Walterwhiter
Well-Known Member
I'm open to ideas. Honestly k don't have to worry about florescents failing like you do leds and bulbs are easily replaced
200$ bucks too spend and torn between led and t5 type
- Thread starter Walterwhiter
- Start date
Uberknot
Well-Known Member
You get what you pay for..........much easier to do it right than cut corners for a few bucks.
Plus dealing with all those CFL's.....ugh...
Walterwhiter
Well-Known Member
The info on the hydro I had was 5000 somthing lumens I figured wth the 300w and the cfls I have was 12000 lumens
Walterwhiter
Well-Known Member
This whole topic is super subjective. Led guys swear by led, old schools say hps is the only way to go, the cfl guys and cob like the diy aspect of it and it's pretty mixed on weather or not cfls can produce! Heat is an issue for me. I am not using a tent and do not want too try to run ducting everywhere. It has to be reliable my only real concern when it comes to low price leds. It seems they like to fail randomly and I have read that most can not handle a 18+ hour veg without dying. I don't really trust myself to build much because I am inexperienced with electronics and I need to be 100% sure I'm not starting fires.
Now having said all that I have a bit of a biased towards leds. Small cool and cool looking. Hps us just out of the question at the moment. To hot too risky. Maybe if I invest in a tent at some point but not now. As I said I already have a four bulb cfl fixture set up the moment and plan on using them with what I get as a main light source.
Now having said all that I have a bit of a biased towards leds. Small cool and cool looking. Hps us just out of the question at the moment. To hot too risky. Maybe if I invest in a tent at some point but not now. As I said I already have a four bulb cfl fixture set up the moment and plan on using them with what I get as a main light source.
No, the HO bulbs are higher wattage and use a different ballast.
I've been using the 2'-2 bulb T5 HO for 5 years now in a closet for host plants and such and have been constantly impressed with them, but I'm mainly outdoors. I use 2 units and they replaced a 400w MH with better results. Not to mention much less power used and way less heat.
No experience (yet), with LED's, so no help there.
The big thing, for me anyway, is the replacement tubes. I've found over the years, that EIKO work the best and last the longest. The best thing is, they cost exactly the same as the crap tubes that are usually supplied.
Wet
Walterwhiter
Well-Known Member
Thank you! Will look into this. Do you veg and flower with these?
RM3
Well-Known Member
ding ding ding Ring Dat Bell nail on the head and I am the T5 guy tellin ya that led will prolly work better for your needs as T5's get hot, course I run 1000 watts of T5
Used properly any light will produce and please remember that plants do not use lumens, they mean nothing when choosing your light
TacoMac
Well-Known Member
Light doesn't work that way. It's not cumulative. If you put two 600 watt fixtures side by side it doesn't give you 1200 watts; all it gives you is larger coverage area (lumens) of 600 watts.
Uberknot
Well-Known Member
really?
Mainly veg since I'm mostly outdoors for everything.
I HAVE flowered with them, sorta, letting seeds develop on pollinated clones. The clones stayed in flower even under 18/6 (I really love this strain), and was very impressed with the resulting buds. They were also harvested way early, when the seeds were ripe, rather than letting them go full term. Seeds were the objective, not smoke, but the potency was good for such an early harvest.
Wet
mauricem00
Well-Known Member
there is an old saying "quality sells itself" none of the garden centers or hydro shops within 50 miles of me sell led grow lights.. all of the garden centers use fluorescent for their indoor plant and the hot selling new technology at the hydro stores are CMH lights.LEDs may be popular in chat rooms but most growers don't use chat rooms.I have been playing with LEDs for 3 years including a mars hydro and diy lights using vero 18s, cree 3070s and citizens high CRI 3000 and 4000k diodes and I have not found anything that outperforms my T5s. these girls are 3 weeks into flowering and have another 5 weeks to go.
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Uberknot
Well-Known Member
how much veg time?
mauricem00
Well-Known Member
6 weeks from the time the seeds first went into water to germinate. topped once and went into flowering when the reached 12 inches tall. in the first 2 weeks of flowering they stretched to 36 inches.strain is super silver haze from ILGM. I get higher germination rates with seeds from this company than with seeds from nirvana or herbies.
mauricem00
Well-Known Member
I have found that plusrite bulbs and ballast work very well too.both plusrite and eiko are commercial bulbs used in factories,stores and office buildings and are of much higher quality than the tubes sold at aquarium or hydro shops
Uberknot
Well-Known Member
on those eiko's....which ones?
Programmed Start T5 Lamps
Preheat T5 Lamps
Blacklight T5 Lamps
mauricem00
Well-Known Member
mauricem00
Well-Known Member
https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/91989/PLUSRITE-7319.html for the ballast and https://www.amazon.com/Plusrite-4129-Bi-Pin-45-2-Inch-Fluorescent/dp/B00CNI6YQ6 for bulbs mixed with http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=23649 for flowering. I build my own light fixtures. this is a program start ballast with a ballast factor of 1.0
Uberknot
Well-Known Member
Cool...I use fosters and smith from time to time for aquarium stuff they can have some decent deals.
I might be looking for a veg light later on to DIY. just a small one for a 2x2 tent.
I am going to see how these 3500k cobs work for veg first.
mauricem00
Well-Known Member
mauricem00
Well-Known Member
for vegging you may want a little more blue light like a 4000k or even a 5000k.and maybe a couple of 430nm diodes thrown in. if you want to experiment with LEDs for vegging this may be a cheap way to "get your feet wet" http://www.ebay.com/itm/351780401315?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=620699878737&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT