# Fluorescent VHO Gro-Lux



## gamer420 (Nov 6, 2008)

I NEED ANY INFO ON Fluorescent VHO Gro-Lux. DOSE ANYONE USE THE LITE ARE THEY ANY GOOD


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## TeaTreeOil (Jul 4, 2009)

I searched and found this, no replies.

And I just made a diagram about Gro-Lux bulbs.

This is a comparison of four types of 40W fluoro tubes, along with a basic photosynthesis graph for reference.

As you can see, the Gro-Lux puts out the most wattage in the best spectrums compared to the others. The Gro-Lux wide spectrum bulb is good for supplemental light.

Daylights are good for veg.


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## desert fox (Jul 4, 2009)

Your comparing apples to oranges. Most of the bulbs are available are HO. VHO drives bulbs harder so they are going to have more light output. I guess it just depends on if you want to spend the extra buck to get a VHO ballast to get all the performance out of your bulbs. VHO bulbs are harder to find, but you can always use T-5s and overdrive them. It will shorten the life of the bulbs quite a bit. A company called URI makes alot of VHO bulbs for aqauriums. I am not aware of any VHO other than the ones you mentioned for horticulture. T-5 HO are perfectly fine. VHO is more powerful plain and simple. Still not on the same page as MH lighting. I guess it just has to do with what you are trying to acomplish in your application and ask if its worth it.


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## TeaTreeOil (Jul 4, 2009)

T5's and T8's generally outperform MH in terms of lumens per watt.


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## desert fox (Jul 4, 2009)

Lumens yes, but not in relation to PAR and depth of canopy penetration. Yes they are economical in the lumens per watt. If I am growing trees for mothers and have the room a MH would be a better option. I use T-5 HO. I am not saying that T-5, T-8, T-12 in NO, HO, or VHO dont have a place in growing. Its just a matter of what you need, the space you have to work with, and possible heat issues. Honestly I am surprised VHO is not used that much in growing pot. My guess is that VHO looses the heat battle if your ballast is on your light setup. They make nice high current(400+watts) VHO ballast that can be mounted remotely.


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## TeaTreeOil (Jul 4, 2009)

Yes, in terms of PAR, too, Gro-Lux and other plant-specific fluoro tubes dominate the market in PAR per watt.

Around or less than half the amount of lumens are required for roughly the same PPFD as other bulbs.

The closest challenger is this test is the Mitsubishi MH lamp. But the fluoro tubes are also more efficient than MH in lumens per watt. Win-win.

Then there's the sun, more efficient than everything except plant-specific fluoros.


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## simpsonsampson420 (Jul 4, 2009)

i personally recommend these floros http://www.wormsway.com/detail.aspx?t=prod&sku=SSG104&AC=0 they use tt-105 bulbs.. super high output.. very very low heat output... you can also switch between grow or bloom bulbs to cover all phases of growth.. way more pricey than standard floros... or even HID lights.. but will keep up with most HID grows... check out my youtube video (one of the links in my signature) to look at the girls i just harvested....


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## TeaTreeOil (Jul 4, 2009)

Proper grow tubes, like Gro-Lux, do not have high lumen ratings. They actually emit the least visible light, if you check my first reply to this thread.

From 490-630(peak lumen range) they emit the least of all bulbs in the comparison. But, they also emit the most red by a long shot, and the second-most blue(after daylight).


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## smallclosetgrowr (Jul 4, 2009)

how do u overdrive a t5 ?


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## desert fox (Jul 5, 2009)

smallclosetgrowr said:


> how do u overdrive a t5 ?


use a VHO ballast vs the standard HO ballast.


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## XS Brain (May 4, 2010)

when wiring a ballast such as a fulham workhorse 7 (recommended for this type of set up). Each red wire provides 40 watts of power so you hook say 2 to a 40 watt light and it will be overdriven to 80 watts. This increases the output but does not double it as the more power you put into a bulb the more heat is produced (using some energy) at an increasing rate. Also this will about half your bulb life but is not bad for the bulbs in general. (like no huge risk of problems)


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## zgr024 (May 7, 2010)

Currently experimenting with MH, HPS, and VHO systems and rooting the canopy of an existing plant... more info to come.


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## cdrippper2 (May 8, 2010)

Experimenting here with a mix too. 12, T-12 full spectrum HO 110watt running off of 2 ballasts, so far looking like good results. Will start a post eventually about this. Way less heat than the army of 250W MH bulbs i was using. Getting more output and way less heat from the T-12's than the MH. Also, I'm hearing really good things about CERAMIC MH bulbs . oh, FYI, a case (15) of HO full spectrum T-12's can be had for around 60$ w/shipping. A little off topic i know


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