T5 & Chilli plants UK

[Robocrop23]

Hi all.


Been browsing this site often within google searches so thought i would sign up for a little help possibily with my chilli plants.

I live in the east midlands in the uk so i hope there are uk members here also.

Due to the uk weather im in and out with my plants on a daily basis. Weve had a couple of days of real nice weather last week but now in may it is pouring down and the odd bit of snow in the country so frost is still an issue!! Damn the english weather!




Currently my chillis seem ok.... Jalapeno, Cayenne, Super fresno, Red habanero and also a bell pepper and tomato plant for a nice relish hopefully when all is ripe.

But they are not getting what i feel they need from the daylight as they are windowsill bound most of the time. Got a real nice position for the windowsill but the sun does drift from front to back of my house.

Back of house during sunrise till midday then about midday til sunset the sun is across the front windows.

Ive been looking at T5 lighting possibly to bring them on whilst the uk weather picks up a little.

I have a 40ft out-house with an 8inch thick concrete roof, covered in bitchumen and felt.


I do have a concern about being caught on the helicopter run but as im not growing anything illegal i know i shouldnt worry. That said it would be quite embarassing being busted and very very in-convenient for myself and daughter.


So putting this lighting in my out-house.... a good idea? bad idea?
Or is the T5 not going to give enough output for me to worry about or an helicopter to detect?

Like i say my concern isnt what im growing but more so the inconvenience should such an occurance happen.

I was looking at possibly a 4 x 4ft T5 set up. Would i be correct in thinking that 4ft T5 are 54w?


I have solar panels connected to my house on both sides of the roof of my house generating at tops just over 3kilowatts but averaging around 2.5k for the most part of the day and around 1.6k early morning/late evening as only 1 set of panel are collecting direct light. So with that, power through the day isnt an issue financially.


This is my 1st year growing chilli plants and has really got me engaged and a little fanatical about various aspects.


Ive also been reading about colour temps on certain T5 bulbs and recognise the need for 6500k bulbs for the veg stage then dropping down to a 2700k bulb for the more red spectrum during flowering, if needed for later in the year if i want to produce late into the uk seasons.


Anyone care to ease my worries? educate me slightly?


For the record, i do enjoy a little herb myself so i may be swayed towards trying my amatuer hand at that at sometime in the future but it certainly isnt something im considering now or near future but always nice to know where i stand.

Thanks

 

[Slipon]

welcome

and yes many from the UK here, tho Im from Denmark


T5HO dont produce much heat, so don't worry about heat print, and yes there is a 4ft type where each bulb is on 54W so if you have a 4 tube fixture you will be running 216watt

and yes 6500K works best in the vegetive stages as they produce a lot of light in the blue spectrum, the 2700K don't produce much in the blue but a lot in the red where the 6500K fail a bit, IMO a mix of both all grow will work great (I use a 6 tube 5ft fixture T5HO 49W in Veg with 4x6500K and 2x2700K)

with a 4 tube fixture I would just get 3 of each and run 3x6500K and 1x2700K in veg and vise versa in flowering

remember to keep em at 2-8 inch distance from the plants as the light penetration of T5s is that great (Im talking weed here, might be different with chills ? dunno how much light they require)

another option is LEDs

http://www.ledhydroponics.co.uk/HOME.aspx

 

[Robocrop23]

welcome

and yes many from the UK here, tho Im from Denmark

Hey Slipon. Thanks for the welcome. Nice to know im not alone here in the uk

T5HO dont produce much heat, so don't worry about heat print, and yes there is a 4ft type where each bulb is on 54W so if you have a 4 tube fixture you will be running 216watt

and yes 6500K works best in the vegetive stages as they produce a lot of light in the blue spectrum, the 2700K don't produce much in the blue but a lot in the red where the 6500K fail a bit, IMO a mix of both all grow will work great (I use a 6 tube 5ft fixture T5HO 49W in Veg with 4x6500K and 2x2700K)

with a 4 tube fixture I would just get 3 of each and run 3x6500K and 1x2700K in veg and vise versa in flowering

Cheers for the info.

So i am correct to not worry about the heat print.

Thanks for confirming my bulb/Kelvin queries.

When you say 3 daylight(6500k) bulbs with 1 red bulb (2700k) during veg then switch over. Does that mean to run then 3 x red (2700k) with only 1 daylight (6500k) ?

or to run total red (2700k)? should i decide to flower under light.

Ive been browsing aquatic suppliers to see if there is a pricing difference as specific grow equipment i know can be marked up in price to an horrendous level and seems ill probably get a better deal possibly by using aquatic suppliers for the lighting.
I like idea of 4 bulbs in 1 canopy and have seen the wavelight T5. Like the look of it and that is the kind of thing im after. But thought i could probably make somthing with just a few parts from an electrical suppllier, tube clip and ballast/power-pack at maybe half the cost.

So if any threads for building a 4x4ft T5 canopy please point me in the direction.

remember to keep em at 2-8 inch distance from the plants as the light penetration of T5s is that great (Im talking weed here, might be different with chills ? dunno how much light they require)

Thanks for the heads up. Ive read that these lights produce little heat and only need to be inches away from the plant for it to allow maximum light to the plant without any worry about burning the plant. Also recognise i could drop a couple of CFL's in the mix of things for them lower areas of the foliage.

another option is LEDs

http://www.ledhydroponics.co.uk/HOME.aspx

Also been reading up on LED's but think the price range for a unit that actually produces the correct light spectrum for plants maybe a bit over for what i want to spend.
Sure if i was growing buds then the price would reflect the quality of the harvest.

Unfortunately im not going to be able to bag up a kilo of cayennes and sell them for £4k to the local dealers to cover the cost of my lighting rig


I really like the results from the pro-grow 550 that ive seen. Is that an old model? not sure what or how the LED market has changed but do know there some real good units and some very poorly made units that wouldnt grow anything ever due to the non existant colour temps that are required for plant growth.




Many thanks for replying.






Lumens? i know they are important to plant growth but how important is maximising lumen input?
Is it possible to give correct light spectrum at correct times, get the feeding spot on and soil temp just right for the lumens not to really matter to much more than the basic lumens the light set up gives?
Does that make sense?

Or alternatively....

No matter how perfect your conditions and set up is.... will maximising the lumens give more growth and a possible larger harvest of fruits?


I clearly have a lot to learn

 

[Atomizer]

Hi mate
A small cmh (70-100w) would be better, looks likely we`re in for another crap summer this year. You can use it to keep the plant producing over the winter and get a headstart on next year. A 70w draws 76w (0.31A) so they only cost pennies to run.

 

[cues]

I'm in exactly the same situation as you regarding sunlight. ATM, my peppers (overwintered from last year) are in the windowsill, in flood/drain and get light 11.30a.m-dusk. I also hung a correx sheet behind them to reflect light back and covered the hydroton with old broken cds to reflect it up.
If I were to add extra light, I would use a 250w hps as supplementary and just run it from 5 a.m to midday-ish.
I wouldn't go T5 as that would cut out the sunlight.