LED Without LEDs -My First T5 Grow

polyarcturus said:

SOG TAKING OVER! fuck da limits! my sog is rolling good right now im pulling every week, luvin it. got to keep myself supplied for real tho, i smoke between a half and an oz a week.

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Nice... I might try to stagger my sogs when i do them but I am weary about keeping canopy heights even if I do that... I guess I could build some little platforms to keep half the plants on, that way I could have shorter plants and taller plants side by side. Do you do something like this? If you're pulling them every week I assume you've got something ilke this going on to keep the canopy even... seems to be the biggest concern with T5 sog in my eyes

AltarNation said:

Unfortunately, with no other red bulbs even available from anyone, it seems like it's impossible to get a good red balance without using either red suns or 660's... what else can we do?? Wish there were more options out there for red-only bulbs but they just don't exist.

Hyroot rockin the par SOG, I like it. I hate scrogs and I don't give a fuck about plant limits so I just might go that way down the road to conserve my seeds... would like to build a nice aero/bubble cloner first though.

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I just built a dwc bubbler mom kit with a 10 gal sterilite tote. I have to take back the air pump. somethings wrong with it. Its super loud. Get my hole saw and drill back. So I can make holes for netpots.

Scrog is only good for small closet or tent. For perpetual is too much of a pain in the ass.

For clones. I just use prop trays, domes, square inserts, and rapid rooters. With a seaweed/kelp and silica solution in the tray. 24/0 light cycle. Dready roots in 5 to 10 days. Just dont let roots get light ( square inserts). When I clone in soil instead of rapid rooters it takes 10 to 14 days.

We all need to relocate to humby or mendo. 100 sq ft per scrip. Perfect for sog.

Yeah, well, I am in a tent.. but I just don't like scrog. I find it inconvenient in a myriad of ways at this point. But maybe my results will change my mind at the end of this grow. As I'm set up now, the plan is to go traditional "straight up" with the next batch... they are all fimmed but I am going to support with bamboo and add back lighting most likely... see how that goes... Thinking I'll grab another 6-bulb and keep my 4-bulb in the veg chamber... so I'll have 10 from above and 6 from behind.

hyroot said:

We all need to relocate to humby or mendo. 100 sq ft per scrip. Perfect for sog.

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I've been trying to talk my gf into that move for what seems like forever. Stuck where I'm at for the time being though. Gonna sog anyway, heh.

Mine got a little to tall. I moved them around unti the canopy was even. Each one has 3-5 tops. They have a little space im using totes amd lids as saucer/tray. Im going to build flood table when I put in the next batch.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/60-5-ft-T5-Aquarium-Light-Coral-Reef-8-Lamps-80W-HO-Bulb-640W-Used-R58-Marine-/251037464030?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a72ffb5de

Didn't know 5 ft'ers existed...

is this guy still the best deal for fixtures? anyone got better prices than this?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/T5-Grow-Light-Fluorescent-8-Lamps-6500K-Bulbs-Veg-48-4-ft-Sun-Hydroponics-R48-/251037141241?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a72fac8f9

8-bulb for 149 shipped seems pretty damn good to me.

Wanted the 6-bulb but the price jump is pretty small between the 6 and 8. Don't like the look of his reflectors though. It looks like they're two-bulb reflectors like the bad boy? Can't really tell in the pics... might have to shoot him a message and find out

Its narrow though. 14 in. My hydrofarm 6 bulbs are 18 in. My bb 8 bulb is 2ft and 16 bulb is 46 in I think.

well remember guy i only veg with t5 but i would do an sog with them. my preferred light is HID but they can only go so far by themselves i really believe in combinations of lights(led t5 hid ect) proper lighting schedules, and the more the better(if you can handel the temps) im looking to you guys for SOG t5 info lol.


no journal all my pics are pretty much posted i clone 10-20 plants put them in 4x4 pots for week then 1 gal post for a week or 2 then into flower for 7 weeks 3 at a time. 3 rows of 7 1 gal pots in a 2x4x4. in my setup i really dont have to worry about a canopy there is too much light in there (430w hps and 400w MH +2 reptisun 10.0 26w) but for canopy management well they manage themselves trust me they will stretch up to be even just takes practice and there are all types of methods to managing to canopy most of the time i just break it(the cola) so it grows sideways

hyroot said:

Its narrow though. 14 in. My hydrofarm 6 bulbs are 18 in. My bb 8 bulb is 2ft and 16 bulb is 46 in I think.

