I want to share my secret with you T5/CFL/LED nerds.

[cannabeast]

No offense, to you, just joking about the nerd sub, just seriously want you all to know about this because they have worked so well for me, and I never see them discussed. About 6 years ago, I went to the local lighting store in search for a lamp. I wanted HPS. The woman asked me what for, and I told her for growing tomatoes in my closet. She gave me a big smile, and told me that those are too hot, and it would be like a sauna in there. I guess she didnt know about proper ventilation... Anywho.. she suggested this to me, and told me that they are better for seedlings, and even a better spectrum all-around than HPS, and on top of that, I would not have to change the bulbs all the time like HPS. I still use HPS... for the flowering stage(I've used this type of lamp for flowering, but it was not as dense as I would have liked it, although it was killer smoke)... but let me show you my vegetative secret. Yesterday one of my bulbs finally went out after 6 years, and I needed to go replace it. It has been growing so strong, and there has been no noticeable difference in growth throughout its entire life. I went to that same store I got these from, and they told me that they are forbidden after this new EU regulation change of all the bulbs. I told him, "Aww man! I should have bought 100 of these before that happened." He said yes, and showed me some 14w CFL something for growing plants, and I shook my head and told him that's know at all the same thing. He gave me a look as if he knew exactly what I meant. I asked "Where can I get them now? Russia maybe?" He gave me a precise look, and said , yes, I think so, very enthusiastically. We live quite close to Russia. He contacted some buddies after a while and got me the hook up anyway, for 2 new bulbs. I suggest that if any of you other guys can get these, outside of the EU, try and get them. I wonder if any Americans can get them. I have used various lighting of all types, and this one if my favorite for vegetative growth. You can compliment it with some CFL if you like, or something else, but it's not very necessary. It is some type of mercury lamp, that runs 80w bulbs. You don't NEED 2 of them, but I highly recommend it. These are absolutely perfect for seedlings and vegetating, and use so little electricity.
I hope you guys can get your hands on some of these before it is too late. They contain mercury, so make sure you don't break the bulbs... ! 80w bulb is enough to vegetate 3-5 plants before switching them to HPS under flowering, or like I said I made killer bud before with these, but it just didn't weigh as much as I would have liked. Let me know what you guys think.
http://www.osram.hr/_global/pdf/Consumer/Luminaires/FLORA_PLANTA_GARTEN-en.pdf

 

[Closetgardner]

Wiki says their being banned in 2015 in the eu, and were banned in the usa in 2008. Their ment to be very inefficient. So are being phased out

 

[cannabeast]

That is very interesting. For sure, they are inefficient in their opinion in comparison to what they are trying to push on us, that is more expensive for me to by, and less effective for growing.. But for my electricity bill, and for what this lamp pushes my plants to do, is the most efficient I have found for the price. What I mean is that you need a lot more expensive LED lighting to compete with these, and you need a lot of them.. The electricity is more efficient but those systems are expensive, ad less effective on the plants for your money in the system. Until they get that stuff right for the right price, these things are awesome. From what I understood today from the guy, they are already taken off the shelf in the EU. I still see universities around here using them. The Floraset 80w is the one, not the floralux 20w. These things are great. I have not tried the LED set the same exact company is pushing. I would love to find something more efficient for the electricity, yet still capable of the kind of growth I get from these things here, for a similar price for what it does to the plants. Let me in on it if you know.

 

[Closetgardner]

That is very interesting. For sure, they are inefficient in their opinion in comparison to what they are trying to push on us, that is more expensive for me to by, and less effective for growing.. But for my electricity bill, and for what this lamp pushes my plants to do, is the most efficient I have found for the price. What I mean is that you need a lot more expensive LED lighting to compete with these, and you need a lot of them.. The electricity is more efficient but those systems are expensive, ad less effective on the plants for your money in the system. Until they get that stuff right for the right price, these things are awesome. From what I understood today from the guy, they are already taken off the shelf in the EU. I still see universities around here using them. The Floraset 80w is the one, not the floralux 20w. These things are great. I have not tried the LED set the same exact company is pushing. I would love to find something more efficient for the electricity, yet still capable of the kind of growth I get from these things here, for a similar price for what it does to the plants. Let me in on it if you know.

I agree with you, they want to push incandescent hid's on us. They will no doubt cost a fortune to run. But then they say they cant yet produce a class A energy efficient bulb without the use of mercury,yet. So why even bother changing it?
I'd love to use led's, but man, the cost of the set ups that are any good are out of my price range