Expert Lighting Question

I have several 5500k "full spectrum" light bulbs that photographers use to produce natural white light. I use them with reflective domes inside a mylar lined tent and can rotate them freely so that all sides of the plant get a good amount of light. I have enough of them where I could put as many as 3 per plant. They seem to produce fairly low heat. I would say around 75 degrees inside the tent when they are on and dropping to room temperature when they are off. I have fans that keep the air flow at a good rate 24 hrs a day. The plants vegetate very nicely under them and I switch them from 24 hours to 12/12 on a timer when they are sufficiently vegged.

Is a full spectrum light bulb similar to say natural sunlight producing both enough red and blue light that would be good enough for a complete veg and flower cycle, or do you think it is more like metal halide where I should consider spending the money on a HPS?

BTW, each bulb is 45 watts (60 hz). The grow tent is 60 x 36 x 20 but I can keep the lights within 4 inches of the tops and sides of the plants.

Thanks for the advice.

Looks like you are giving a full spectrum to your plants with these. Keep them in my opinion. What kind of dry yields are you getting?

Well I have only done one grow with them so far. I had way too many plants in some shitty hydro setup I bought last time and I think I pulled off 2 ounces.

I'm going back to soil and will limit myself to 3 feminised plants this time. I have been reading the forumns and there was alot of debate over lumens vs intensity which I still don't think I understand.

So would you say full spectrum is just as good or should I focus on lights that produce more red?

Got any more info/pictures on the fluorescent light bulb`s ?

Is the 2ft or 4ft type ? or 5ft as them I use ?

And is the Tube`s T12, T8 or T5 ? and if T5 is it the HO (high output) type or maybe even the VHO (very high output) ?
(T12 is old technology so is T8 actually but useable IMO, T5 is the newest with the strongest light and the longest life time with the lest light lost over time, but still need to be replaced after a year of running)


IMO the 5000K will work great as Veg light, might fall a bit short in the "red" spectrum (600-660nM) for flowering tho, if you have the option, then get some 2700/3000K Tube`s to mix in for flowering, maybe half and half

Most imporatnt with fluorescent light is the distance you keep em from your plant`s as they don't have the same penetrations as big HID light, of course depend on the watt of your bulb/tube but according to my light meter my 48W T5HO tubes only produce really strong light at 2-4 inch`s at 4-10 they still produce ok light but after 12" I don't even get a reading, so keep em close and do consider a grow technique that keep your plants short and bushy (Etc a Scrog)

I grew with T5HOs as veg light and a 600W HPS as flowering light with good results, but remember the big HID light do produce a lot of heat, stuff like cool tube/hoods and big ventilations systems is sumthing to consider when growing with MH/HPS lights (I now use T5HO as Veg light and LEDs for flowering)

here is a fun link if you want to play with different spectrums and get a bit nerdy about it

http://www.bmlcustom.com/custom-led-strip/

p.s.
drag and drop the different spectrums (Etc 5000K) to the box to see the wave lengths of different kelvins

I knew this new webcam would come in useful for something, lol.

Here is a picture of the bulbs. They are those energy saving 65 watt bulbs but put out the equivalent of about 300 watts according to what I have seen in Google.

great, I used some 30W equal to 150W



as side lightning for my LEDs, so I guess thats about right and 3 per plant also sounds ok, now if it was me I would for sure get some 2700K to mix in, specially for flowering, will surly do a different, or some of them high watt LED spots in 2700K



can get em with E14 and E27 fittings as well or even better a small LED panel for the center of your tent with the CFLs around but that is of course up too how much money you are ready to spend

but with the CFLs you want to keep em close, like 2-6 inch`s from the top of your plant`s, so small bushy plants would work good with em like I said before maybe a scrog

[video=youtube;GXBpN51Ui6s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXBpN51Ui6s[/video]



and some kind of reflector would also be a good move, will make your CFLs 30% more effective so to speak