The gap increases with larger HID bulbs; 600 and 1000w HPS bulbs get to about 150 lumens per watt..twice as efficient as fluoros.
For the type of setup described, you really would need a dump truck load of fluoros...something 1000w (or more) of T5s. You'll still have heat and ventilation issues with that many lights, and they will also become pretty costly. Not worth the switch, IMO.