5000k?

I have ditched the HPS in favor of CFL's these days. It really just comes down to cost. Yes I do realize I'm settling for less yield but it's just personal smoke so I dont care. Back in the day I used T-12's and always did well. This is my question: I have been using the 23w "daylight" CFL's from Home Depot which are 5000k. I am wondering if this is sufficient blue spectrum for veg. I am thinking of adding a couple 6500k T-12 flourescent's just to get that ideal blue. Does anybody think this is a waste of time? I have always believed that you cannot have too much light, but if I am good at 5000k then there is no need to add more. I have never veged at 5000k so I am just worried, probably for nothing, but alittle peice of mind would help me sleep. Any advice/criticism is accepted sl let it rip. Thank you


Here is one at 8 days since breaking dirt, 5000k only

I would consider T5s. You can swap in a coupla aquarium 10-12K tubes for veg, guaranteeing you enough blue light ... and add some redder tubes for flower. cn

I have considered that but wanted to avoid spending on fixtures since I have several T-12 already. I have read about some GREAT results with T-5's. If necessary I will get the T-5. Thanks for the reply!

I use 5000k's all day in my veg setup and have had amazing results. I find the 5000-5500k is really the best for veg with cfls.

Adonis: you'll probably find as many different opinions on lighting as the number of people you poll so here's mine. Almost two years ago I started growing with T-5's. Part of the reason was temperature and economy but I found a lot more choice of light frequency, color, at the time than I could get with T-8's. I go a lot by the guidance I get from the guys I trust at the hydro store and the guy I listened to the most was the electronics nerd. When we compared notes he said the folks using the 5,000K lamps were having the best luck without complications. As a result, I go from seed sprouting or cloning through vegging under 5,000K's. Admittedly they're greener than he higher K lamps. I don't know if it makes any difference but I grow a small personal garden to keep my sugar bowl full of meds and the 5,000K T-5's work great. When I go to flowering I swap them out to 2,700K red lamps. There are a lot of different ways to do this but this is how I do it and I like to keep it simple. I hope this helps. HSA

I'm relatively new to this, so i can only regurgitate and toss in my 2 cents of logic to wrap it all up.

I have done side by side examples of germinated seedlings i planted from day 1 to 11 under a 40w 3k, a 40 w 5 K and a 40 w 6.5K, all the same seed, and it seemed like the one under the 6500 grew more healthy. (about 75% more than 3k, about 30% more than 5k)

From what i understand you can veg with nearly anything, that's all about the photo period but the different spectrums of light help the plant develop different parts (stems, leaves, etc) So i would recommend getting a full blue / white spectrum 5k-10k for veg. I have 3 black light cfls I throw under a 60w 10k and a few 40w 6500k s around my veg chamber.

The plant i chose to spoil with the main chamber of my room is growing incredibly healthy and incredibly flat (thank god).

You need alot of the blues for leaf cover and spread, you need reds/yellows to make sure the stem keeps up with the leaves.

The more blue heavy 6k+ you are the more energy the plant will spend on foliage and it should stay shorter and bushier(in my experience in soil).

When i toss in a little yellow/red the plant seems to grow up and out.

Thank you all for serious and informative answers. I believe I gained a little from all these posts. And for once I didn't get a snobby smartass response about how much CFL lighting sucks

Blue light is largely related to the nitrogen content of the atmosphere. The light we see from the sun on the surface is affected by many different factors. Ever since I slapped my baby under the 10,000K I've seen a noticeable difference in even healthy growth.

Adonis said:

Thank you all for serious and informative answers. I believe I gained a little from all these posts. And for once I didn't get a snobby smartass response about how much CFL lighting sucks

Click to expand...

CFL and LED lighting used to be very weak, and often came in the wrong light temperatures for plant growth. LED's used to be just unfeasible, but they changed alot, so did CFLS. Anyone telling you that growing with cfls sucks is just bad. The best grow I've ever seen had a strands of CFLs wrapping around. With HIDs overhead.

They are different beasts, that's for sure.