LED Without LEDs -My First T5 Grow

[reverof]

Funny thing is when I started this hobby I really thought about aquarium bulbs, specific nm ones of course and with just a hint of reading on different forums similar questions were asked and always said it wouldnt work. I really didnt even think much of it till you actually put 2 & 2 together for me, stating (which I knew but didnt put 2&2 together) LED is very specific wave length, so whats the differene with T5's in those exact or very close to exact wave lengths.

Am looking forward to seeing some results. If works correctly with no ill effects I will be ordering some more actinic bulbs, obviously still got wholesale accounts so ATI bulbs are $14.80 a piece lol... also some other brands that are actually cheaper and I will say this years of t5 usage, almost all the are exact the same... UVL has a slight leg up with the internal reflector.

 

[pr0fesseur]

well results are all i have with these t5, as you can see from my photos.. all im using is T5's plants look healthy, minus a little mag difficiency im battling...

 

[reverof]

Try using some CalMag?
BTW you flowering with all UVL Red Suns?

 

[Hasbroh]

Really enjoying this thread. Plasma will be the future but until then...

Prof,didn't see where you determined the 8 bulbs to be sufficient. Do you feel 8 4" bulbs are where you want to be for a 4x4 area? Have you considered using 12 or 16 bulbs? How do you feel about the extra bulbs and not changing out but keeping all the bulbs in for a more natural light?

Btw, I saw portable ac units at Home Depot today starting at $259 and portable swamp coolers starting at $99.

 

[reverof]

This would be my honest opinion on 4x4 area and T5's... T5's are great great lights, but the light output outside the bulb region begins to fall. What I mean is, if your fixture is 3 feet wide anything really outside the 3'6" mark would get a fraction of the light... this being said for vegging in particular where your fixture is very low to the plants. A correctly configured fixture I "THINK" could be fine for flowering a 4x4 area with the fixture raised up, but still think on either side plants would not get as much light.

 

[Hasbroh]

Not sure what you are talking about. I'm referring to 48" bulbs. An 8 bulb unit measures 24" x 48" and a 16 bulb unit is 48" x 48".

 

[reverof]

Correct, if you want to cover a 4x4 area well, I would recommend the 16 bulb fixture, as the 8 bulb fixture would at best truly cover a 30"x52" area.

 

[Hasbroh]

Really enjoying this thread. Plasma will be the future but until then...

Prof,didn't see where you determined the 8 bulbs to be sufficient. Do you feel 8 4" bulbs are where you want to be for a 4x4 area? Have you considered using 12 or 16 bulbs? How do you feel about the extra bulbs and not changing out but keeping all the bulbs in for a more natural light?

Thanks for your input, reverof.

Prof, would appreciate your take re. my queries.

 

[reverof]

I attached 2 images showing the actinic bulb in place over the plants. Total of 28 plants, all are about 10 days old or so.
White Lightning, Ice, Aurora Indica and EasyRyder
Fixture is a retro (diy) 6 bulb T5 HO.

 

[reverof]

It is presently 16 hours after installing the single actinic bulb... and 14 hours of light (I run 22/2 in veg)
Some very noticeable changes have occurred, I am hoping you all can see them in the pictures.
1. All plants on the right of the actinic bulb have pointed themselves in direction of the actinic bulb, even though there are 2 veg bulbs directly above them)
2. Some noticeable plant growthin the line directly underneath the actinic bulb.
The plant in the very back left corner if you can see it has been the star of this grow so far, its an Aurora Indica, 2 of the plants under the actinic bulb are truthfully looking to even up with it, I expect if the growth continues under the actinic as it did in past 14 hours, this time tomorrow they will have at least equaled the tallest and possibly taken it over.

Again these pictures are about 16 hours since original.

 

[PakaloloHui]

Nice report reverof.

 

[reverof]

I just want to point out some other bulbs that can be purchased, the brand Blueline has been around for several years and is a little cheaper in price, avg $16 a bulb. They have a few bulbs you might find interesting

BlueLine Actinic 420nm
BlueLine Actinic 460nm
BlueLine Koral Gro Red - Peaks at 436nm Provides blue & red

The 420 & 460 are obvious, the Koral Gro light, I really like its potential due to its range, below is the chart for the Koral Gro bulb. I like that it has a peak at 436nm but also has a hit what looks to be around 600-660 range, it also has a hit at 540 or so, but i dont see it as wasted output, just a little bid of broad spectrum with great 436 range and red range.

 

[mattman]

It is presently 16 hours after installing the single actinic bulb... and 14 hours of light (I run 22/2 in veg)
Some very noticeable changes have occurred, I am hoping you all can see them in the pictures.
1. All plants on the right of the actinic bulb have pointed themselves in direction of the actinic bulb, even though there are 2 veg bulbs directly above them)
2. Some noticeable plant growthin the line directly underneath the actinic bulb.
The plant in the very back left corner if you can see it has been the star of this grow so far, its an Aurora Indica, 2 of the plants under the actinic bulb are truthfully looking to even up with it, I expect if the growth continues under the actinic as it did in past 14 hours, this time tomorrow they will have at least equaled the tallest and possibly taken it over.

