830W t5, co2, just for fun :)

ok i guess its about time i shared this with the world....

got one of these 400w T5 high output flouros about a year ago and decided to see what i could max one out at... here is the resutls after about a year of fucking around with the same 2 strains

overview:
30"x60"x80"... typical "under the strairs" configuration. fox farm soil, fox farm orgaincs and ferts. nirvana AK48 and WW. bottle fed CO2, stays around 1500-2000, temps around 89.
2 x 416w T5s one on top of another each with about 40" of grow room

BEFORE i added CO2 i was getting 6-9oz (sativa-indica)dry per light/400w consistantly for a year. with CO2 im hoping for 10-12 so far they LOOK like they have grown faster and maybe even finished faster.... chop day is friday.

on the top right now i have 2 moms and 10 of there kids and i am retiering for good... 2 phenotypes of ak48 that just arent as good as the one im keeping.
normally these are done in like 7 1/2 weeks (no lie, i check the trichs every times, the turn pretty fast) but not as fast as the AK mom im keeping ( she does change at about day 49-50, so shes my keeper)



and on the bottom light we have 25 WW, only looking for 21 good ones so the extra 4 are kinda on the outskirts beggin for light, they can stay as long as they arent any trouble... i hate to kill a clone

these are just sort of an experiment... im trying to make some little lollipops. they were throw into flower at about 3-5" and are now 1.5 weeks and about 9-12" and i just cutt off the majority of the bottom 1/3 of the plants... i dont have a feeling they will get much light in about a week. (pics are a few days old, ill get some more soon, sorry they are shitty camera phone pics)

Pros
makes an even 52w/square foot
great for sea of green, if you keep it low enough its 52w/ CUBIC foot
had plants grow into it and only slighty burn, no big deal.
even with close to 900W in the closet and unvented it stays around 89
the lights "piggy back" onto each other so u can control up to 1600w from one plug if you want
no external heavy hot ballast
no exploding bulbs
no "cool down" period as with HPS (we get a lot of power flickers)
can keep the light about 2" from the tops of the plants, less wasted light
change the bulbs out easy from veg to bloom, or any combo of both

Cons
other then a sea of green or side lighting.... your not getting the most of the light, you need an even canopy.
kinda sorta cumbersumb... the 8 bulb ones are a pain in the ass to manuver in small places by urself
not cheap

input, questions, or comments are welcome!

i would love to see some pictures of this

work now?
had the album on private

WW on the bottom


up top the AK
got flushed like... half a week ago. and they have slowed down there water intake and are pretty much begging for it

Any thoughts? Just moved the exhaust vent to the top of the room. Temps staying 88-91, CO2 from 1550 - 1900.

Good tips. I'm gonna start my first indoor grow very shortly using t5s in a closet. I already have it mostly setup with the t5 324w 6 bulb on top with a 96w tt96 w/reflector for some side light. Good info about the heat and stuff because I was worried about that, and I feel a little better about the yield potential. How did you rig yours to go up and down? I tried ropes and pulleys but it felt way sketchy with the weight so I just permanently hung them and I got adjustable shelving to just lower the plants instead of raise the lights. I guess time will tell if that idea was a hit or miss...Sounds like a pain in the ass either way.

I forgot to ask if you actually used the bloom bulbs for flowering. The specs on the sunleaves system I'm using says the system give off around 1000 more lumens w/the bloom bulbs but they are at a color temp of 2900k. Does that seem low or should it be good? I couldnt tell from the pics which ones you were using.

Looks pretty figgin sweet, brah!

Total Head said:

Good tips. I'm gonna start my first indoor grow very shortly using t5s in a closet. I already have it mostly setup with the t5 324w 6 bulb on top with a 96w tt96 w/reflector for some side light. Good info about the heat and stuff because I was worried about that, and I feel a little better about the yield potential. How did you rig yours to go up and down? I tried ropes and pulleys but it felt way sketchy with the weight so I just permanently hung them and I got adjustable shelving to just lower the plants instead of raise the lights. I guess time will tell if that idea was a hit or miss...Sounds like a pain in the ass either way.

Click to expand...

thanks for stoping by
i rigged mine up with these little "yo-yo" tension movers, got em at my grow shop for like $20 a pair.
you pretty much set the weight of the light/how much tension you want on the wire and then you just move it up and down really easy!
i have one going into drywall so i used a anchor and the other is ona hook drilled into metal sheeting so its secure.
i think these are like the ones i have

about the lights... the first light i ordered and got shipped here and i cant rememeber which bulbs i ordered with it.. but 3 were broken so i bought more grom the grow shop and i THINK i asked for bloom.
my second light i got at the grow shop and watched him switch out the bulbs to full bloom bulbs and WOW i can tell the difference.. its WAY more red/orange... you can kinda tell in the pics... the new one is up top with the AK...

now it makes my older light look blue/white...

Where in the hell am I? said:

Looks pretty figgin sweet, brah!

Click to expand...

thanks! im sort of a perfectionist so i keep trying to dial it in and dial it in and get the most out of it...
that grow in ur avitar is insane.. haha im going to check yours out in a sec

heres some goodies....








i think pictured are like.. 10 or 11 AK48
trimmed all weekend..... maybe 8oz? i had problems with low humidty early in the grow...

i moved the 21 best WW up to the full bloom light last week and trimmed of a very small amount of the bottom porton of each plant for better air flow and so its easier to water.. im designing a drip feed for it.

these babies are are alomost 3 weeks onld ... ill let them go to 9






all if these are clones of one of my WW moms.
i had 3 and i think im sticking with this one cuz its best for the setup... less leggy, less branchy. closer bud nodes.
these are all 9"-14" probly..... budstalks

hemlockstones said:

i moved the 21 best WW up to the full bloom light last week and trimmed of a very small amount of the bottom porton of each plant for better air flow and so its easier to water.. im designing a drip feed for it.

these babies are are alomost 3 weeks onld ... ill let them go to 9

all if these are clones of one of my WW moms.
i had 3 and i think im sticking with this one cuz its best for the setup... less leggy, less branchy. closer bud nodes.
these are all 9"-14" probly..... budstalks

Click to expand...

I'm such a bastard, I'd lollipop half right now (thank gawd they arent mine) Look nice, brah!

i really probly should to be honest.. i tend to be a little timid when it comes to doing the proper pruning.. scared to cutt off too much... like a surgeon on a circumcision

im just reassassing it every week... i think they will deff be cutt some more... haha

also for any one else wondering about 400W t5's and yeilds....

i found the high times issue that inspired us to us a T5... a guy hightimes found on breedbay wrote and article about how he started growing with a 400W t5 and on his first grow got a 1/4lb... and on his latest grow with some temp issues he still got 5.5oz...
i can get the issue number if anyones interested... just neat to me that iv outgrown my original inspiration

i put three AK48 (fast pheno) into flowering (each one taking up like 2-3square ft light footprint
these are on the bottom light, and have been vegging for 2-3 weeks under a 300W t5 in 2Gal pots w/ FF soil
i topped them at about 12" and took off the bottom 2"... if i had to guess there are about 20 dominante shoots on each one.

im fighting some humidity issues... really dry since i added the second light and sealed it off for the co2.. so im going to get/build a noheat humidifer soon.
only expect like 6oz dry off that last harvest not toooo bad just expecting more since i added the co2

so check it..
my WW at almost 3 weeks


and now 1/2 way... 4.5 weeks