growingwild
Active Member
A ? do you use all grow bulbs or mix 2 bloom bulbs in the mix??? I have 2 different grow shops in my town telling me something different,one says there is no differents and the other says put 2 bloom bulbs in.
T 5 ? `s on bulbs HELPPPP
- Thread starter growingwild
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Dr.RR
Active Member
I don't know, I really have no "correct" answer. I use T-5's with a mixture of 5000k bulbs and 4500k bulbs. I am ordering 8 6500k bulbs in a couple weeks though. I like to stick to straight 6500k during veg and then switching to 2700-3500k during flowering.A ? do you use all grow bulbs or mix 2 bloom bulbs in the mix??? I have 2 different grow shops in my town telling me something different,one says there is no differents and the other says put 2 bloom bulbs in.
growingwild
Active Member
I`m only using them in veg. I use hps in bud.
Dr.RR
Active Member
I also use a 400w HPS to flower. I use the T-5's during veg. I would go all 6500k; gives the fastest plant growth.
growingwild
Active Member
I just checked mine they are 3000k,I`ll check into the other to see how much they are.Thanks for tip.Let me where & how much they cost.
Dr.RR
Active Member
HTG Supply has AgroMax 6500k T5's at a reasonable price.
http://www.htgsupply.com/products.asp?categoryID=4&subcategoryID=84&typeID=78
growingwild
Active Member
thanks I`ll check that out
Jack in the Bud
Active Member
I was just in Home Depot a couple of days a go eye balling their different flourescent fixtures and bulbs.A ? do you use all grow bulbs or mix 2 bloom bulbs in the mix??? I have 2 different grow shops in my town telling me something different,one says there is no differents and the other says put 2 bloom bulbs in.
I think I'm going to go get two of their 4' fixtures that use the T8 bulbs to use to help fill in some light around the sides. They have a T8 daylight (6500 K) rated bulb that looks like it puts out some good light. They also have two other type T8 bulbs that put out different spectrums.
I've read in Ed Rosethal's Closet Cultivator that some of these specially designed "grow bulbs" don't put out as much useable light as some of the other more standard bulbs. He recommends the GE Chroma 5000 (or equivelant ) bulb for vegging and the GE Croma 3000 (or equivelant) for flowering.
He also goes on to say that during veg you should avoid tubes with "warm" in their name because they promote stretching and premature flowering. But during flowering you want the "warm white" or "warm white deluxe" bulbs.
Regardless of what you decide to go with I think you should check your local Home Depot (or other hardware or lighting stores) to see what they have available.
Personally I'm just against buying stuff from all these specialty (canabis specific) grow stores. It's over priced and over hyped. With very few exceptions if I can't find it at Home Depot, Ace Hardware, Wally World or one of my local greenhouses or nurseries it just doesn't fit into my program.
growingwild
Active Member
thanks I`ll check it out. Homedepot is around the corner from me.
I like to stick with mixed bulbs.. I run the 8 bulb t5's with 4 of each shade.. works AWESOME in veg.. never seen any lighting give me such good results, nodes are packed in and very healthy. I am 3 weeks into a flower with full spectrum lighting and I am liking what I see
This is a TOUGH question you are right, because making final choices on what's best based on online data is hard until you actually do it and see for yourself.. but here is the best answer I can give you:
The 6500K bulbs, while putting off lots of blue spectrum light, also puts off quite a bit of red as well..
definitely enough for the vegetative phase...
a 6500K bulb will cover all 4 spectrums that a plant can photosynthesize from..
however as you will see in this in this chart both chlorophyll A, B, and carotenoids can be produced using a single frequency blue spectrum light, such as an LED.. as you can see the ~425-435nm range (if only using one spectrum) is optimal..
Though LED's seem great, unless you are covering all four spectrums they aren't. It's been shown that plants which receive multiple spectrums grow better/quicker than plants that only recieve one or two..
Such as a flowering plant receiving only (just say) 680nm wavelength light, it will grow more slowly than a plant receiving both 650nm & 680nm light.
This is why if you are using an HPS to vegetate and it's not an enhanced spectrum one the plants stretch unless you use some substitute lighting..
During the vegetative phase, for fluorescents, you are best off using all 6500K bulbs as they will put off mostly blue HOWEVER they WILL definitely put off red as well. You could flower with these too.. but the results will be much much better with all 2700K bulbs during flower.
