Who's working with T5s

[Cautios]

Just wanted to point out to you harris7 the discoloration is likely due to the distance from the bulb. Seems pretty likely, esspecially considering that you describe the location as being shaded. That would also explain why the problem gets better under HID. I know that I'm off topic. Sorry.

[GRB.4.Life]

My first T5 grow will start as soon as my lighting and soil are put together.

The cabinet space is roughly 4ft tall X 4ft wide X 2.5ft in depth. It will be painted flat white first and, if my budget allows for it, lined with mylar on all sides.

Lighting:

∙ 216 watt 4-ft 95% reflective T5 fluorescent grow light with textured charcoal gray powder coated steel housing and 12FT power cord.
∙ Includes 2-6500 Kelvin & 2-3000 Kelvin Fluorescent lamps for all purpose growth
∙ Lumen Output: 20,000 lumens
∙ Fixture dimensions: 47"Lx10"Wx2.5"
∙ Growing Area: 4ft x 2.5ft
∙ 120V Solid state electronic ballasts

I will be growing one or two plants. Not sure yet.

I figured this would suit the whole life of the plant/s perfectly from seedling to harvest. Here's why:

I have grown, from seedling to flower, with far less lumens on nothing but CFLs. With one plant in a 4ftT X 2ftL X 2ftW I used 4 CFLs 2 42w cool and 2 32w warm. I yielded with about 1.5ozs. As many have stated, the buds were fluffy and not very solid. On the other hand the potency was excellent in my opinion and after proper curing the taste was a very fine sweet orangy citrus flavor (more strain related but it was bagseed so no clue on strain, although I do know it was highly indica dominant.)

I used NO fertilizer. I used potting soil mixed with organic growing soil.

Keep your eyes peeled for my small grow log with T5s!

[harris7]

I am about to buy a 4ft 4 tube t5 H.O. for clone / veg, but was wondering if these suckers are any good for flowering using the S.O.G. method. The space would be inches bigger then the unit itself with mylar sides and lights close to tops. I am on my first grow in my new apt. closet and heat is my biggest concern with my hps setup I have now. I was just wondering if it is worthwhile using t5 H.O. 3000k or just stick with 'ol school hps. Good priced units here High Tech Garden Supply

stick with the HPS, the t5 dosn't have much intensity and the results fall off quickly as distance from the light increases.

your lower buds wont be getting much light at all, stay with the HPS

[GRB.4.Life]

If he does a SOG he shouldn't have any lower bud sites. At least if he does it right anyways...

There are a lot of variables though. How many plants, how big of a space, Wattage of the HPS and of the T5 fixture, what kind of reflective material, etc...

In my opinion, I would at least try the T5s. But if you do, SOG would be your best bet when using fluorescents of any kind. And considering you will be using mylar you should be sure to make use of it best by making a smaller enclosure inside the closet. But again, there's another variable here, what are the dimensions of the closet? This will allow you to make that T5 pretty damned efficient. The key to using fluorescents effectivly is keeping the light as confined as possible. If you cannot do this I wouldn't try using the T5 for flowering.

On the other hand, if you're using your whole closet as the grow space you would probably be better of with the HPS. That is, of course, providing that the HPS produces at least double the lumens the T5 does. And like you said, you're worried about heat and that would be about the only concern you should have with the HPS really. If your HPS gives off more lumens then I would definatly attempt to accomodate for the HPS.

How many watts are the HPS and T5 Fixtures?

[harris7]

yes but when i mean results diminishing with a distance, i mean with a distance of 4 inches you dont get results.

I dont like growing plants bigger than 6 inch under my T5. i'm sure you could get em a little bigger with the 4ftx2ft model but not significantly bigger.

T5's cost an arm and a leg also. mine was 140$ for 100W
the 400 watt model is around 400$ (i think)
that’s a lot for only 400W and less lumens than an HPS by far

my fixture at 100W puts out 9000 lumens (or 8500 cant remember)
so assuming a linear relationship that’s 36000 lumens for 400W
Now a 400W HPS gets 50 000lm so 12 000’s a pretty big difference

Not to mention HPS gives off UVB light which is very good
T5’s do not

[Shovelhandle]

I used T-5 and T-8 on my last grow (Bubblegum). The three plants in the windowbox planter had the (4) lamp T-5 for side lighting and the (2) T-8s for top lights. My three other plants had some 250W HPS lighting (sometimes one, sometimes two fixtures) and came out great, but not quite as big nuggets as these buds, surprisingly.
These are beautiful, smell outrageous and probably will kick ass (they just started to cure).

