t5's all the way?

lvl i k e y

lvl i k e y

Active Member
so i have a bad ass TEK sun system 6-54W t5 lights that i used over my aquarium to keep my corals alive. the bulbs are, 2 atinic, 3 10K whites, and a red spectrum bulb. this is my only option for vegging and flowering. should i use different bulbs for flowering or can i simply change the photo period and produce good buds with all the same lighting through out the grow?
 
you can use it all the way, however you will see better results changing lights to hps while flowering, however, that being said, you can and will be ok to use your t5's the entire grow.
 
are the bulbs that i have good enough or would you recommend a differnt kind of bulbs? do the blue and red bulbs have a good or bad effect?
 
aquarium bulbs are not good terrestrial plant bulbs. In water one of the first things to go is the red spectrum, so 10k is typical for shallow lagoons, and up to 20k for deeper water corals. Terrestrial plants get a much more broad spectrum, utilizing light in the 2500-6500 k range. You can keep plants alive under your coral lights, but they aren't going to be very impressive. Plus keep in mind that your corals are going to die without light :)
 
i didnt read you were using those lights just the last post about the red and blue...ya dont use those...those light are expensive as shit too gezz
 
wannaquickee said:
i didnt read you were using those lights just the last post about the red and blue...ya dont use those...those light are expensive as shit too gezz
Click to expand...


haha tell me about it! damn what is a good combo of lights that i would be able to use through the whole grow and not have to worry about changing the bulbs for flowering and etc..
 
lvl i k e y said:
this is something i have been pondering over and over in my head what to do
Click to expand...

not much to ponder. you need a bulb that peaks in the ranges that 2500 kelvin to 6500 kelvin bulbs peak at, you have bulbs meant to support corals through 1-15 meters of water, bulbs in the 10,000 to 20,000 kelvin range.

A brief glance at a par chart will tell you the plant is finding very little usable light in the ranges where your coral bulbs are peaking.

par_chart.jpg


Anyway, it's a no brainer. Either get a mix of 2500-3000 and 6000-6500 kelvin bulbs, or get a set of 6000-6500 kelvin for veg, and a set of 2500-3000 kelvin for flower...

If you don't want to change bulbs, alternate the two peaks...
 
Well in my opinion I use a 8 bulb T5 system I was using the grow bulb (6500k). I had planned on using that all the way thru and that would of worked. You would yield less. I wanted to get flower bulbs (2700k) but I was strapped for cash. I then found a sweet deal and found a spot that sold 8 packs for $35.99. What you could do is just get half 6500k and half 2700k bulb wise. Plants dig both spectrums. Leave them the whole time just flip the lights whenever your ready. Happy Growing!

XoX
Miss M
 
Im not finding any good sites to buy SINGLE bulbs everything i run into they're wanting me to buy like a case of 40? wtf am i gonna do with 40 bulbs plus its super expensive
 
hey thanks for the graph i think im going to look for 3- 6500k bulbs and 3- 3000k bulbs, any suggestions where to find these bulbs where i can buy individual bulbs
 
10k is too high, actinic is worthless. You want to get around 6500k for vegging and around 3k for flowering.
 
yeah when i first started looking that was the first place i looked and they seemed to only have the t12 flouros ive only found t5s at my aquarium shop and online, but in bundles
 
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