LED Without LEDs -My First T5 Grow

i have a sunleaves 8 bulb 4ft and well it puts off some heat but temps still get up there. i am just trying to find a change

I dont know where you read that? I said "I save money on cooling (NONE)"
Meaning I don't have to cool My growing area.

When I was using The HID i had to actively cool not only the light but ventilation as well.. More fans etc....

pr0fesseur said:

I dont know where you read that? I said "I save money on cooling (NONE)"
Meaning I don't have to cool My growing area.

When I was using The HID i had to actively cool not only the light but ventilation as well.. More fans etc....

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yea sorry about that i need to stop getting stone so much

lowdime said:

i have a sunleaves 8 bulb 4ft and well it puts off some heat but temps still get up there. i am just trying to find a change

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Try an Evaporative cooler! IT's less expensive than cooling with AC and given enough water can keep your temps down...

pr0fesseur said:

9 bulbs total...3 to switch out
in this order too....

UVL 454 w/internal reflector
Fuji Purple
UVL Super Actinic w/internal reflector
ATI T5 12000K Aquablue Special
UVL 75.25 w/internal reflector
Fuji Purple

3. UVL Red Sun
when you bloom add the red sun bulbs where the actinic (blue) ones are (75.25, 454, Super Actinic)

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Thanks I might give this a try when I need to get new bulbs.

If your going to buy them 1 at a time (which i don't suggest because of shipping costs...)
Buy the Redsun... first that way youll be ready to bloom... Youll thank me! then when your done order the 454 75.25 then .......12000k
so its WHAT YOU HAVE----->BLOOM (RED SUN)---->NEW CROP(ACTINICS)....12000K is the last because its a "white" light its "less" blue with more red and green.

mattman said:

Would you mind pointing me in the right direction, possibly where you bought everything? I see you stalk the forum like I do ha

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http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/ for the lights...
Ebay Bad Boy Lamp..

mattman said:

I noticed you have the several spectums, are you noticing any of the plants possibly enjoying one of the spectrums more than another?

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Yes the Plants LOVE the actinics!!! they will literally grow over to the blue bulbs(454 and the actinics!) in a few days if I dont turn them.

Trust me when I say I've done all the legwork.. stay away from the Kelvin rated bulbs under 10,000 You dont want that much green @ all..or yellow for that matter. I have researched these bulbs in and out and can offer a large amount of my experience and knowledge to your setup.
Quantum just re-brands cheap bulbs.. The problem with Kelvin rated bulbs is that they say 2900k 6500k "Grow" "Bloom" but each vendor uses different combinations of phosphors to achieve those levels. Quality and lux on these cheap bulbs is quite noticable and you DO get what you pay for. All th bulbs i have chosen are "dimmable" in a dimmable fixture, AND can be overdriven! Cheap bulbs are just that...Where as all the bulbs i have chosen and researched have VERY SPECIFIC wavelength selections. The 10,000k Bulbs are mainly Blue with a touch of red and or green ... but small amounts... Kind of like the QUALITY LED companies are using "white"(I use the term "white" very loosly as everyone has their own definition of white!) LEDs in their newer Lamps.

most likely HEAT most cheap bulbs give off more IR heat than light.... Heat WILL kill and stress the hell outa your plants... I use AIRPOTS so heat is not an issue to my rootzone, also beneficial microbes an fungus make the plant more resistant to heat stresses.

Also During warm temps dim your lights! Quantum ballasts can be dimmed so can their bulbs! since heat waves usually last a short while the dimming wont hurt overall plant growth!

PetFlora said:

Nice to find someone experimenting with spectrums. This is the very reason I decided not to get another LED. I get to play Sun God!

The Myth About Green (~ 500-600 nm), GSL (LED mfg) now incorporates a few green LEDs into his lights. He calls his lights 'Quantum'. From his website...

"Many scientists have long believed that plants absorb little to no light in the 500-600nm region of PAR, however new research has shown that light in this region plays a vital role in growth times, yield, and photosynthetic efficiency.
Plants convert light energy into chemical energy in a process known as photsynthesis. Two compounds, Chlorophyll A & B, are primarily responsible for this conversion process. These compounds absorb blue and red light most efficiently, and have the highest conversion rates at 439nm, 469nm, 642nm, and 670nm. Our Quantum lights target all 4 of these points, and then take the science one step further. Multiple tests have shown that plants absorb more red and blue light in the presence of green light, yet we are the only company to focus on this occurrence. Research published by NASA verifies that when all 3 regions of PAR are balanced properly (400-500nm, 500-600nm, & 600-700nm), flowering times and yields can be dramatically altered..."
and with that I have been on a quest for 1-2 4ft HOs to add to my mix. Anybody?

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Interesting, I will have to look into this info. I too was under the impression 'green' light did your plants no good at all.

Interesting thread. The thing about this hobby of ours that I find fascinating, other than outright killing off your babies, is there a 'right' way of going about our hobby? Prof you have obviously done some due diligence on the subject of light wavelengths and what spectrum benefits marijuana the most at what time of it's growing cycle. A tip of the hat to you for wanting to share your info. I'm curious to see what kind of yield you get from your experiment and especially the quality of the finished product. Unlike you, I am growing with the intent of at least two ounces per plant under hid lights and my next grow will be a scrog with the intent of producing higher yields with the same amount of lighting. I would love to be able to use only my tent in the summer, the heat and humidity in florida is a killer for my electric bill. I use a spare bedroom to grow and I have everything I need but would love to cut out some of the cost of growing in the summer and still have a decent enough yield to get me through to my next effort.

One thing I would like to question, the swamp cooler thing. They don't work here in florida very well at all, the humidity. To my understanding swamp coolers work best in low humidity, the ten to twenty percent range, dessert. They're great if you live in phoenix not so great for orlando. Other than that, interesting thread. Nothing like a stimulating mix of opinions.

More pics prof, show us what ya' got. How long have your babies been in flower? I'm not a big fan of kushes, not enough of a yield for my tastes plus I'm more of a sativa person.

Green Light Drives Leaf Photosynthesis More Effi ciently than
Red Light in Strong White Light: Revisiting the Enigmatic
Question of Why Leaves are Green
.
Ive had this argument several times and believe PHD's over any grower myself.. Green light IS absorbed by the plant and used to produce energy! Some green light is necessary.. but not much!

PIC COMING NOW!
This will be week 3 of flower...

My next batch!

I actually had a professor from Florida state come up to my university, he presented some very fascinating research on the subject of green light, and that it really did have a necessary role in plant growth.

mattman said:

I actually had a professor from Florida state come up to my university, he presented some very fascinating research on the subject of green light, and that it really did have a necessary role in plant growth.

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Yes there is plenty of research on the topic. And ill believe a PHD over a stoner any day.. Thats why im using my technique! i believe that by following the LED path with T5 i can get better yeild than LED at T5 efficiency and penetration. As you can see in my pics results are showing my method IS working and VERY well.. I have yet to see ANYONE show showing flowering results like mine with cheap "bloom" bulbs.

While wasting my time trying to get Quantum to provide/post spectrum color graphs, I followed Pr0fs ATI lead and came across a 6500 bulb with a nice green spike (I'll run it down and post link). I didn't follow up as I thought for sure Quantum would want to post the reason why I spent 25% more for their light. HA! I emailed them and told them they were leaving me no choice but to NOT RECOMMEND them. One of my HPA/LED journals has over 48K hits.