My Current set up: journal?

I haven't ever posted a journal, never could see the end of it. And a year and a half journal would be a little long. You know I always say, "Got any pictures, we like pictures....". Gottafew. Kind of a panorama around the shop. I already posted construction of the tables, the bud dryer and the clone stand so I won't repeat those here. I have 5 tables currently in use, three in my 14' x 5' flowering area, and two in my 8' by 6' mother clone area. Two of the tables in the flowering room are lit with 4' 8tube t-5 fixtures, 1/2 red spectrum, 1/2 blue spectrum. The third has one of the origianl 400 watt hps hid's I purchased to start with, which I will be replacing.
I decided to put the third t-5 I purchased over the clones that are getting ready to go into flowering. Up to that point I was using 4-2 tube t-12 with a mixture of the right blue and white light bulbs. I still have the t-12's over the mothers and that will be were the next replacement light goes.

Of course have to have some clones too. These are just t-8 2' fixtures for now. Once in a while some one will mention heat as an issue. These three fans keep the air circulating, one at each end of the flowering room and one in the clone/mother area. These vents are connected to an 8" duct with a 500cfm inline fan that vents directly out the top of my roof.

I want the air moving. co2 is heavier than air, I don't want it sitting on the floor. And I want the room to smell nice. This bucket has Videomans cheap odor control with a small difference. I just put the gallon bucket of ONA gel in it and made legs to keep the fan in place. I just drilled them to match the original screw holes, cost less then $50.00 including the ONA. I have a fan blowing under the flowering tables and one for the mother clone area. And one that sits on the top of my heater. 'Fresh' air is as important and an integral part of controlling temps. Keep it moving.

I like my little rolling work table, saves my back, and this is my little sanctuary. I have RO water and a system for distributing it directly to my reservoirs and a floor drain. The floor is concrete so I don't have to worry about spills, good thing huh. I uhhh.... haven't costed this one out yet. Future plans call for two more T-5 lights, a carbon filter and fan for it, and then co2 with proper controls. Well thats my story.

very nice... i love it in fact.

Well VictorVicious - i love my set-up but yours causes me some twinges of jealousy

You have done you homework and it certainly shows!

Very nice Victor. You should keep this up as your journal, or something like it. Its nice to see your complete setup. Would love to know some of your trade secrets.

Yep very nice VV.....Enjoyed looking at all the stuff and I too am jealous lol!
I want to get one of those 4' 8 tube T5's you speak so highly of!

Almost all of my 'trade secrets' came from rollitup's forum. VV

i see some people saying you can start to finish using t-5's. is this true? is this a legitimate alternative to HID's with similar yield? btw, your setup is as legit as you can get. dont see any holes there from my knowledge base.

very nice setup

a peek into a veterans grow. veddy nice.

Yes you can. The t-5 are 40,000 lumens which is alost the same as a 400watt hid. Since you can get it closer to the plants and since the light is spread out over a larger area evenly you can match the harvest of a 600watthid. Part of the reason is because you can mix the spectrum of bulbs 1/2 red and1/2 blue, which outperforms the 'enhanced spectrum bulbs. You can see I don't have a height issue and my tables are 40" tall which saves my back. And I don't have heat issues like I would have with the 600watt hids. No separate ballast to deal with, saves another foot of height, they are simple better for any closet grow. If you have room, like I do, and you insist on having 600watts of power being used stick a couple of 4'-2tube t-5's down the sides of your tables. That way you will use 660 watts and we can compare apples to apples. If you need to run 1000watts get 2-4' 8 tube t-5's and a couple singles for the sides. VV

Love the set up VV, much love, smoke on..

