LED Without LEDs -My First T5 Grow

BlueB

Active Member

hyroot

Well-Known Member
Cheers, hyroot. Thank you for the comparison, any difference in smoke?
oh yeah.... the t5 is so much better tasting, smelling, and so much more frosty.... burns the same though..... Its such a world of difference from the hps quality
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
YES!! 4 REAL
THOSE ARE THE BEST BUDS I'VE EVER SEEN UNDER FLORO'S!!! A++ JOB,
Gotta ask, what is your final flower bulb mixture?


ive been using ..... fiji / red sun / coral wave / fiji / redsun / coral wave / redsun / fiji

I plan on swapping in some flora suns and maybe the ultra growths. but I haven't had much extra loot lately to experiment in flower.
 

Myles117

Well-Known Member
iv grown under both and i dont notice even the slightest difference in taste smell or quality. i still prefer using t5s but dont think it changes those things at all

i think it may be a mental bias you are putting on it because you want the t5 bud to be better further justifying them as the better light
 

BlueB

Active Member
ive been using ..... fiji / red sun / coral wave / fiji / redsun / coral wave / redsun / fiji

I plan on swapping in some flora suns and maybe the ultra growths. but I haven't had much extra loot lately to experiment in flower.
WHY WOULD YOU? Your results prove that you have the perfect mixture of light! The only thing I would experiment with next if I were you would be to add some UVb light for 4 hours in the middle part of the light cycle and see if you get stickier smellier buds.

I've been wanting to use my redsun bulbs, but whenever I put them in the plants seem to respond in a negative way. Maybe its strain, maybe the plants need to adapt to the red light, or maybe I need to move them up off the canopy for better light blending, maybe to 24"? After seeing your finished grow it makes me want to try using the red suns again.

Your mixture really does seem perfect as far as blue to red ratio. Seeing your results proves to me that the red sun bulb emits red light that the plants use. Now, are you sure that you didn't have any HPS light leaking over to these?
Have you tried the strains Querkle or Sour OG? They look really nice.
 

BlueB

Active Member
iv grown under both and i dont notice even the slightest difference in taste smell or quality. i still prefer using t5s but dont think it changes those things at all

i think it may be a mental bias you are putting on it because you want the t5 bud to be better further justifying them as the better light
You do realize that we are using special T5's that put out specific wavelengths of light right? These aren't your typical grow/bloom bulbs that emit mostly green/yellow light. The point we are making with these grows is that a person can grow better quality if not equal bud to that which is grown under HPS lights that put out a lot of the WRONG SPECTRUM. And save energy while we do it. Sure, plants will grow under intense yellow light, but do they prefer it? NO! SURE, I COULD KEEP LIVING BY EATING ONLY MASHED POTATOES AND WHITE RICE, but would I be happy? NO! Would I be healthy? NO! We are providing a gourmet meal of quality light for our gardens, and that's why they reward us with high quality, sweet tasting buds that surpass in many ways your typical yellow light type of grow.
 

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
iv grown under both and i dont notice even the slightest difference in taste smell or quality. i still prefer using t5s but dont think it changes those things at all

i think it may be a mental bias you are putting on it because you want the t5 bud to be better further justifying them as the better light
Well, for one thing, T5 bulbs, like the FloroSun, put out a solid amount of 660, which increases trich production. I added one a week ago, and another 5 days ago: since adding them, IMHO, the amount of hardy trics has increased > $45 expenditure. I also reinserted the second Coral Wave for some additional IR.

According to the spectral graph recently posted on another thread, hps doesn't produce much of either (IR/UV), and although you can add supplemental lighting, it's so much easier to implement with T5s- a simple twist of the wrist.

Hyroots pics prove to me that adding them pays huge dividends, if not in quantity, certainly in quality. And so I now have 2 Coral Waves + 2 FlorSuns + 1 Red Sun + Special Blue Actinic. The plant that I was given to baby sit, at the time maybe 3 weeks in flower, has fattened up with calyxes, and triched up enough that I Am now a believer in T5s ability to bud.

Even if the results were/are a draw, what I especially love about T5s is: by experimenting with a wide variety of aquarium bulbs I have significantly increased my knowledge about lighting plants. One of my grow methods is HPA, and after several years learning working with it, I am excited to incorporate it (most efficient feeding system - used by NASA) + T5s using aquarium bulbs. Pretty exciting stuff for me.
 