Again these pictures are about 16 hours since original.

Very interesting indeed. I think these with the combination of LED's for side lighting would be a very efficient grow. Both for the plant and the grower.

 

[pr0fesseur]

Try using some CalMag?
BTW you flowering with all UVL Red Suns?

Cal mag check! but it seems that this strain just doesent like me.. ive tried for 2 weeks to figure out whats wrong at this point... i dont care.... everything is simple organic the other plant is fine and this one is probably just not meant for my setup.... this is an experimental grow and other than a defficiency its still growin

 

[pr0fesseur]

I just want to point out some other bulbs that can be purchased, the brand Blueline has been around for several years and is a little cheaper in price, avg $16 a bulb. They have a few bulbs you might find interesting

BlueLine Actinic 420nm
BlueLine Actinic 460nm
BlueLine Koral Gro Red - Peaks at 436nm Provides blue & red

The 420 & 460 are obvious, the Koral Gro light, I really like its potential due to its range, below is the chart for the Koral Gro bulb. I like that it has a peak at 436nm but also has a hit what looks to be around 600-660 range, it also has a hit at 540 or so, but i dont see it as wasted output, just a little bid of broad spectrum with great 436 range and red range.

I applaud your enthusiasm However stay away from those Special bulbs... i just did a writeup about the special atinics.. they have very low PAR because of wasted lumens in a particular spectrum. stick with super actinics and blue plus youll be pleasantly supprised.. also the fuji purple have the best spectrum on the market! also the UVL has internal reflectors that alone is worth the .99c extra!

 

[pr0fesseur]

Very interesting indeed. I think these with the combination of LED's for side lighting would be a very efficient grow. Both for the plant and the grower.

The whole point of this thread is to show that LED is unnecessary when T5 provides the same spectrum with better penetration!

 

[pr0fesseur]

It is presently 16 hours after installing the single actinic bulb... and 14 hours of light (I run 22/2 in veg)
Some very noticeable changes have occurred, I am hoping you all can see them in the pictures.
1. All plants on the right of the actinic bulb have pointed themselves in direction of the actinic bulb, even though there are 2 veg bulbs directly above them)
2. Some noticeable plant growthin the line directly underneath the actinic bulb.
The plant in the very back left corner if you can see it has been the star of this grow so far, its an Aurora Indica, 2 of the plants under the actinic bulb are truthfully looking to even up with it, I expect if the growth continues under the actinic as it did in past 14 hours, this time tomorrow they will have at least equaled the tallest and possibly taken it over.

Again these pictures are about 16 hours since original.

I told you that you would be pleasantly surprised
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[pr0fesseur]

Really enjoying this thread. Plasma will be the future but until then...

Prof,didn't see where you determined the 8 bulbs to be sufficient. Do you feel 8 4" bulbs are where you want to be for a 4x4 area? Have you considered using 12 or 16 bulbs? How do you feel about the extra bulbs and not changing out but keeping all the bulbs in for a more natural light?

Btw, I saw portable ac units at Home Depot today starting at $259 and portable swamp coolers starting at $99.

I think that 8 bulbs for my setup is sufficient...im trying to balance $$$ with results.. now if i used a 12 light i would have to add cooling.. over the time of the grow i would add 100$ to my costs for electricity and bulbs... i dont think i could have a 16 bulb in my tent .. sure in a bigger area fine...but consider that 16 bulbs can only illuminate a 3x4 area...regardless of the amount of bulbs the coverage is the same.....so with tat i think 2 8 bulbs could grow MORE than 1x16bulb again i know NO ONE running my setup besides me.. so if you wanna donate to help me run a higher output setup... 8 bulbs seems the way to go... If i could use 2 fixtures i could grow with the fixture vertical and get better results..

 

[mattman]

The whole point of this thread is to show that LED is unnecessary when T5 provides the same spectrum with better penetration!

Im just saying for side lighting... they are much lower wattage than T5, so I dont think side lighting would be that inefficient compared to having t5's as side lighting that use more wattage.

Mainly im saying this, bc I currently own LED's... so replacing them for the light above the canopy is what ill do... but will keep the LED for side lighting.

 

[pr0fesseur]

Im just saying for side lighting... they are much lower wattage than T5, so I dont think side lighting would be that inefficient compared to having t5's as side lighting that use more wattage.

Mainly im saying this, bc I currently own LED's... so replacing them for the light above the canopy is what ill do... but will keep the LED for side lighting.

Ah gotcha! sorry its late and i didnt know you had LED currently... i think led as side lighting is almost a wasteWhat i mean is I would try to put it facing UP into the canopy... bottom lighting! considering LED has a short light throw below canopy would be more beneficial.. leaves absorb light from any direction but light entering the parallel to the leaf would give better coverage and use of the lamp..