Happy T5 Grower...What to use for BUDDZ

[Widowmaker]

HI ALL,
New grower with 4' T5 HO lights 2" above may White Widow clones in soil. 2 1/2 weeks and the girls are perfect. They are about 9" tall and branches coming out of every node. But I need to make a decision about lights for flowering. I'm told that 2900 Kelvin T5 lamps will work but "I won't be happy with the size of the buds". With only six girls (staying legal in California) what should I do? BTW Room size is not a limitation but money is.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!!!
Budless in California

 

[Rolln J]

howdy and welcome to the farm!

Id go with 600 watt hps (minimum) if you can swing that - I got one from htg supply.com for 279 delivered and its been very good to me...

until I tossed it aside for a 1000 - lol

heres the link - its 199 with the basic crap reflector - but you can upgrade that later or just get the $35 euro coolable upgrade...



hey christmas is coming treat yourself and your plants - you'll thank me for it! lol


you can also find deals on craigslist all the time - if you get a good deal on something used Id recommend getting a brand new bulb as soon as possible - even one with 3 months use on it has a good lumen drop off (loss)...

 

[Moe Danks]

Welcome to the farm.
I have some clones under some t5 lights right now. They have been in flower for 2 weeks, and I'll be switching my light to a 250w mh or 400w hps next week. The thing I like about t5s is how close you can have the canopy to the bulbs. This was my first time using t5 lighs and I really enjoy them for the first 3 weeks of flowering, can sorta control the stretch a little better. I'm switching to a HID light because they will increase the yield. Although I've seen 4 2ft t5 lights get 3/4+ of an oz from 1 plant under the light.
So if money is an issue, flower out right now with the t5s. Slag a few 8ths to you homies and buy a nice HID light. And veg with your t5s.

 

[Rolln J]

yep good advice Moe - turn them back soon if your gonna go with the t5s so they don't get out of hand - too tall

 

[Widowmaker]

Going 1000w HPS water cooled??

Thanks Guys!! I’m going to go for it and get a 1000w HPS system. Concerned about heat and don’t want the extra fan noise to cool it. Thinking about a water cooled fixture. The local hydro place sez with a 50 gal reservoir I won’t need a chiller. It will all be in my house and in the summer we’ll be running the A/C anyway. Any horror stories about water cooled lights?

 

[Rolln J]

I like your style widowmaker!

 

[Moe Danks]

There ya go. You'll get some nice yields with that 1000w.

 

[Widowmaker]

How close do U get to your T5's

Hey Moe Danks,
How close do you get to your plants with the T5 HO lamps?
BTW I'm having second thoughts about a water cooled lamp. 50 Gal tank is really big and can't find out how much light is lost (if any) by going through the 2 pieces of glass and the water.

TIA

 

[JAHGYDI]

ive flowered under 6 bulb 4 foot t5s. got an ounce off each plant. i only moved the light when the buds or leaves touched the bulbs. i now use it only to veg. get yourself a hps. im going with a water cooled fixture this summer. ill use a 25 gallon tank with a small chiller to cool the water instead of a 50 gallon tank.

 

[JAHGYDI]

you can move a water cooled fixture closer to your plants if your worried about lost light.

 

[Moe Danks]

Yup, once the top colas bud is about to touch the bulbs is when I move the light up a notch. Or if the top leafs are starting to burn. But the t5s produce so little heat you really can't fuck up your plants by having them too close.

 

[Widowmaker]

Yup, once the top colas bud is about to touch the bulbs is when I move the light up a notch. Or if the top leafs are starting to burn. But the t5s produce so little heat you really can't fuck up your plants by having them too close.

I love the T5s there bright and quite. Did U use warm Red lamps for the flowering?
:volcano:

 

[LordDankinstien]

I like your style widowmaker!

hahah nice I know the attitude, my first real grow was this year and ohh boy did I over do it!!! :D 1000w light sealed room with co2, 40 gallon dwc with chiller, duhumdiifier, a/c, all my testers and full line up of flora nova nutes. Boy was it a learning experience my first crop was decent I got 2 oz short of a lb with a octo scrog. Tons of work!!!! Now for my last 2 grows it has been a 600w soil grow, and it crazy how much easier this is, I literally have a light,fans,soils, and basic 3 fox farm nutes. My yeild isnt has heavy but I spend wayyyyy less in electricty and time, and the product I feel is better in quality. So that being said if I were you I would probably just go with a 600w because keeping that 1000w cool is gonna be a bitch, espically if you dont want to use big fans. One piece of advice is keep it simple if your mind will let you :fighting0040:

 

[Rolln J]

hell Im running 2600 watts - no air cooling through my hoods - temps peak at 82

 

[Widowmaker]

you can move a water cooled fixture closer to your plants if your worried about lost light.

Very good point!

Were U flowering with red HO T5s shooting down on the plants?
:bong-hits:

 

[Widowmaker]

hahah nice I know the attitude, my first real grow was this year and ohh boy did I over do it!!! :D 1000w light sealed room with co2, 40 gallon dwc with chiller, duhumdiifier, a/c, all my testers and full line up of flora nova nutes. Boy was it a learning experience my first crop was decent I got 2 oz short of a lb with a octo scrog. Tons of work!!!! Now for my last 2 grows it has been a 600w soil grow, and it crazy how much easier this is, I literally have a light,fans,soils, and basic 3 fox farm nutes. My yeild isnt has heavy but I spend wayyyyy less in electricty and time, and the product I feel is better in quality. So that being said if I were you I would probably just go with a 600w because keeping that 1000w cool is gonna be a bitch, espically if you dont want to use big fans. One piece of advice is keep it simple if your mind will let you :fighting0040:

The engineer in me wants to build a space station out of this thing, Thanks Good Advice!!!

 

[LordDankinstien]

peaking at 82 is perfect basically, I wish my setup would have ran like that :bong-hits:

 

[Moe Danks]

Yup the red spec lights.
There are a few shots of my plants around 2 weeks flowering and the bottom of this thread. And they have already doubled in size it seems. I'll get some pics tomorrow.

 

[JAHGYDI]

3 reds and 3 6500k i believe was what i used. best thing i did was go 600 watt hps.