Quote Originally Posted by Permabaked
My next setup is going to be in a little cabinet, flowering freshly rooted clones immediately SCROG style with t5s right on top. I've been reading about the correlations between UVB and THC content, I was thinking about swapping out one of the tubes for a T5HO UVB bulb. Has anyone done this before or seen bud grown like this? :wtf:
Hey Permabaked,

I am a believer in the use of UVb, it has clearly worked for me to get trichomes to turn amber for finishing....and in some strains it may add trichomes when used thru out the grow (veg and flower).

What you propose to do, subbing a UVb bulb in your fixture tho will not work, and here's why. T5's come in three flavors of wattage; Normal Output, High Output and Very High Output. I have not been able to find any T5 reptile bulbs that are made in HO only in NO. Your fixture is probably an HO setup, so it will not fire a Normal Output bulb.

In my grow, I use 4- T5- 2' bulbs that are "desert 50" normal output, 14w each, but I use a IceCap 630 ballast to drive them to VHO levels, 40w each. Bulb life is shortened but output is very much increased. I use this supplemental lighting only for a few hours per day, during the middle of the photoperiod.

As someone mentioned above, there is some thought that some light wavelenghts can accomplish the same thing. Specifically 10,000K to 12,000K seems to work, plus is safer then playing with UVb bulbs. You might want to consider getting a set of bulbs for your T5 fixture that are HO's and swap out all your bulbs for the last 10-14 days of flowering. You are in experimental land tho and need to keep in mind that differant strains give differant results.

Good luck and good growing...keep in mind eye safety if you use UVb.