The same exact thing goes for flowering with 2700K bulbs, you want ALL 2700K for flower, just like you want all 6500K for veg. Though the 2700K bulbs put off PRIMARILY yellow-orange-red spectrum, they do cover blue as well.
It's always better to prove things to yourself than taking any info you just read on the internet though! You know that!
So, HOW?! Grab a CD man, take it under your light and the cd will refract the light revealing which spectrums the light is putting off!
It doesn't reveal it well with a cd but you can definitely see which spectrums a light is putting off..
You can, however, make a DIY spectrograph out of a CD and some pvc pipe
http://www.inpharmix.com/jps/CD_spectro.html
there's several others too just google something like home made spectrograph cd
Good luck!
The 6500K bulbs, while putting off lots of blue spectrum light, also puts off quite a bit of red as well..
definitely enough for the vegetative phase...
a 6500K bulb will cover all 4 spectrums that a plant can photosynthesize from..
however as you will see in this in this chart both chlorophyll A, B, and carotenoids can be produced using a single frequency blue spectrum light, such as an LED.. as you can see the ~425-435nm range (if only using one spectrum) is optimal..
Though LED's seem great, unless you are covering all four spectrums they aren't. It's been shown that plants which receive multiple spectrums grow better/quicker than plants that only recieve one or two..
Such as a flowering plant receiving only (just say) 680nm wavelength light, it will grow more slowly than a plant receiving both 650nm & 680nm light.
This is why if you are using an HPS to vegetate and it's not an enhanced spectrum one the plants stretch unless you use some substitute lighting..
During the vegetative phase, for fluorescents, you are best off using all 6500K bulbs as they will put off mostly blue HOWEVER they WILL definitely put off red as well. You could flower with these too.. but the results will be much much better with all 2700K bulbs during flower.
The same exact thing goes for flowering with 2700K bulbs, you want ALL 2700K for flower, just like you want all 6500K for veg. Though the 2700K bulbs put off PRIMARILY yellow-orange-red spectrum, they do cover blue as well.
It's always better to prove things to yourself than taking any info you just read on the internet though! You know that!
So, HOW?! Grab a CD man, take it under your light and the cd will refract the light revealing which spectrums the light is putting off!
It doesn't reveal it well with a cd but you can definitely see which spectrums a light is putting off..
You can, however, make a DIY spectrograph out of a CD and some pvc pipe
http://www.inpharmix.com/jps/CD_spectro.html
there's several others too just google something like home made spectrograph cd
Good luck!
growingwild
Active Member
thanks for the info do you have any pic of your veg.
no pictures, I am not one for pictures but I will take some of the flower room with my T5's for you, they are just over 2 weeks in and looking promising.. give me a few to take them and post them up
Jack in the Bud
Active Member
I made a trip to Home Depot (casa dePOT) yesterday and picked up two 4' 2 bulb [T8] fluorescent light fixtures for $34.97 each. Basically it's your standard shop light fixture that you'd put above a work bench. Going to put them on the sides to supplement my 400W MH. They had a range of Phillips Alto bulbs available in 4' T8 including 3000K, 3500K, 4100K, 5000K & 6500K. Since I'm currently in a flowering stage I got 4 of the 3000K bulbs to put in them ($6.97/pair). Also got four of the 5000K bulbs to use next time I'm vegging ($6.90/pair).
All though I didn't pay to close attention to any of the specifics they did have quite a selection of T5 fixtures and bulbs. So if any ones using T5's or considering it I definetly recommend they take a trip to Home Depot for a look at what they've got.
All though I didn't pay to close attention to any of the specifics they did have quite a selection of T5 fixtures and bulbs. So if any ones using T5's or considering it I definetly recommend they take a trip to Home Depot for a look at what they've got.
Heads Up
Well-Known Member
I have a few seeds that broke ground today and a few more I hope will pop tomorrow. I use a t-5 for my seedlings, in it I have two 6500k and two 4100k. Seems to work just fine, producing happy healthy plants. I think it is really a matter of personal preference and my preference is to combine lights. I do not use 3000k, I don't want that much red spectrum which is why I use the 4100k's. Once they are sufficiently rooted, under the mh to finish vegging.
I strongly suggest using what is called a high bay fixture. It's not nearly as expensive as one from a hydro shop.
http://www.contractorlighting.com/high-bay-fluorescent-6lmp-t5ho-120277-p-153.html
You'll need to buy tubes and it does not come with a cord attached so you'll have to wire a cord into the fixture, but $120 for a six tube fixture is hard to beat. They also have good prices on their tubes. My partner and I both have fixtures from this place and not a single problem in over a year.
