Flowering with t5's

hyroot

hyroot

Well-Known Member
iNFID3L said:
im vegging with a 250 cfl, and im adding some t5's to help, ive decided on a 400 hps too for flower.
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i started with one 400 then 2 then upgrade after that. i still have my 400's and wish i could get rid of them for what i paid. i think getting a 400 was the biggest waste of money. for 50 more you can get a 600. 400's are great for veg though. not flower. t5 is better for veg. i put in more than i got out of it with a 400. i was disappointed every batch. the nugs were even small n some were some what fluffy. the 400 still puts out a lot of heat and you still should vent it. i think 8 bulb t5 would do much better with the right bulbs than a 400 and plus way less heat and way more coverage. 600 depends on the bulb and the hood

im actually going to try and do professuer set up in a couple weeks and compare to my 1000. if it works as good that will be awesome
 
40ozSkunk

40ozSkunk

Active Member
i use a 2' 8 bulb t5 with 4 each of blue/red spectrum. and also a few cfls of each, for a total of around 350 actual watts. I haven't tried growing with hps yet, but i'm thinking the 400 hps will produce heavier buds than the t5/cfl combo. I'm not sure if a 600 is absolutely necessary.
 
iNFID3L

iNFID3L

Well-Known Member
hyroot said:
i started with one 400 then 2 then upgrade after that. i still have my 400's and wish i could get rid of them for what i paid. i think getting a 400 was the biggest waste of money. for 50 more you can get a 600. 400's are great for veg though. not flower. t5 is better for veg. i put in more than i got out of it with a 400. i was disappointed every batch. the nugs were even small n some were some what fluffy. the 400 still puts out a lot of heat and you still should vent it. i think 8 bulb t5 would do much better with the right bulbs than a 400 and plus way less heat and way more coverage. 600 depends on the bulb and the hood

im actually going to try and do professuer set up in a couple weeks and compare to my 1000. if it works as good that will be awesome
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im going to stick with my choices, what works for you might not work for me, did you read the whole thread ?

i do NOT have the room for a 600, and until the t5's or the cfl is MORE popular for flower , i think ill stick with what the majority are doing.
 
hyroot

hyroot

Well-Known Member
cool, yes i did read it. i was just saying my experience if it could help or not. regardless of what works for you and me. a 400 is a 400. with that hood. make sure you point fans on it.it will get hot. i started with a 400 because i was broke at the time and I traded stuff for that light. then i came up another one for free. i still had to get new bulbs. for bulbs if this helps ive used the ge lucalox, eye, hortilux, plant max, and ushio. the hortilux was my fav. everything got chunkiest under the hortilux
 
hyroot

hyroot

Well-Known Member
also I've used oracle, lumatek, and quantum ballasts. the oracle's burn out after 6 months or so. the lumatek i did was fine but i knew a few people that had problems with it getting to hot and coils and cords melting.the super lumens ruins the bulbs. the quantum is what i use now and its my fav. every ballast is dimmable and switchable and it has 2 fans built in. the best part is that quantum is the cheapest and it runs less amps than the others and last year quantum got most innovative ballast of the year
 
iNFID3L

iNFID3L

Well-Known Member
i need to start at the lower end , and as my budget increases , so will the quality of the things i use .....thanks for adding tho, some good tips !

also, im based in the u.k
 
drgreen514

drgreen514

Member
The only problem is that a 1000w is good for 16 sq ft and comes out to 8750 lumens per sq ft or 140 Lux. When a 600w is good for 9 sq ft and comes out to 10 000 lumens per sq ft or 150 Lux :`)

hyroot said:
i had a 600 and switched to a 1000. yes you get more lumens per watt on the 600 but that's only better if your using 3 600's vs 2 1000's. as a single light, the 1000 blows away the 600. the heat difference is minimal. 145,000 lumens vs 90,000 lumens. my yield doubled from that and it penetrates much more than 600.
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hyroot

hyroot

Well-Known Member
drgreen514 said:
The only problem is that a 1000w is good for 16 sq ft and comes out to 8750 lumens per sq ft or 140 Lux. When a 600w is good for 9 sq ft and comes out to 10 000 lumens per sq ft or 150 Lux :`)
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You are way off on sq footage. A 400 is good for 16 sq ft. that's 4x4. A 600 is good for 25sq ft to 36 sq ft. 5x5 to 6x6. A 1000 is good for 36 sq ft to 84 sq ft. 6x6 to 8x8. I use my 1000 for a 6x7 . That's 42 sq ft and it kicks ass!!!!
 
constructionpig

constructionpig

Well-Known Member
I've done it with T-8s a lot of T-8s 16 of them to be exact they did okay but now I'm going to the 600 club leaving the kiddie pool.
You gotta start somewhere I suppose. Life is a learning experience.
 
Joedank

Joedank

Well-Known Member
Gotta go with dr green 4x4 for a thousand especially if you run co2 or want the greatest light density for sativa dominant plants above three feet in height. Sorry to be off topic if I was in the uk I would choose a system that flies under the radar and maximizes my space and plant size a 400 of that configuration with exaust from the top and good intake below on cold uk nights would do great just my two pennies
 
TechnoMage

TechnoMage

Well-Known Member
I did my first two grow using 3x55w compact T5's. Hard bulb to find but it puts out 4,800 lumens and is only 21" long. It worked but the yield wasn't great. I switched to using the compact T5s for mothers/clones/vegging and HPS for flowering. I started with a 250w HPS and easily doubled my yield.
 
40ozSkunk

40ozSkunk

Active Member
switching from t5 to a 250 hps doubled your yield? how many plants were you growing?

that sounds like good news to me, if i switch from t5/cfls to a 400hps. but a lot of people have told me to forget the 400 and go witha 600w hps
 
iNFID3L

iNFID3L

Well-Known Member
Joedank said:
if I was in the uk I would choose a system that flies under the radar and maximizes my space and plant size a 400 of that configuration with exaust from the top and good intake below on cold uk nights would do great just my two pennies
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thats me !

but im using , at the moment a 250 cfl to veg......im just about to order 3 HOt5's for side growth too.....im looking at some korallen zucht bulbs.....quite like the ones professuer is using on his t5 grow.
 
TechnoMage

TechnoMage

Well-Known Member
For my cab, 2-3 plants seem to work best. I just popped a 400w into the cab but it caused temps to rise a little.
 
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