LED grow lights or T5

More points of light means the lights are closer to the plants.


Now my question is what is stronger? Have there been any recent developments in the world of T5 grow lights?

What about LED? What's a brief history of where it's been and what's it's at today.


I'm sure I'll get a simple search would reveal the answer type post, but I'm wondering what is the truth because there is a lot of sales "hype"


Me and my Dad vegged plants under t5, but never flowered them. The t5 covered a large area, if we were to flower them under t5 my guess is there would be a lot of buds because such a large area was covered.


Can anyone comment on t5 grows, is there a good t5 light to get and is there a good t5 grow journal?


Lastly, can someone inform me about led how lights? What's the best one on the market and are they worth it or still behind HID lighting?




I thank you for your time consideration and cooperation

Bump

Good leds will run right over T5HO and your plants wont mind ambient temps in the low 80's.

Greggl4321 said:

More points of light means the lights are closer to the plants.


Now my question is what is stronger? Have there been any recent developments in the world of T5 grow lights?

What about LED? What's a brief history of where it's been and what's it's at today.


I'm sure I'll get a simple search would reveal the answer type post, but I'm wondering what is the truth because there is a lot of sales "hype"


Me and my Dad vegged plants under t5, but never flowered them. The t5 covered a large area, if we were to flower them under t5 my guess is there would be a lot of buds because such a large area was covered.


Can anyone comment on t5 grows, is there a good t5 light to get and is there a good t5 grow journal?


Lastly, can someone inform me about led how lights? What's the best one on the market and are they worth it or still behind HID lighting?




I thank you for your time consideration and cooperation

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T5 works great for veg I did it for years. They don't usually do as well for flower because they lack intensity, but it can be done. there are journals around if you use the search feature on the site.

Personally I would keep the T5 for veg, and get a nice LED fixture for flower. LED bars or strips would give you the total spread over the canopy you want, and much more intensity then T5.

How can you tell what LED is stronger? They are judged by more than simply wattage like the HID bulbs right?


What's the best bang for the buck LED light? Out of curiosity?


And best bang for the buck T5?

Greggl4321 said:

How can you tell what LED is stronger? They are judged by more than simply wattage like the HID bulbs right?


What's the best bang for the buck LED light? Out of curiosity?


And best bang for the buck T5?

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you can get leds for 100-2000

depends on size of room and your budget
e.g 4x4 area most efficient lights would be 600+ but does vary

people are getting great results with the quantum boards off Alibaba kingbrite etc if budget is an issue

Led way better less wattage more light

Has anyone come to a conclusion who has tried T5's vs LED in a controlled experiment?


I mean t5 ho with blue spectrum for veg and the red bulbs for flower?



Can someone point me to someone who has or to a good T5 / LED grow journal?

I'm thinking t5 might have something to it because it covers a large area and is cool

There's a company here, Vesey's Seeds, they sell LED strips made to replace the bulbs from t5 fixtures. With the exchange rate between Canadian and US dollars they might be worth checking out.

CanadianJim said:

There's a company here, Vesey's Seeds, they sell LED strips made to replace the bulbs from t5 fixtures. With the exchange rate between Canadian and US dollars they might be worth checking out.

LED Replacement Bulb and Ballast Units

LED Replacement Bulb and Ballast Units These LED light tubes were created to meet the exact needs of plants. They deliver full-spectrum light with an additional spike of blue light to stimulate stronger root growth and enhance photosynthesis. Long-lasting

www.veseys.com

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don't bother if your American because they have shit lmfao and overpriced I get them for like 20 a pop not going to pay 30

Gond00s said:

don't bother if your American because they have shit lmfao and overpriced I get them for like 20 a pop not going to pay 30

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If they're shit why are you buying them?
Anyway, mind putting up a link to where you get them for the OP? Let them make up their own mind as to whether or not they're worth getting.

Greggl4321 said:

I'm thinking t5 might have something to it because it covers a large area and is cool

Click to expand...

Led covers a large area and is cool and puts out more light then T5.