I plan on doing the same this grow except I'll be getting 5000K or 6500K instead of the 4100K for vegging as soon as I can clean up from the last grow. I use 3000K for flowering. No need to mitigate for the heat either. I just use one fan to move the air a bit. I was really pleased with the results. I am not going to put three plants in a planter again this time, but I don't think the results were as bad as some folks think. <G> But hey, do what you want. I like to have a small, efficient grow setup. This worked out excellent for me.

No arguement that HPS is the standard (best overall) for flowering but these flourescents did the trick with less energy ($$).

If you'd like, see Shov's Bubblegum Grow in the Grow Log Threads.

Shov

[GRB.4.Life]

Oh no doubt about it, HPS is definatly a higher yielding solution to indoor growing. Penetration is the key, I think we're all aware of that. And HPS has the penetration advantage over the T5s. If I had the money and space available I would go HPS without question.

But for some people, such as in my case, an HPS setup is just not feasable for a couple of reasons. After you factor in the amount of electricity ($$) being used for just a 12/12 flowering cycle you're looking at almost DOUBLE what a T5 fixture would run on 18/6. The heat issue alone in such a small setup is enough to make you not want to bother with it. 4ft L x 4ft W x 2ft D is just too small for an HPS lamp that puts out 20,000lumens. The bottom line is HPS gets expensive quick and the T5 HO fluorescents are the best bang for your buck.

So in the end sometimes you gotta work with what you got I suppose.

I bet I still get upwards of 2OZs dried off one plant.

[harris7]

Both of the last two posts said that T5’s save electricity.

This is simply not true.

You will have to use Significantly more electricity to achieve the same illumination than with a HPS. As I said above the difference between a 400W HPS and 400W T5 is 12 000 Lumens. Thus you’d need to use more like a 550W T5 to equal a 400W HPS in Lumens. HPS is the cheapest light to Run.

As well a 400W HPS is Half the price of a T5 but you have to deal with heat.

[GRB.4.Life]

You're absolutely right harris.

But...There are still stipulations being overlooked here.

You really can't use the HPS alone for vegetative growth. Simply put, you can but you WILL run into problems and deficiencies. This requires you to have an alternative lighting setup simply for vegetative growth. Which adds to the cost of the setup initially.

So the combined expenses and power usage of an HPS setup are just not feasable for some people.

The T5 setup is much more feasable in my opinion because you can take for instance a 4 Lamp setup, mix your Kelvin and use it for the whole cycle of the plant from germination to harvest without changing anything but the light timing.

[GRB.4.Life]

Here's the deal on HPS from what I understand:

High Pressure Sodium - HPS:

High pressure sodium bulbs emit an orange-red glow. This band of light triggers hormones in plants to increase flowering/budding in plants. They are the best grow lights available for secondary or supplemental lighting (used in conjunction with natural sunlight). This is ideal for greenhouse growing applications.

Not only is this a great flowering light, it has two features that make it a more economical choice. Their average lifespan is twice that of metal halides, but after 18,000 hours of use, they will start to draw more electricity than their rated watts while gradually producing less light. HPS bulbs are very efficient. They produce up to 140 lumens per watt. Their disadvantage is they are deficient in the blue spectrum. If a gardener were to start a young plant under a HPS bulb, she/he would see impressive vertical growth. In fact, probably too impressive. Most plants would grow up thin and lanky and in no time you will have to prune your plant back before it grows into the light fixture. The exception to this is using HPS grow lights in a greenhouse or in conjunction another light source that emits light in the blue spectrum. Light sources that have a high output in the blue spectrum like sunlight and MH grow lights offset any stretching caused by HPS bulbs.

Attached is a light output comparison chart based on 50,000 Lumens.