T5 lighting

I have that same ballist with 4 t5 ho strip lights, and these r my babies @ 21 days. Get the bloom bulbs also.. the lights for that ballist r cheaper @ htg 2

gotdamunchies said:

The cost of a new T5 New Wave
Thats my local shop, I paid $350.00, add $16.00 x 4 for the red spectrum bulbs (it came with 8 blue) + 7.5% sales tax and you have roughly 450.00.....now, $175.00 for a 400 w HPS leaves about $275 for inline fans and what not for ventilation that wasnt needed for the T5...and yes my T5 during flowering was 50/50 red/blue.

This being only my second grow, and using bagseed, all I know is the plants that were growing under the T5 were not as good as far as weight or potency complared to what was under the HPS...all plants were clones from the same mother grown in the same type of environment, medium, watering schedule, nutes what have you... except for the difference with the lights...

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Oh I see yes I looked at the new wave fixture before deciding, there were a few differences none worth $100. extra to me. Little heavier, more venitation, that was about it. I bought mine for $340.00 including the bulbs and 6% sales tax. Some others have been like $280.00 and most of them have found the hydroshops will give you the bulbs you want at that price.
You didn't introduce the red spectrum until flowering? VV

I tried my first veg cycle with all blue and on the second went 50/50...to be honest I really couldnt tell a huge difference...but it seemed to be a litle cooler for sure, by about 3 degrees or so with the 50/50...decided to keep the T5 and use it just for veggin and go with the HPS for flower, really wanted to recoop the cash but from the T5 but thinking about building a grow box after we move to the west coast and the T5 would be great for the veggin side of the box, still drawing up plans but think its the right move......

research has shown the mixed 1/2 red, 1/2 blue seed to weed works best. VV

VictorVIcious said:

research has shown the mixed 1/2 red, 1/2 blue seed to weed works best. VV

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Thats what I'm stickin with....I have 16 WW seeds and 10 BC Mango that just popped and are in the starter plugs and I will be veggin these under the 50/50....now I can get rid of those CFL and T12s that I was veggin with while I was doing my T5/HPS side by side....

Let me ask this one VV...I ask this because I am limited on space and will need to start flowering before I have room under my HPS...What if for the first 4 weeks or so I flowered under the T5 and then switched over to the HPS, do you think it will have any negative effects on the flowering cycle??

Sorry chocolate, didnt mean to hijack the thread....

I have been using my t12 since germination. I used my MH for about 3 days and had issues.

1) My power was taking forever to turn the bulb on. 18/6 cycle
2) The noise. The grow room is in the basement right under mine and my wifes bedroom. The hum from the MH drove her nuts all night.
3) weight. The system (ballest and all) is one contained unit. In order to hang it I had to rig up some crazy shit and that just scared the hell out of me as the system almost fell on the plants one time
4) Reflector. The system has it's reflector perminatly mounted. It does not look like it will be doing any good

My question for this is. My room is 4 1/2 by 7 ft. I can place the MH back up. Someone stated that using the t5 or 12 bulb systems are training the plants to grow slow. The plants were germinated on the 6th and are about 4 to 5 inches tall with some leaves. Not as many as I have seen with other grows but I contribute that to strain and other factors like my newbeness. I think they are growing slow. They are comming along and I'm not wishing for super fast as I know they will do their thing over time. But I would like to see some larger growth at this stage. If I move to the MH will the damage already be done? Once plants are "Trained" for slow growth can they be retrained for faster growth?

juggernaut said:

I have been using my t12 since germination. I used my MH for about 3 days and had issues.

1) My power was taking forever to turn the bulb on. 18/6 cycle
2) The noise. The grow room is in the basement right under mine and my wifes bedroom. The hum from the MH drove her nuts all night.
3) weight. The system (ballest and all) is one contained unit. In order to hang it I had to rig up some crazy shit and that just scared the hell out of me as the system almost fell on the plants one time
4) Reflector. The system has it's reflector perminatly mounted. It does not look like it will be doing any good

My question for this is. My room is 4 1/2 by 7 ft. I can place the MH back up. Someone stated that using the t5 or 12 bulb systems are training the plants to grow slow. The plants were germinated on the 6th and are about 4 to 5 inches tall with some leaves. Not as many as I have seen with other grows but I contribute that to strain and other factors like my newbeness. I think they are growing slow. They are comming along and I'm not wishing for super fast as I know they will do their thing over time. But I would like to see some larger growth at this stage. If I move to the MH will the damage already be done? Once plants are "Trained" for slow growth can they be retrained for faster growth?

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I stated it. I am a firm believer that the t-5's are better for a closet grower that the hids. Since you already have the mh-hid you will want to use it. You have to start with it about 18" above the plants and move in down a few inches a day, for your three week old plants you should be able to get it within a foot if you have good ventilation, closer if the fixture is air cooled.
THe reason I talked about training your plants to 'grow slow' is to make folks aware of what is happening with the t-12 and t-8's, or low amount of cfl's. I used them, still am for the first stages of growth and they will grow your plants. If you have never seen the difference more lighting makes you think they are fine.
I slow growed the tables of plants I have now. None of them will reach the three foot height that the ones I vegged under the hid's (Before I had the t-5's ) did. I have sacrificed a foot of mature plant height to 'slow grow' the clones. I will get a reasonable harvest just not as good as it could be.
I'm not saying it can't be done, I did it. I just want folks to be aware of the consequences.
The t-5's will grow your plants as well as an hid at any stage of growth. I am comparing my 440watt 4'-8 bulb t-5 to a 600watt hid. It's simly scientific advancement. Next will be led's. As the price goes down use of them will go up.
Gotdamunchies, this will not negatively affect your growth. Earl has had some thing to say about light and adding more at different times. I haven't done that type of research yet, I am going to find out what he has done. If you think about it, it all makes sense. In nature plants come up in the spring, the sun is still at an angle to the earths surface and not as intense. SUmmer brings it directly above for the Northen Hemisphere as the plants veg and then it begins to get less intense and shine for less of a time period, causing the plants to flower.
We should start out with the seedlings and clones under some light and increase the intensity until they are well into flowering, then maybe drop it down a little. That is the part I am not sure of and still want to check. VV

OK well I changed to my MH and my fluros. I placed the fluros horizontal to the plants. I cant move the MH I need to mount it to the rafters. I need to get something that will move the plants up closer to it but that system needs to be safe. The MH is roughly 26 inchs from the top of the plants. Give or take 1/2 inch. But the nice thing is there is more room as I was able to set my table back about 6 inchs.

Yes you need to get some chain and some 's' hooks so you can get that light closer to the plants. If those are the big peet pots you are using you may want to do some checking, I hvae read they are famous for developng mold, don't remember where though. your plants look decent, thats kinda like the first setup I used. VV