Lighting T5/CFL only thread (the manual)

[TaNg]

Winner Winner chicken dinner!!

along with my nefarious plot to take over the world I've also been thinking thru the design build a small grow area...
big enough so it would accomodate this t5...

http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-HTG-Supply-2-Foot-4-Lamp-PL-55-Tek-Lamp.asp

24 inch x 24 inch with 20k lumens

the grow box will be slightly larger than 2'd x 2'w x 5' tall

what would get best yield out of this set up?? 1 plant atta time?? I'm n00b & clueless in this dept...

tia...wakkyT

Sup WakkyT, sounds like your gonna have a sweet set up there although that light will be a tight squeeze lol, I have a cab the same size as yours and if I was growing for yield I would grow 4 maybe 6 plants depending on strain (dwarf etc) I can't give you an idea how much you will yield because of all the variables. Feel free to throw some pics of your cab up when it's ready and if you need a hand with your grow think about starting a diary up in the new growers section,there are some great guys over there that will give you all the help you need 24/7.

 

[WileyWilly]

CFL CLUB! lol.

hello everyone.

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good question jimjim.

im currently starting my own cfl micro grow and ive done a whole lot of research.

some people have used all 6500k with great results
some people have also used all 2700k with great results.

imo.. i would still switch out the bulbs (to get the full spectrum)

option 1:
6500 k -- for veg (2-3 weeks)
2700 k -- flower (when you see the autoflower shows its sex)

option 2:
mix and match the spectrum from veg to flower
ie: 2 6500k / 2 2700k.

just my opinion.

I see the 6500k and the 2700k and I see why swapping at certain times but what about this cheap lite it says

• 75W of incandescent equivalent output using only 17W of energy
• Save 78 percent on your utility bills
• Color: 4200K (not 6500k or 2700k) wassupp wid dat
• Lumens: 1093
• Dimensions: 2.5"W x 2"D x 28"H is that good enough for a 2x2x5 box I was thinking about 2 on top and one on each side for a total of 4. ? thanks for advice in advance.

 

[p man]

I own a 4 bulb- 4'- t5 light ..these plants were grown using cfls and my t5.... baby 'sis' is now under 4 cfls mounted on stands, and 'lil' mop top is under my 400hps.... my problem is with LST training my plants get apx 24-30" across so my t5 (4'x 2') won't really cover even one plant or will it? ..any suggestions?

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[TaNg]

I own a 4 bulb- 4'- t5 light ..these plants were grown using cfls and my t5.... baby 'sis' is now under 4 cfls mounted on stands, and 'lil' mop top is under my 400hps.... my problem is with LST training my plants get apx 24-30" across so my t5 (4'x 2') won't really cover even one plant or will it? ..any suggestions?

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Hay dude maybe a simple ScrOG will help.

 

[p man]

I don't know about a scrog but as you can see one 400hps will cover what a 3' x3' area and my t5 will cover what a 2'x4' area? ..so do you think my t5 will be enough for my one plant baby sis she is 30'' across.... or do I need more lights?...the light is up high for the picture and is only used for lil mop top I usually keep the light apx 6'' from the top also both are on the table for the picture only baby sis sits on the floor with the cfls over her

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[Red eyed c]

What's the power output of the T5 mate? You could just grow both under the 400w it's easily enough for two plants,just give the pots a half turn every 24hours so they get a fair share of the core area of light :smokebuds:

 

[TaNg]

I'm with Red Pman 400w is plenty for those 2.

 

[p man]

t5 is 215 watts- 4 bulbs- 55,000 lums with the 6500k bulbs...haven't bought any 2600k bulbs yet... here's what Im using now instead of my t5 ..to me the hps isn't covering the plants enough specialy at 6'' above it will only cover one plant as you can see...
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[Red eyed c]

The 400w is defo enough mate and if you raised it up to around 8-10 inch you would get a better spread of light,your plants are quite short and the light will still penetrate. But if you just wanna use the t5 for one plant it will work,maybe some flowering tubes will work better too.but I think it's a waste of electrity mate having 2 lights and 600w of power being used when the 400w would do,just my

 

[namvet25]

How many watts are your cfls? I really don't think your getting 55,000 lumens from four bulbs I have 16, 100 watt equiv bulbs and four 200 watt equiv and i'm getting around 37,000 lumens.