buddys t5 grow
- Thread starter savo253
- Start date
Token Winston
Member
On another post, didn't you say this was done under 3 8 tube 4 foot fixtures? If so, they are using a tad over 1200 watts of electricity. I too grow with T5s but only grow a few plants a time under a 8 tube 4 foot fixture. It has two switches so I use less wattage when the plants are young which I like. It works well for that but if I was going to do a big grow and look to yield large amounts I would not use T5s. I figure a 1000 watt HID would be way easier to deal with then multiple T5 fixtures.
ninjagaiden
Well-Known Member
you know, i know people say t5's make less heat...well...in my experience they really dont. my 4 foot 4tube t5 makes almost as much heat as my 400watt does. The heat is just more spread out :/
Token Winston
Member
Indeed, I love the T5. It is perfect for the smaller grower who doesn't want to mess around with a bunch of CFLs and does not want to deal with the heat of an HID. When I switched, I was able to get rid of my 6 inch inline fan and go with a 4 inch fan with matching ducting. Although I did not need to vent the reflector anymore I still wanted to filter the air and get some fresh air in the room. I grow autos and my fixture has two switches. Each controls 4 bulbs each. I have 4 veg bulbs and 4 bloom bulbs. After three weeks, I switch on all the bulbs. The 20K lumens seem to be enough for the three weeks of veg. How big is your closet? I use a 4 x 2 hydrohut.
savo253
Well-Known Member
lol ya its hard decision cause if i want to get the t5 i would have to sell my 400 watt
my space is 4x3 foot and can only fit 3-4 plants under of it for max lighting but with t5 it spreads out very nicely and i could use all the space and fit 6-8
but
then light pen is weak
and to token
ive been thinking about trying some other then soil i hate the mess and would like to keep in clean
just looks hard to grow good hydro buds hear its for unforgiving unlike soil
my space is 4x3 foot and can only fit 3-4 plants under of it for max lighting but with t5 it spreads out very nicely and i could use all the space and fit 6-8
but
then light pen is weak
and to token
ive been thinking about trying some other then soil i hate the mess and would like to keep in clean
just looks hard to grow good hydro buds hear its for unforgiving unlike soil
can't speak to the hydro, the setup isn't difficult, but I could see where it would be less forgiving. There's also a cost involved in starting it up.
You can certainly flower using the t5's, but you already recognize the issue (lack of penetration). I have seen some rather impressive all t5 grows. They all had at least one 8 tube 4 foot fixture within 3" of the top of the plants. Your goal is to grow short bushed out plants. lst, or even scrog would probably work well. I'd be looking to grow plants that were 1 foot, or at most 2 feet, tall, but bushy as hell with a lot of flower spots.
Not having ventilation is really not good though. If you aren't injecting co2 your plants are probably bottlenecked by co2 and you might find that increased light has minimal effect on growth. Venting is not just for removing heat. Just as important (more so imo) is ensuring a fresh supply of co2 in the day, and oxygen at night. In my mind the heat removal is just a nice side effect of venting, primarily I am trying to replace the closet air with fresh a few times a minute.
The heat comparison of t5's to HID isn't quite as straightforward as it seems. First off, watt for watt, flo's and HID put out the same amount of heat. There is so much misinformation on this out there, but don't believe it, the total heat is all about the watts. Now, to make it less straightforward, t5's run at a PF (power factor) of around 50% (according to google). My germination light is 62 watts (2x30" t5) but runs at a PF of .63, so it consumes around 41 watts on average (I haven't hooked up the meter to my 8 tube t5 yet). Basically this means that between a 62w hid and my 62w t5 (pulling 41w), mine is producing 37% less heat, however, if I truly matched the draws so I had an HID and a T5 pulling the same wattage (PF of 1.0 for both) they would produce the same heat. The other thing to take into account is that HID's are a point source, so all the heat is produced in a very small area within the bulb and radiates out. T5's generate heat along the entire surface area of each tube, and this gets multiplied out by the number of tubes, as well as radiates through a much larger hood structure. This all means that watt for watt they are less likely to burn your plants, and have less variation in temperature as you move horizontally, so the heat can be much more manageable. However, watt for watt, with no ventilation, they will still heat up a closet fairly quickly.
You can certainly flower using the t5's, but you already recognize the issue (lack of penetration). I have seen some rather impressive all t5 grows. They all had at least one 8 tube 4 foot fixture within 3" of the top of the plants. Your goal is to grow short bushed out plants. lst, or even scrog would probably work well. I'd be looking to grow plants that were 1 foot, or at most 2 feet, tall, but bushy as hell with a lot of flower spots.
Not having ventilation is really not good though. If you aren't injecting co2 your plants are probably bottlenecked by co2 and you might find that increased light has minimal effect on growth. Venting is not just for removing heat. Just as important (more so imo) is ensuring a fresh supply of co2 in the day, and oxygen at night. In my mind the heat removal is just a nice side effect of venting, primarily I am trying to replace the closet air with fresh a few times a minute.
The heat comparison of t5's to HID isn't quite as straightforward as it seems. First off, watt for watt, flo's and HID put out the same amount of heat. There is so much misinformation on this out there, but don't believe it, the total heat is all about the watts. Now, to make it less straightforward, t5's run at a PF (power factor) of around 50% (according to google). My germination light is 62 watts (2x30" t5) but runs at a PF of .63, so it consumes around 41 watts on average (I haven't hooked up the meter to my 8 tube t5 yet). Basically this means that between a 62w hid and my 62w t5 (pulling 41w), mine is producing 37% less heat, however, if I truly matched the draws so I had an HID and a T5 pulling the same wattage (PF of 1.0 for both) they would produce the same heat. The other thing to take into account is that HID's are a point source, so all the heat is produced in a very small area within the bulb and radiates out. T5's generate heat along the entire surface area of each tube, and this gets multiplied out by the number of tubes, as well as radiates through a much larger hood structure. This all means that watt for watt they are less likely to burn your plants, and have less variation in temperature as you move horizontally, so the heat can be much more manageable. However, watt for watt, with no ventilation, they will still heat up a closet fairly quickly.
