LED Without LEDs -My First T5 Grow

hyroot said:

This is a very old thread. If you read through it. You will see almost everyone that has been on here for years that runs cobs and cmh were once running these par t5's and moved on. Even me. I ran them for 2 year . If you plan on running t5's do not use wave point bulbs. They're junk. They're made in China and do not last beyond 6 months. They burn out quick. Use zoo med flora suns. They're made in Germany. They last a year and the best and cheapest bulbs you can get for t5's. They're full spectrum and havw uva and uvb. Get them at drfostersmith.com $10 -$15 each. They go on sale a lot.

All t5 bulbs start to spectral degrade after a couple months. These lights work great. But the bulbs don't last more than a year. So it gets expensive replacing them. Also they use more watts and produce more heat than a cob panel or cmh or 1 inda gro. And t5's cover less area. They're very inefficient. Most reef tanks and fresh water tanks don't even use t5's anymore. Most use led these days. For the longevity and less power.

These were great for its time when they outperformed led. They're a relic now. 200w of cobs will blow away 432 watts of par t5. My 315 cmh covers 3.5' x 3.5' and 4x4 with multiple cmh's over lapping and pulls 339 watts at the wall. A t5 covers 2x4 at 432 watts. Produces far more heat. Cmh will blow any t5

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s24ws said:

I found this thread searching for Wave points ultra growth wave light. Is anyone using them?

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Evil-Mobo said:

I know the thread is old, I didn't bump it up someone else did, just adding my $0.02. It's just for veg, and I ordered the agromax bulbs from HTG which are stupid cheap. I know you and RM3 have difference of opinion on many things and I am not trying to start a pissing match with anyone on here. I have a 315 CMH en route with a 3x3 as well. The T5 will just be for veg in my 2x4. I have not been pleased with the hassles the LED's have given me thus far. They have been great for the plants but I have been working around other issues with them.

Also the 315 CMH is not the right light for my 2x4 due to it's size hence why I ordered a 3x3 for it.

I have LED's in there now and want to try something different. There are still many people getting great veg results from these T5 setups. I also do not have the issues with the restrictions or whatever you guys deal with over there with the electricity. I can't see how running (1) T5 setup in one of my tents to test it out will be the end of the world.

There's a few guys on here with threads showing veg and flower with similar T5 setups and the results speak for themselves.

If you want to buy my four COB from the 2x4 and the tent it's in I will happily get another 3x3 and another Sun Systems 315w LEC CMH light

Thanks for your input though.

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BlueB said:

Infra-red doesn't even start until 740nm. That's quite far from 660nm actually. 110nm away. if you subtract 110nm from 660nm you get GREEN. 660nm is only 30nm farther up the scale than 630nm which is where red only BEGINS. 660nm is in the beginning of the deep-red zone which goes all the way up to 700nm and then FAR-RED starts at 700nm and goes up to 740nm or INFRARED. IR is all the wavelengths beyond 740 indefinitely.

So to clarify, 730nm is NEAR IR, not 660nm.


Actually this is only partially true. Near Infra-red wavelengths are what trigger stretching. The 660nm range of light will prevent the stretch effect you speak of by actually letting the rest of the plant grow(i.e. buds, leaves), not just the stems. Now do you get it? The 660nm range(also referred to as deep red) is like the carburetor for photosynthesis. Does that make sense?

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All-in said:

Running a 730nm for 15 minutes after lights out triggers the sundown response and speeds up the night time process for the plant. Can shave 1 to 2 weeks off of flowering without affecting the yield as well as having the pptential to add to the flavor and smell. Farmertylet on youtube has several short videos on this and other colors. Very interesting stuff.

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hotrodharley said:

Old thread why? You can buy a screw in LED bulb in730 nm far red. No external ballast needed.

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All-in said:

I have been looking for that exect set up with no real luck. All the ones I find is either a conbo of 730nm and 660nm or it is just an 850nm. If anyone has a link to ine that would be great.

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All-in said:

I have been looking for that exect set up with no real luck. All the ones I find is either a conbo of 730nm and 660nm or it is just an 850nm. If anyone has a link to ine that would be great.

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Rocket Soul said:

Can you link the 850nm screw in pls?

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