Small scale autoflower t5 grow

CloudsOverCanada said:

I am interseted in the cree led light and ive cut the closet in half its size and made a grow box. so how many cree led bulbs do you think maybe around four or 5? And also what are the lights exactly called?

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I thought I linked to this earlier, but I hadn't. (Wondering why you and Charles were asking questions I thought would have been answered by it.). Read the following and it should answer most of your questions: http://rollitup.org/Journal/Entry/cree-a19-br30-led-side-lighting-how-i-mount-them-with-reflectors.30029/

Let me know best one atvlowes or hD

I'm deffinatly gonna use the cree ledbut how many should iI use and should I do 3:1 or 1:1 (2700k:5000k) the space is now 2 1/2' long 2'wide and stands 3' tall. I made it into a grow box.

CloudsOverCanada said:

I'm deffinatly gonna use the cree ledbut how many should iI use and should I do 3:1 or 1:1 (2700k:5000k) the space is now 2 1/2' long 2'wide and stands 3' tall. I made it into a grow box.

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In veg you'll want 1:1. In flower 3:1. In flower you'll want 20-25w/sq. ft. In veg, you can build up to that. Obviously a seedling will be fine with two 60w equiv. (9.5w actual) bulbs. As it grows you'll add (turn on?) more bulbs. At the point of transition you might have 8 bulbs on for 76w, or 15.2w/sq ft. As buds develop you might add a couple more. By finish you might have 12-14 bulbs for 22.8 to 26.6w/sq ft.

In flower you'll swap out some of the cool bulbs for warm bulbs.

From what I read, I am sure you are correct but I just went to Home Depot and the price for four Cree light bulb 65W equivalent is $70. So for 14 bulbs your looking at Close to $250. This is not counting everything else to make this work. There has to be a less expensive set up for a small grow tent?

12golf said:

the price for four Cree light bulb 65W equivalent is $70.... There has to be a less expensive set up for a small grow tent?

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One important factor is that the Cree "lightbulbs" have a 10-year warranty honored by Home Depot. Walk into your local store and replace the bulb. You won't get that with CFLs or LED fixtures.

Another factor: The BR30 floodlight is $17 each. The A19 omnidirectional is $7. If you use the A19 omni but wish to direct the light you'll have to spend another $8 on an HD/Bayco clamp-on reflector. However, that $8 is a one-time expense. When the omni fails, simply screw a new one for $7 into the reflector you own. If you use the BR30 flood, the reflector is integrated and disposable with the bulb.

Therefore, the expense can be moderated by using A19s where appropriate. The BR30 flood is better in tight spaces. The A19 omni (with external reflector) is much less expensive in the long run and provides the flexibility of running without the glass bulb (see the blog I linked to for safety information before attempting this). But external reflectors use more space and take more creativity mounting/aiming.

Cost comparison:

Let's say you need 14 bulbs and can use a 50/50 mix of A19 omni and BR30 flood. That's $175 for 133 actual watts which will cover 5.9 sq. ft. (at 22.5w/sq ft.). To cover that much space with a Chinese import you'll need 35w/sq ft (207w actual). That's about $150 for a TopLED/MarsHydro (china) or Vipar (eBay). Their respective three- and one-year warranties will require some email interaction and waiting for replacement parts via mail. Probably some negotiated shipping costs in lieu of mailing the light back. You'll have to replace the light in 3 years, so you'll buy it 3 times in 10 years. You'll pay for 74 additional watts constantly (plus the costs of extracting that heat, and cooling your living area depending on the season.). And, you don't get the coverage of many sources of light from many angles.

In addition to the $175, you'll need to spend another $56 on 7 external reflectors (assuming you want to direct those A19 omnis). And, another $100-$200 on mounting/aiming parts. But, you own that equipment. It becomes a permanent addition to your growing capability. A one-time investment you can draw upon forever.

If you're looking for lower up-front costs, go with a Chinese import. If vertical space is a premium (if you'll need to keep the light close to the plants), buy fixtures with 3w chips mounted on white backboards for softer more diffuse light. Try to buy 2-3 smaller UFOs instead of a single 200w fixture. You could get into 2 TopLED "old model" (3w, mounted on white backboard) for $140. But, you'll have the longer-term expenses I described above. You won't have the benefit of "bathing" the plants from 14 sources.

Hope that helps. If there are other options I'd like to hear them. All I can think of is CFL, but you'll have to buy all the mounting/aiming hardware, reflectors, deal with more heat, have less penetration. If you already have some CFLs laying around, I could see using them. But, if the choice is between buying Cree LEDs or CFLs, I'd do the Cree for more penetration, Home Depot-honored warranty, slightly lower wattage consumption.

The trend with LED seems to be more powerful, reflected, single-source light. That's great for tall tents where you can maintain 18-24" distance. But, for smaller grows like you and the OP have described, you have to look for older fixtures. Or, do the newer, more modular (screw-in), household-oriented bulbs. There's not a lot of choices.

Thanks AZ2000, I think I have it now, very good write up. So it looks like for a good light set up it will cost around $350. Lets say 26 sq.ft. of lights, I assume that would be sufficient for how many plants?

Look I just got two free sour dog auto seedss of mephisto seeds I can't put them in flowering room cause busy but I wondered if I could grow them from start to finish under a 4 tube 2 foot t5.in a nft tank any advice would be great thanks never grown autos

az2000 said:

My autos in 3gal containers become about 3' tall (including the height of the container). My tent is 4' tall. I usually have to bend a couple shoots over to maintain enough distance between the canopy and the LED. The link I gave you has a photo.

You have enough vertical distance for HPS.

I'd encourage you to stop looking at old tech and go LED. For a single plant, those LED "lightbulbs" I mentioned would work great. Would cost you about $80 US in bulbs. Maybe another $60 in materials to mount them (but that's stuff you can use forever). If you're going to fill your space, grow photosensitives, scrog, etc., two Area51 RW-75s would fit your space very well. 18.12w/sq ft.

If I were going to grow two autos in that space, I'd do one RW75 on the flower side, and Cree "lightbulbs" on the veg side. You don't need as much light for veg. You could add bulbs incrementally as the plant grows. Ending up around 7-8 bulbs when it begins flowering.

You asked if you could grow two decent plants. With good light, temperatures, soil, nutes, yes. I got 180g from an autoflower under 6 T5HO bulbs and supplemented with a couple CFLs in flower. It can take some time to workout the good stuff.

If you're concerned about investing too much, grow just one auto under your T5HO. (It's not clear if you have T5 or T5HO. The wattage of the bulbs sounds like HO. That's something to keep in mind when buying a couple warm bulbs for flower. Don't accidentally buy T5.

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Sorry to but in but does this work in n.f.t