emepher
Well-Known Member
T-8s are fine lights, and I used them a long time ago, but they're far from ideal for growing. You've got to keep them within 2"-4" of the top of the plants or most of the light will be wasted, which is already a problem with long tubes, since most of that 4' bulb is pretty far from the plant. T-5s are better, especially the T-5 HO's that some folks use.
If you are going to use any sort of fluorescent, you should be adding up minding your lumens - add up the lumen output from each bulb and see what you have. With say, 2x 4' T-8s your going to have less than 6000 lumens when the bulbs are brand new, which is enough for growth but you're almost guaranteed to have serious stretching. I had better success with a CFL setup using 6x 42W CFLs under a custom reflector hood, and some additional side lighting. Trust me, 15,000 to 20,000 lumens for maybe 2-4 small plants will make you a LOT happier than what you get from 5,000-10,000. Adequate light is a must, and it seems to me like it is hard for inexperienced indoor growers to really grasp how much light they need - "bright" just doesn't do it.
I'm no lighting expert, just speaking from experience. There are plenty of good, informative lighting threads here, so I strongly suggest digging around. Basically, the conventional wisdom is that for a really successful grow you want HPS. If your grow area is tight and heat removal is a problem, go LED, or CFL or maybe T-5 if you can fit them into your budget. I like CFLs because the associated hardware is cheap and easy to deal with for a DIY'er, the heat is minimal, and I can get 42W 2700K bulbs for $1.25 each. I have no indoor grow space at the moment, and a buddy and I are looking to grow outdoors this year, but I'd like to experiment with a nice LED setup if I see a great deal.
Oh, and I can say that bag seeds aren't necessarily bad. If they came from crappy smoke, you'll probably get crappy results, but seeds from a good bag can turn out well. So I agree with Markymark - if cash is limited, get your lighting sorted out before anything else. Do a couple of runs with bag seeds, you'll learn a lot. And if you're a casher maybe you'll make enough to upgrade your gear, including seeds. And yes, NGR is a great option, like diamonddav said - based in Michigan, I think.
If you are going to use any sort of fluorescent, you should be adding up minding your lumens - add up the lumen output from each bulb and see what you have. With say, 2x 4' T-8s your going to have less than 6000 lumens when the bulbs are brand new, which is enough for growth but you're almost guaranteed to have serious stretching. I had better success with a CFL setup using 6x 42W CFLs under a custom reflector hood, and some additional side lighting. Trust me, 15,000 to 20,000 lumens for maybe 2-4 small plants will make you a LOT happier than what you get from 5,000-10,000. Adequate light is a must, and it seems to me like it is hard for inexperienced indoor growers to really grasp how much light they need - "bright" just doesn't do it.
I'm no lighting expert, just speaking from experience. There are plenty of good, informative lighting threads here, so I strongly suggest digging around. Basically, the conventional wisdom is that for a really successful grow you want HPS. If your grow area is tight and heat removal is a problem, go LED, or CFL or maybe T-5 if you can fit them into your budget. I like CFLs because the associated hardware is cheap and easy to deal with for a DIY'er, the heat is minimal, and I can get 42W 2700K bulbs for $1.25 each. I have no indoor grow space at the moment, and a buddy and I are looking to grow outdoors this year, but I'd like to experiment with a nice LED setup if I see a great deal.
Oh, and I can say that bag seeds aren't necessarily bad. If they came from crappy smoke, you'll probably get crappy results, but seeds from a good bag can turn out well. So I agree with Markymark - if cash is limited, get your lighting sorted out before anything else. Do a couple of runs with bag seeds, you'll learn a lot. And if you're a casher maybe you'll make enough to upgrade your gear, including seeds. And yes, NGR is a great option, like diamonddav said - based in Michigan, I think.