If you already have T5 and want to grow with them, go for it. They can produce some excellent quality buds. HOWEVER all the T5s I've used or my growers friends have used have always needed regular bulb replacement, and it gets REALLY expensive to swap bulbs ever 6-9 months. I had wanted to swap mine over to the LED replacements, but never got around to it. Perhaps that would solve the bulb issue.

If you are going to be spending money to set up a grow I would skip the T5 and get LED strips. There are premade fixtures from several companies available on the market and lots of info to DIY a fixture here on RIU. The LED strips will give you full canopy coverage, and the light penetration to grow some great plants with quality buds. They don't produce much heat, and have MUCH higher light intensity to provide that penetration and growth potential.

LED grows and info: https://rollitup.org/f/led-and-other-lighting.124/
T5 grows and info: https://rollitup.org/f/cfl-fluorescent-lighting.75/

CanadianJim said:

If they're shit why are you buying them?
Anyway, mind putting up a link to where you get them for the OP? Let them make up their own mind as to whether or not they're worth getting.

Click to expand...

im not saying their shit im saying that american part of that website doesnt have shit in selection im not going to link them because a quantum board is whats going to save u money

Gond00s said:

im not saying their shit im saying that american part of that website doesnt have shit in selection im not going to link them because a quantum board is whats going to save u money

Click to expand...

I didn't check the US part of the Vesey's site, so if they're not there then they may not be able to sell them to US customers.
No argument here about a quantum board being a better choice for a seed to harvest light, but I was under the impression that he already had a t5 fixture and wanted options on extending it's usefulness. If that's not the case, then @Thundercat is on the right track, imo.

Hell, I went from the world of t8 to t5 and thought that was the best shit ever. It works if you keep your plants short. I went to LED and didn't like it because I bought the cheaper kind. I finally went to 315 CMH and feel like it's been my best purchase yet.

I just went and pulled the trigger on adding uv to my grow going to see if I notice a differance

Iam a PU MMJ grower.I have been growing my own medicine for 6 years wit T5s 5 years ago I started using plant bulb instead of 3000k for flowrig and saw an improvement in yield https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FQ87DP6/?coliid=I2GA9WD8U48GW9&colid=AW7UKM9ED6GM&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it i recently switch to nobel commercial bulbs and am currently using 4-6500k bulbs for veg and adding a 660nm and a FSplusUV to a 6 bulb fixture for flowering https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GDBQM87/?coliid=I2WUY5TWO5Q9K3&colid=AW7UKM9ED6GM&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it and I am loving the results. in the 400watt range HIDs and T5s have a radiant efficiency of 30% (lumens/L.E.R) 70% of the input energy is given of as heat.the best LEDs on the market have an efficiency of 40% or 30% less heat for the same amount of light. on the down side LEDs cannot produce UV or violet efficiently so some growers supliment LEDs and HPS with T5 UV bulbs seems that growers here are beginning to see benefits of UV not seeing much attention to violet yet one benifit is a 10 fold increase in stomatal opening over red light. I have tried LEDS and 400watt HIDs but I keep coming back to my T5s not quite the yield of HPS but better taste and potency

Some of the newer LED fixtures are adding UV and in some cases far red too. Sadly the meme from the computer industry applies to LEDs ... If you can buy at retail it is, by definition, obsolete.

These are the daylight t5's that are best for plant growth in the commercial range. You could call them blues but if you look at their spectrum they weigh up nicely in most of the spectrum.


(Cut the peaks out focus on the rest)

A lot of work was done in the weight of red to blue for a full cycle which ended up promoting a 1 to 4 blue to red but none of these bulbs have anywhere near that ratio and a mixing of two 825's for each 865 is technically closer. Here's a grolux still at 1.4 red to each blue.



One thing you notice is mixing t5's makes a very good spectrum and just the 865 was good on its own.

I run 865's full grow and it works well, I plan to add some more red but from previous experiences I am not expecting a lot of difference. If you have an electrical background the ballasts and end caps can be put together for very cheap like a few pounds or dollars and the above bulbs are similar in price for a pack of ten, even as a single tube I pay a few pounds/dollars only.

They are top lights just, not far off the LEDs and HP's if your good and use a more sog approach but they won't yeild near as much but enough if you want to choose them.

If you have the choice I would find some better LEDs but it won't cost you much if you need a cheaper option at first.