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shit, your 16 bulb fixture is 46 inches wide? That's like, almost 4x4? That's madness big. Can't even imagine. Yeah, his fixture is small, that's why I'm wondering if those are even double-bulb reflectors. Got any good resources for good deals on 6 or 8 bulb fixtures?

hydroponics.net?

and CL that where i got my bomb ass 6 bulb fixture single reflectors and 2 4in pc fans built in

polyarcturus said:

well remember guy i only veg with t5 but i would do an sog with them. my preferred light is HID but they can only go so far by themselves i really believe in combinations of lights(led t5 hid ect) proper lighting schedules, and the more the better(if you can handel the temps) im looking to you guys for SOG t5 info lol.

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Unpure! UNPURE!!! *crosses fingers in front of him*

Just kiddin, hahaha. I definitely believe HID is better for sog in a way, but yeah, a blend of T5's and HID is a great option if you can handle the heat. I can barely manage the heat from my T5's... someday i'll get an A/C set up and might go for something more heavy duty... but my T5's have not failed me so far... it will be interesting to see how big the colas get on my next grow with a combo of side light and top light and a bit of a different design on the plants... will be the first time for untrained, just fimmed...

polyarcturus said:

hydroponics.net?

and CL that where i got my bomb ass 6 bulb fixture single reflectors and 2 4in pc fans built in

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Hmmm yeah I will check CL but I live remote so it's hard to find much on CL... still worth a look. And hydroponics.net looks like it has some decent deals, thanks!

i wouldnt say hid is better for sog in fact i disagre completely t5 would be way better as far as the spread goes, HID is for growing large multi cola plants IMO because of thier reach they are more built for a large sog or grow in general where the plants height reach above 3 and 4 ft. the only reason im running it so small is im on my own nowdays and i cant afford to go too large.

had to drive an hour for my fixture but worth the gas in the end.

Just checked all local craigslists, nothin reasonable. Idiots trying to sell their reef lights for like 350, absurd shit, but someone will probably pay it out in yuppyville where it's posted.

The appeal with sog under hid is that the canopy doesn't have to be maintained evenly to make it work. obviously i am pro-T5 on every other aspect, otherwise I'd have found a way to work with HID, heh. I guess what I meant was that it works better for a staggered perpetual harvest sog specifically, because you can have shorty plants and tall plants under the same light with relatively equal light exposure... but yeah, I prefer my T5's anyway so it's a moot point..

maintaining the canopy is what makes it fun! i love to beat up on my plants, weak one die thats the way it is nature that how i feel but i havent had a plant die on me for like 2 years now.

hey i feel that alot of mfer think they can get there used shit off for more than its worth, 2 words of advice from a CL pro, always underbid, always tell them you can get it that second. just be patient hope you find a good deal tho.

polyarcturus said:

maintaining the canopy is what makes it fun! i love to beat up on my plants, weak one die thats the way it is nature that how i feel but i havent had a plant die on me for like 2 years now.

hey i feel that alot of mfer think they can get there used shit off for more than its worth, 2 words of advice from a CL pro, always underbid, always tell them you can get it that second. just be patient hope you find a good deal tho.

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Yeah that makes sense... but these idiots are asking 350 for something that's worth like 160 tops... not even going to try to do business with someone that dense...

and yeah, maintaining canopy can be fun when it comes to supercropping and stuff... but it can become an issue when you're talkin' bout supercropping every plant from one step of a perpetual harvest, as there is only so much canopy space to share and the little guys need close light too.

30 to ship makes that 190 for a 6-bulb... for another 10 I could get an 8-bulb hydrofarm at my local shop... so would have to be a better deal than that. Thanks for lookin' though.