Let's Talk About Flowering With Tubes

RM3

RM3

Well-Known Member
SwankyDank said:
When I first decided to grow some good stuff indoors I didn't know there was this Red Sox vs Yankees mentality regarding grow lights. I just used what I already had available, which was T8 shop-lights, and dove into the deep end. Definitely did some things wrong but still got a bit over an oz from two plants and plenty of ideas to improve grow #2.

But now that I've been around the forums a bit and witnessed the various nonsensical light-fights plus the condescension (well really it's mostly about the condescension) my hard-headed norskie attitude makes me want to perform with these lights... just because. I don't understand why a stranger wants to make another stranger feel like a doink just because of lighting choices. It doesn't benefit anyone in the growing community to approach a newb and say (write) to them something like, "Hey, you're an idiot. You make stupid choices and your weed will always suck unless you change you're lights." Chip firmly on shoulder for no real reason other than wanting to know if it can be done and to see if we can prove a few people wrong.

Seeing as I haven't found more than a sprinkling of people with real, hard proof that they flower or have flowered with tubes, I really want this thread to be some thing that makes a strong case that tubes are a viable choice. So hopefully some more people show out and are willing to put there junk on the line. I'll be putting mine out there this week with full confidence that this is going to be fun.
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Yeah, I really never let that bother me as I know that my T5's produce MUCH more potent buds.; I know it's funny I always say I prefer quality to quantity and I get " I grow quality" or "why not both?" when the truth is that HPS grown bud does not even compare. I don't even pheno hunt looking for better plants cause I can grow any plant to its full potential with no problem. One of the members at another forum just posted a smoke report on one of my strains, he took 3 hits and was overwhelmed. most regular smokers can barely handle a hit LOL and T5's will get ya there. You too can be the guy that has the buds that folks remember and talk about :bigjoint:
 
whitebb2727

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
churchhaze said:
cfls are just twisty t5 tubes.

T5s are just thinner T8s, and T8s are just thinner T12s.

They're all the same shit.
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CFLs are t2 or t5.

T5-12 are not the same "shit."

The smaller the diameter on the tube the more efficient they are.

T12 compare nothing to t5.

The numbers tell you diameter in 1/8 inch increments.

T5 - 5/8 inch.
T12 - 1.5 inch diameter.
 
SwankyDank

SwankyDank

Well-Known Member
My set-up for flowering with tubes:

(2) 4 bulb T8 shop-lite fixtures from the bigbox, purchased 10 years ago to start vegetable seeds. (4) 4 bulb T8 ballasts wired to 2 bulbs each, overdriving the lights to an approximate 50 watts. Two of the ballasts were already in the fixtures so two more were purchased. Side-lighting with (4) pendant lights holding 43w cfl. Total output approaching 570w. Adjusting for stated efficiency of 90% on standard T8 ballast, the total output is around 500w.

There is a spreadsheet on this aquarium site.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=101085

It calculates lumens/square inch for the T8 bulbs as 21 lsi at 18 inches. Adding the cfls puts it at 26 lsi but that number should be higher because the cfls are down below canopy as sidelighting. According to the above numbers it seems as though tubes and cfl can put out a decent amount of raw light.

If I were to purchase this lighting setup new today it would it come in right close to $200, bulbs included.
DSCN2080.JPG CAM00507.jpg
 
Mrjacob274

Mrjacob274

Active Member
RM3 said:
The 6 tube fixtures were $130 each at a regular lighting store, I bought 3 of em :) They are rated at 346 watts each but that includes the ballast with 54 watt bulbs my actual wattage is 972 (18 X 54) I started with GE 4100K tubes that were $5 each and my first grow was very successful with em. So at this point I have $730 invested in lights not including any shipping or tax (the veg light came with 6500K bulbs included) Keep reading, to get FIRE cost a lot more LOL

I went this way because I wanted to experiment with various different spectrum's, with the T5 setup all I had to do was change different bulbs to lean which ones performed the best. Some of these bulbs are not cheap ! I started by adding UV I put one ATI True Actinic bulb in each fixture, they were $32 each, I bought 4 for $128, yes I even put one in veg :)

Right away I noticed a huge spike in potency, Next I wanted a better 6500K veg bulb so I went with PlantMax they were $17 each. I played with various red blue ratios for a few grows then added ATI Coral Plus bulbs to the mix also $32 each, as of today I have 7 of em (2 in veg and 5 in flower) for $224. You can see the spectrum's of the ATI bulbs here,,,

http://www.atinorthamerica.com/bulbs.php

The Coral Plus bulbs grow trics, if you have seen some of the pics I post then you know I get serious frost :bigjoint:So now I'm growing more trics and they are more potent.