VictorVIcious said:

Yes you can. The t-5 are 40,000 lumens which is alost the same as a 400watt hid. Since you can get it closer to the plants and since the light is spread out over a larger area evenly you can match the harvest of a 600watthid. Part of the reason is because you can mix the spectrum of bulbs 1/2 red and1/2 blue, which outperforms the 'enhanced spectrum bulbs. You can see I don't have a height issue and my tables are 40" tall which saves my back. And I don't have heat issues like I would have with the 600watt hids. No separate ballast to deal with, saves another foot of height, they are simple better for any closet grow. If you have room, like I do, and you insist on having 600watts of power being used stick a couple of 4'-2tube t-5's down the sides of your tables. That way you will use 660 watts and we can compare apples to apples. If you need to run 1000watts get 2-4' 8 tube t-5's and a couple singles for the sides. VV

Click to expand...

so would say a 600w mh/hps be equal to a t-5 setup of the same wattage? is that what you are saying? and would you need to keep a mix of spectrum bulbs in it or get different bulbs for both veg and flowering stages? most people say wattge isnt indicative of growth power and neither is lumens so what is the true indicator? spectra and intensity? id like to try out t-5s but i want to keep the growth at its max and ventilation isnt so much of a problem in my own application. but id definitely be interesting in using these if they are equal or better because they seem way easier to handle and cheaper as well.

where did you get yours btw? and also, if i have pretty much 24" in closet depth will i be able to squeeze in two four bulb setups? how much should this rig cost? so i dont get ripped off.

i've been waiting for this for forever

i'll definitely be watching this thread...

so would say a 600w mh/hps be equal to a t-5 setup of the same wattage? is that what you are saying? and would you need to keep a mix of spectrum bulbs in it or get different bulbs for both veg and flowering stages?

Click to expand...

What I am saying is that a 440 watt t-5 light with a mixture of red bulbs and blue bulbs, 4 of each. will outperform a 600watt hid light. If you need to spend more money to feel good then by all means add more, it won't be necessary. Keep in mind those pictures are with 20 plants on the 32" by 4' table. The bulbs all fit, red and blue same fixture. How simple can it be. Same bulbs throuoght the grow.

most people say wattge isnt indicative of growth power and neither is lumens so what is the true indicator? spectra and intensity? id like to try out t-5s but i want to keep the growth at its max and ventilation isnt so much of a problem in my own application. but id definitely be interesting in using these if they are equal or better because they seem way easier to handle and cheaper as well.

Click to expand...

Yeild, and while it may seem like I am a veteran I am not. I have been at this for a little over a year now and almost all of my contributions have had to do with the room and equipment, not the plants. In this case, I am giving you my opinion. I believe the t-5 will perform better than a 600watt hid light. You say you don't have a ventilation problem, you have no idea how much heat that 600 watt light will put in that closet. Read some journals, post after post, HELP MY TEMP IS 100 degrees WHAT DO I DO. Turn that 600watt furnace off or air cool it. Now what is the cost.
Soo..... if I were you I would want proof. Kinda like they say in Missouri, Don't snow me, show me. That is going to take four months of work. pretty simple, with my current set up these plants will spend 16 weeks or more from clone to harvest and as I have already stated I'm just getting my controls in place. Wednesdays are good for me and I will try to provide relevant information as we go along, with pictures of course. I like pictures. VV

My current set up has only been in place for about a week now. Before that I had t-12's, a lot of them over the tables in my mother/ clone area. Last Tuesday I bought the third t-5 light, so the clones have been under it a week and a day. The first picture shows the clone, taken on 10/12, comparing the stem to a Double A battery. I just trimmed the plant as if I were ready to put it in flowering. This one happens to be WW. The next shows a plant I kept out of the last ones I put in flowering, compare to the three week newer clone nder 1 week of t-5 lighting. At that time it was one of the healthier plants thats the reason I picked it for a mother. You will notice they are just about the same height right now but the one under the t-5 has a much bigger stem. Turn the page. VV

so VV your saying i can toss my 2 600 hps and use my t5s and achieve the same result?
in flower as my 600hps will? i also grow orchids for flower shops and use the t5s for this
i use a filter on them to reduce the light output but never thought of using them to flower my w widow u think it will work?