Myles117

Well-Known Member
so you can look at a beautifully healthy and lush plant under HPS and say its an unhappy plant? i understand the spectrum isnt perfect but im not ready to say that full spectrum makes the bud taste better. up for debate, sure. but not a sure thing.

mashed potatoes and rice are nutrient supplies for us.... light isnt nutrients for the plant. and if the nutrients found in those two foods were all we needed, there'd be nothing wrong with it at all. but is there proof that it changes the taste in the least bit other then you saying so?

Sometimes things taste better when grown under less than ideal conditions for the plant IE flushing at the end of flowering. the plant would be happier with bountiful nutrients right up to chop but depriving the plant of them increases quality.

I do not want to fight with you guys. like i say, i love t5s. sold my HPS for more t5s cpl years ago n never looked back. I was never anything but impressed with the high quality great tasting product HPS gave me. I just dont believe that my t5 buds taste any better because its a fuller spectrum. in my case, they werent any frostier either cuz i had UV bulbs in with the HPS.

dont tar, feather n chase me oudda town please :p
 

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
Not tryin to T & F you at all. That said, you neglected to mention in your original post that you were supplementing your hps with UV, that def narrows the comparative results.
 

UnderCurrentDWC

Active Member
iv grown under both and i dont notice even the slightest difference in taste smell or quality. i still prefer using t5s but dont think it changes those things at all

i think it may be a mental bias you are putting on it because you want the t5 bud to be better further justifying them as the better light

Well I grew the same strain with the same nutes in different rooms one under HPS and the other under T5,

My results when comparing the two where. The hps grew huge donky's that where very delicious. The T5 grew small nugs that where more fragrant, and where more densely packed with trichomes.

I'm not wishing one was better than the other. I'm just stating what my experience was.
 

Myles117

Well-Known Member
with inferior light, why are the HPS buds so much larger? at least your best guess. i find that odd as you are giving them a much fuller spectrum of usable light with the t5s

did you ever use UV bulbs with the HPS in the same room? made a world of difference in the trich coating for me and were just as frosted as any of my t5 grows.
 

BlueB

Active Member
Exactly my point. HPS will grow really big buds, but that's all they are, lots and lots of plant cellulose. The comparison I was making with the potatoes and rice was metaphoric. What I meant was that HPS is like a simple carb, a starch, the way white rice is to us. The HPS will produce a lot of plant material, but because they do not have an ideal spectrum, the plants will not acheive their full medicinal potential. When I have grown under a ceramic metal halide I got an increase in flavor because of the added blue and UVb light. Only recently people have been beginning to understand why. The shorter wavelengths penetrate the trichome and cause a reaction on the disc cell that lets more terpenes into the sphere. This is why outdoor bud can look like shit and be all fluffy shwag looking and yet be 100 times tastier and better than grown under HPS. The secret is in the light my friend. The medicine is in the terpenes. The terpenes are released with the proper environmental conditions.
 

BlueB

Active Member
Hey I can take steroids and appear larger and more muscular. I see what you are saying, but bigger buds do not make a difference. It's like the jumbo baseball bat sized carrots you can buy from food distributers. They hardly taste like a carrot. Now compare it to an organically grown carrot with no hormones, which is full of perfume like carrot essence, the way it was meant to be. Light isn't the same as a nutrient, no, but it plays a huge roll in how the plants metabolize nutrients and how they grow. Sure, an engine will run on straight hydrogen, but does it run well?
 

BlueB

Active Member
with inferior light, why are the HPS buds so much larger? at least your best guess. i find that odd as you are giving them a much fuller spectrum of usable light with the t5s

did you ever use UV bulbs with the HPS in the same room? made a world of difference in the trich coating for me and were just as frosted as any of my t5 grows.
Now try adding some 420nm, 440nm, and some 660nm wavelengths to your HPS and see what happens. The reason the HPS grows mammoth buds is because of their intensity in the yellow spectrum. It's close enough to the red spectrum that the plants still can use it, but it's less than ideal. As time goes on, I'm sure more people will begin to realize the medical importance of proper lighting balance.
 

Myles117

Well-Known Member
lol if HPS light were a simple carb to the plant would not live nevermind thrive!

the medicine is in the terpenes? what are you even talking about with that statement bro?

why did i get exceptional smelling and tasting buds without the short wavelengthed light? i just dont buy it at all.
 

Myles117

Well-Known Member
Now try adding some 420nm, 440nm, and some 660nm wavelengths to your HPS and see what happens. The reason the HPS grows mammoth buds is because of their intensity in the yellow spectrum. It's close enough to the red spectrum that the plants still can use it, but it's less than ideal. As time goes on, I'm sure more people will begin to realize the medical importance of proper lighting balance.


then why are the t5 buds smaller lol this is where you lose me 100% in your arguement. trying to say HPS buds are bigger cuz they full of cellulose is just silly.

full spectrum should produce buds at least the same size but with better quality, no?
 