The arch design that I nicknamed the Tanning Booth came about because of shadows in my garden. With the light fixtures setup the way they are I eliminated all shadows and made a bit of side lighting as the design of the high bay reflectors are now intersecting. And when I take lights out flash pics you can actually see how the photons from the flash are parsed by the reflectors (such a pic attached)

I have been running this setup as it is now adjusted for 2 grows with amazing results and have had the lights for bout a year and a half with 5 completed grows and the difference in actual bud quality is amazing to say the least. I have zero regrets about the choice I made.

You can follow my grow here ,,,
https://www.rollitup.org/t/the-leprechauns-pot-o-gold.855314/View attachment 3337242
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So RM3 I have an 8 bulb 4' T5 right now. Should I get two blue and one red bulb to throw in the mix for veg? All are just 6500k right now. And what blue to red ratio for flower? First time grower. Thanks in advance.
 
RM3

RM3

Well-Known Member
Mrjacob274 said:
So RM3 I have an 8 bulb 4' T5 right now. Should I get two blue and one red bulb to throw in the mix for veg? All are just 6500k right now. And what blue to red ratio for flower? First time grower. Thanks in advance.
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You should work a full spectrum thru out I run 18 bulbs 9 are DEEP blue 6 are red and 3 are UV in my 8 bulb veg light I run 1 UV 2 red 5 blue
 
whitebb2727

whitebb2727

Well-Known Member
I got a 4ft 8 bulb durolux off amazon. The bulbs are double stacked. This eight bulb takes the space of most 4 bulb models. Durolux makes a 12 and 16 bulb model. These are grown under t5.
IMG_20160430_130601196_HDR.jpg IMG_20160118_241412492_HDR.jpg I also have a six bulb light to. I may try to run both lights in the vertical position next time.
 
intenseneal

intenseneal

Well-Known Member
I had good results using t5 lighting. I used a 4ft 8 bulb unit over head and a bunch of 2ft bulbs as side lighting. Took a lot of learning and work but I got it dialed in at 2 oz per plant and quality was good. Space was a 2x4x4 closet, about 530 watts, temps in the lower 80s, co2 bags, soil in 3g aero pots. Now i run a 600w hps, give a lot better coverage and penertation, requires less work with the canopy.
 
Rob Roy

Rob Roy

Well-Known Member
I'm interested in data regarding temperatures of T5 grows vs HPS

I know there are many variables, but a friend has a 4' x 2' closet and is thinking about going with an 8 tube 4' fixture in a scrog and just using a box fan to control temps. during the summer. Will that plan work for her?
 
Bulletproof_Love

Bulletproof_Love

Well-Known Member
This is probably a myth, but I've read that vegging too long under T5's will create less potent buds when flowering because of insufficient light penetration not getting to all of the bud sites.

Highly doubt it though, potency is based on genetics.

Is there even such a thing is vegging too long under t5's? XD
 
sickleaf

sickleaf

Well-Known Member
so are 4100k T5 bulbs good for anything, most people say no but they still have red and blue spectrum right where the plants like it... any opinions?
 
Romkeeh

Romkeeh

Well-Known Member
Great posts,lots of info guys.

I decided to stick to T-neon bulbs, to save energy and generate less heat in growbox. Im very happy with the grow results. They just make me happy :) What i really like about them that you can rotate them in different angles so next time ill try to build a phototron and grow a massive one plant :)
 
BobCajun

BobCajun

Well-Known Member
Fluoros do work fine, I just don't like the bulkiness of them and having to get rid of the hazardous waste. A lot easier to carry CFLs from a store too. I only use them for cloning and veg though.

The little 13w red CFLs are perfect for EOD red to keep stretching down. Of course if you want stretchy stems and little branching then EOD FR is just what the Dr ordered. It will also reduce chlorophyll and anthocyanins, which protect plants from light bleaching. It has a few downsides just to get (allegedly) a 2 hour lower critical night length. However, that 2 hour thing was only shown in one experiment, not with Cannabis, and they were unable to reproduce those results later and nobody else was either. It's purely theoretical. Almost all strains will flower under 13 or even 14 hours of light. Nobody even knows for sure if the critical night length is really being reduced. I read one article where they found that it only took 30-90 minutes for the Pfr to convert to Pr. You may only be gaining half an hour.

Anyway, I tried it, got stretchy plants. The buds looked pretty ripe at 60 days but it was still weak. I don't think it helped at all really, so I switched to EOD red. The stretching slowed way down (changed them about 10 days in after rampant stretching), after a few treatments the leaves were dark green, no bleaching. Haven't seen the final bud results yet though.
 
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Rusher

Rusher

Well-Known Member
On the T8 ballast I got at a garage sale this past weekend, it says 32w , 1.0a MAX. Like the 'twisty' clfs bulbs, is this the 'equivalent' rating, or is this actual?

I currently am using 15 of the 100w equiv 'twisty' cfls bulbs, and my girls are happy in week 4 of veg. That being said, I am not adverse to trying something new/better, even as a test.
 
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