HO fluorescents?

I'm setting up a hydro grow room. I've done a lot of research as far as lighting etc. go, and there seems to be a big debate about what the best light source is. I'm wondering what the opinion is on a high output fluorescent system like this one. T5 Fluorescent & HID Grow Lights for Plants from ACF Greenhouses

I've also found the same thing cheaper on ebay. I know everyone says to us HIDs or somesuch, but I'd rather not have to worry about so much heat. This system seems great because it exactly fits in my 4' by 2' closet, and can be raised and lowered to be just above the plant. I can use the same ballast for both veg and flowering just by changing out the bulbs and switching the timer. All the various lumens/watts/etc. seem to add up according to any worksheets I've seen on this sight or others, but I've never seen any mention of this type of lighting system on these forums... It seems comparable price-wise to other suggestions I've seen, so what am I missing? Is something horribly wrong with this setup?

Thanks

welcom to riu!!!

floros dont work great but they do work it might take a lil longer to get bud but it will veg them just fine...

Flowering with flouro's can seem painfully slow in the growth and final weigh in though.

It works, yes, but you'll be thinking damn I should have listened to all those other people who time and time again say go hid, including those that have used both.

If you can't handle a lot of heat just use small HID, then use flouro's for a little veg area. If you were trying to grow in a rubbermaid or something ok, I can see why you couldn't manage even a small HID but you said you have a closet?

I'm actually building a box, the idea being, I want to be able to expand modularly. My current plan(and it's just a rough draft) was to have a 4' long by 2' deep by 3' tall box, (this was based off the fact that 48" fluoros are apparently the most efficient wattage to lumens-wise) with the idea that when I want to expand,I can put an identical box on top of it, and effectively have 2 grow rooms. I was thinking that HIDs in such a confined space would be a problem. I'm just trying to get the most efficient use out of what little space I have, and I'd like to eventually have two seperate areas, but if fluorescents are really so slow, maybe it's time to go back to the drawing board. Any suggestions? Maybe I just need to browse through the grow-room board again, but I haven't really seen anything there that fits my needs. My closet it 60" by 32". Should I just abandon the stacking idea, and split it down the middle?

i would use the hole closet....

Those 4ft T5s are kickass man. The way they evenly distribute light over a given area is superior to HID. If you're staying below 600w... I'd say go with the T5s. If you don't think they'll produce much heat... think again my fiend.

Thanks for all the quick responses and good advice. Does anyone have any personal experience using these high output flourescents to compare them to others? I see people saying the plants won't flower as fast or as big, but I'm wondering why that would be. Not that I'm disbelieving. If I do decide to go with this setup, how much heat are you thinking it's going to produce? What kind of cooling do you think I'd need?

Heat is directly proportionate to watts.

In fact..... when you see "watts".... just think "heat"...k

E S said:

In fact..... when you see "watts".... just think "heat"...k

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I was under that false impression as well, that the T5 HO doesn't produce much heat. My gosh, was I wrong.

One of the reasons I went with that set up this time was because I had so much trouble with the damned heat from an HPS in about the same sized closet you are using.

I'm on here tonight, trying to figure out what to do about this--move the whole set up out of the closet and into the room itself (it's a spare room--for now, so I can do that if I have to).

What I am wondering is whether or not there will be less intense light if I move it into the open room.

The other option I have is to... damn it to hell!, rebuild the exhaust system I had before. THAT is why I didn't want to use the 400 HPS system again. My exhaust kept falling down, and every few days it seemed, I had to put it back up.

Here's what I have been told by a trusted source who has years of experience growing. You can DEFINITELY grow good, dense flowering plants with a set up such as yours (and mine). THe plus is that the light is more evenly distributed so you can get more plants under that light, compared to an HPS, which doesn't disperse the light as well.

It has not produced as MUCH heat as the HPS, at least I don't think so, but my plants are stunted in growth. I've seen ten auto flowers just sit there and do practically nothing for the last two weeks. I have probably had them too far from the bulb. That's because I was concerned about them being burned, since I had the heat in there. Tonight, I've lowered the light so that it's about mmmm, two inches, max, from the light. Since I've got more seeds arriving any day now (boy is this pissing me off in terms of money spent), I figure I don't have much to lose if they do get burned, or if they just continue to do nothing.

I'm really confused about a few things, though. In addition to the autos I have I also germinated four regular cycle plants. ALL of them did well from germinating and leaving them under the kitchen fluoro for a few days, just like I did last time. And these plants went gangbusters at first, just like they did last time. Now, I know that even at the height I had them from the lamp until tonight, they were getting more light than they were in the kitchen, but they have still slowed to almost no growth at all.

So right now, I'm just not sure at all what I think of the T5. Then again, in addition to the trusted source who says it is definitely doable, two others have told me the same thing.

I'm also wondering this, alhtough it's not really a light related question. Is it true that you should not use a fan at all on seedlings? Since my plants are about three weeks old, I went ahead and used a fan on them. I had the fans before blowing only on the lamp itself to help with heat; but when they got as old as they did, even though they only look like seedlings, I put the fan on them.

Anyone know about that?

Sorry to make this post so long, I'm just so frigging confused and frustrated.

I'm not at all ready to give up on the T5 (esp because I foolishly gave away my HPS and don't want to go spending yet MORE money) but right now, I'm having a rough go of this.

But yeah, it's going to produce heat. The question is: can you use fans on it or not?

Edit: I looked at the link posted by the OP. I am using the Sun Blaze fixture with eight, four-foot bulbs. You can get it for $45 less on ebay including shipping, if you do decide to go this route

I was up to using over 400w of fluorescent for flowering when I finally gave in and went to a 270w cooltube. Not only did my temps drop but I increased my yield.

TechnoMage said:

I was up to using over 400w of fluorescent for flowering when I finally gave in and went to a 270w cooltube. Not only did my temps drop but I increased my yield.

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Well, the electricity costs are as hight for me right now as they were with the 400 HPS and I'm having more heat problems than I did with that one.

Why did you not just go with a 400? I'm just curious, not challenging you.

(Why on this site do you always have to feel like you've got to add something like that? That's why I stopped coming here for so long: all the bickering and one-upping--not meant in any personal way toward you Techno).

Anyway, I'm using 432 watts with my T5, and my hope was to get a really good crop of autos going. And uh, this has been going on for over three weeks, with no viable plants (maybe three of them will be okay of the autos I've germinated).

Is there nothing more vexatious while doing this than to see perfectly healthy seedlings do nothing???

I gotta cry now, if you all don't mind.

Leilani Garden said:

Why did you not just go with a 400? I'm just curious, not challenging you.

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No worries, it's a valid question. Mainly I was worried about the heat. My ventilation chain is
passive intake into the cab, carbon filter, air cooled hood, 4" vortex fan, exhaust.

I run a 270w Super Agro bulb and don't have any problems with temps. Current room temp is 66.7 and my cab temp is 69.4. During the summer it hit as high as 75.

I could probably get away with a 400w bulb in there but I've been waiting until I get a second cab. Having two flower cabs will give me a little more flexibility.