BlueB

Active Member
lol if HPS light were a simple carb to the plant would not live nevermind thrive!

the medicine is in the terpenes? what are you even talking about with that statement bro?

why did i get exceptional smelling and tasting buds without the short wavelengthed light? i just dont buy it at all.
I will try explaining one more time. Again, the carbohydrate statement was a metaphor. And the reason the HPS grows big buds is because they have a high intensity in the yellow spectrum which is close to the red spectrum. The red spectrum is responsible for leaf growth. But, that's what you are getting under a HPS light, a bunch of leaf growth full of THC containing trichomes and not much more(not as much proportionally to PUR grown buds). The medicinal properties of cannabis are found in the terpenes. This is what makes each strain of cannabis unique in its own way. The THC combines with these terpenes which give us the different flavor, i.e. lemon skunk, cali-orange, grape crush, romulan pine. etc. The reason the different strains can assist with different medical conditions is due to the terpenes (aroma). Have you ever heard of aroma therapy? THC isn't the sole ingredient that is responsible for the medicinal properties of cannabis. In fact, it really only contributes to the psychoactive properties. There is a plethora of information that has been posted within this thread, and many others that explain what I'm talking about. It's fairly new information, that's why you don't understand it yet.

Getting back to the red light. You have to think of red light as the gasoline for plants. Red light is responsible for wide, giant leaves. The way I see it, the reason red light is there is to allow the plants to absorb more blue light. I like to think of blue light as the magical portion of the spectrum. Blue light is responsible for the reaction that takes place within the plant to produce the terpenes, or essence. This is where the real healing properties come in to play. If you want me to, I can find the articles that explain this better. I'm not the best when it comes to wording and explaining facts. Hopefully I haven't confused you any more.

The reason the T5 buds are smaller is because they don't have the GIANT SPIKE of yellow/red light that the HPS lights have. I'm willing to bet that if you were to take 1 gram of HPS grown bud and 1 gram of PUR T5 grown bud and then do a chemical analysis of THC, CBD, TERPENES, etc. that the PUR T5 would be way more concentrated with the important essential healing elements. Read these, they will help you understand the synergistic relationship between THC and Terpene.

berkeleypatientscare.com/2010/10/08/terpenes-terpenoids-and-cannabis/

http://www.neartic.com/Pain_Management/What_Are_Terpenes_in_Marijuana-id39003.html

http://biol1114.okstate.edu/study_guides/labs/lab7/lab7.htm

http://cronodon.com/BioTech/Plants_FAQ.html

http://www.ehow.com/about_6744341_effect-infrared-light-plant-growth.html

I didn't say HPS buds are "full of cellulose." Leaves ARE cellulose. The HPS will grow buds bigger because the bud structure is made up of plant cells, or cellulose, and red light will increase cell production, but will not increase resin/thc/terpene production on a proportional energy level. The red light makes plants more capable of absorbing all light. And to answer your question about the HPS/UVb experiment you did, of course it is going to work. Any additional light spectrum that you add to HPS is only going to make it that much better. UVb has been shown to increase resin production and is the ONLY wavelength that penetrates the capitate(sphere) on the trichome. Not sure if I worded that right. Scientists believe UVb light is responsible for letting the terpenes be released through the disc cell so that it can combine with THC more efficiently within the lower portion of the sphere. Does this help you at all? I think you need to grab some of these specific T5 bulbs and try it for yourself to fully understand. BTW which T5 bulbs are you using currently?
 

Myles117

Well-Known Member
i am not able to grow at the moment due to my situation but i have sun reds, super actinics, 6500Ks, 10,000Ks, an 3000Ks in my stock.

an i just dont see HPS grown buds as being any leafier or looser than the others. I get that a bud with more leaf tissue in it isnt gunna be the same as one that is tighter and more calyx packed. I just dont see the increased leaf size under HPS that you speak of. Just a longer stretch n thats obut it.

if UVB is what makes the terpenes show, why not just use HPS with a couple low wattage UV bulbs added as I have in the past with awesome results? HPS increases plant cell count as you say, so add the UV and bam you got bigger buds with the terpene production without buying 4,5,6 dif types of bulbs!


thank you for taking the time to type up that post, I know you put effort into it and theres alotta good info in there :) just debating to get to the bottom of it all
 
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