I strongly suggest using what is called a high bay fixture. It's not nearly as expensive as one from a hydro shop.
http://www.contractorlighting.com/high-bay-fluorescent-6lmp-t5ho-120277-p-153.html
You'll need to buy tubes and it does not come with a cord attached so you'll have to wire a cord into the fixture, but $120 for a six tube fixture is hard to beat. They also have good prices on their tubes. My partner and I both have fixtures from this place and not a single problem in over a year.
Jack in the Bud
Active Member
Heads Up,
Now that looks like a good fixture (and reasonably priced too). Do you use it at all during flowering to supplement the MH or is it just for the initial vegging? How long do you veg under the flourescents and on what light cycle?
I used to just veg under the MH on 24/0 but here recently I've changed to vegging for the first 2 to 3 weeks under flouros on 20/4. It's made a big improvement in the plants sturdiness, bushiness and over all structure. Getting a lot better root system too.
I've got an old 8' 4 bulb T12 fixture with Phillips Daylight ColorTone bulbs in it that some one gave me years a go for a shop light that I drug in the house and set up to do that initial 2 week veg under.
The only resaon I've got the 3000K bulbs in my new T8 fixtures is because I'm using them as supplemental light during flowering right now. It's my understanding that you want a little more of the red spectrum during flowering. Is this how you understand it? I've got some 5000K bulbs for them also so that I can use them as supplemental lighting to the MH during the last half of a vegging stage next time around. But your method of combining 4100K and 6500K bulbs sounds like a good idea also.
Happy growing.
Now that looks like a good fixture (and reasonably priced too). Do you use it at all during flowering to supplement the MH or is it just for the initial vegging? How long do you veg under the flourescents and on what light cycle?
I used to just veg under the MH on 24/0 but here recently I've changed to vegging for the first 2 to 3 weeks under flouros on 20/4. It's made a big improvement in the plants sturdiness, bushiness and over all structure. Getting a lot better root system too.
I've got an old 8' 4 bulb T12 fixture with Phillips Daylight ColorTone bulbs in it that some one gave me years a go for a shop light that I drug in the house and set up to do that initial 2 week veg under.
The only resaon I've got the 3000K bulbs in my new T8 fixtures is because I'm using them as supplemental light during flowering right now. It's my understanding that you want a little more of the red spectrum during flowering. Is this how you understand it? I've got some 5000K bulbs for them also so that I can use them as supplemental lighting to the MH during the last half of a vegging stage next time around. But your method of combining 4100K and 6500K bulbs sounds like a good idea also.
Happy growing.
growingwild
Active Member
just left home depot they only stock the t5 in 3000k(2ft & 4ft) the t8 they have 3000,4000,5500,6500k in stock
Heads Up
Well-Known Member
I've used it for a complete grow. Now I'm using it for vegging my seedlings before going under the mh. I vegged for a month under 18/6 light and then put them into 12/12. The only problem I found is that the plants generally get to tall and the light won't penetrate very far into the plants. I bent mine and tied them down to two shower curtains, I'll include some pics. I now have two six hundred watt lights so I don't use it for anything other than popping my beans and for about two weeks or so before going to the big light.
Correct, red flowering, blue vegging. The nice thing about a 4100k tube is that it has red and blue. My first grow I used all 3000k for flowering and to be honest I think I had better results using two 3000k and two 4100k when flowering.
To the best of my knowledge, 3000k is the limit for t-5 tubes. I don't think you can find anything lower in the kelvin scale.
Jack in the Bud
Active Member
Heads,
They're looking good.
I too use to only veg for 4 weeks because of the getting to tall issue. I was doing it all under the MH and on a 24/0 light cycle. I was also in some kind of a race with myself to see just how short of a cycle time (from seed in dirt until harvest) I could get. And I once got it done in 110 days. While the quality was pretty good I was always disappointed with the quantity.
This time around I've made quite a few changes to how I'm going about it based mainly on things I've been learning from Uncle Ben here in these forums.
I vegged for 6 weeks (first 2 under flouros and then an additional 4 under the MH) on 20/4 before switching to 12/12. I've also used UB's technique for pinching to produce 4 main colas on this crop and that's helped keep them shorter and bushier. I'm also experimenting with the Super Cropping technique that some one recently posted a tutorial on, on two of my plants.
I'm 61 days into a grow (19 since switching to 12/12) and things are looking really promising as far as increasing the yield goes.