some people fall in love with their lights and think they are the only way to grow cannabis. these people make exaggerated claims about their lights and thrash every other kind of light.i'm a T5 growers and am very happy with my results. but lights are only one factor that influences yield and quality. strain, growing environment and growing style are very important.you need to experiment on a small scale to find what works best for you and do your own research.stoners are not usually the smartest people around except for a small handful like RM3 on this site and clinical evaluations like this one from the navy may be useful as well http://www.nofs.navy.mil/about_NOFS/darksky/lumentab.html. people have produced "big buds" and high yields using CFL bulbs from the hardware store. do your own research. knowledge and experience is the key to getting good results and that take time and practice to acquire.
Nice. Thanks. Personally I like T8s for small plants (pre teens) and babies. I thought they were pretty cost efficient like his numbers show. I like T8s, T5s and CFL versus halides and sodium.
Link and pics or it didn't happen!
I am a PU MMJ grower and T5s work best for me. my flowering room is a 2ft by 4 ft by 8 ft closet and I do not want to punch holes in my walls or ceiling for blowers and vents. I have tried LEDs ( mars hydro, cree3070, vero18 and citizens cluo34) and yield and quality was lower with these. the mars hydro lost 3 diodes in the first month and more the second month. T8s are almost as good as T5s and readily available at any hardware store. I use 2G11 CFLs (PL-L 55) bulbs in a 2ft by 2ft by 8ft vegging closet and they work well too. in a larger grow room with proper ventilation the new high pressure ceramics (LECs) look attractive. I think good spectrum is very important for producing healthy plant and high quality Buds. some dispensaries use T5s because their customers claim they produce better tasting products and some T5 grower here produce very potent plants. check out RM3 post.
"We've all seen the LED grow lights that look like they were designed by a kindergartner?Been busy tryin to get this new light (based on this research with T5's) goin
http://www.riddlem3.com/light/
Tis a labor of love
Yup
Ha ha!Big buds doesn't always mean they are the best buds.herding cats is tough,skinning them is tougher.that being said theres lots of ways to herd and skin cats.i like big butts and i cannot lie
Lol @RM3 hahaha haha
I do npt want to skin any cats. 
Yes I know the term. I always enjoy the posts on here
interesting that that design uses 3 watt bridgelux diodes.looks like a 430nm,660nm cool white mix .with those diodes it would be less effiecient than T5s. looks like he's going for a computer controlled programmable mars reflector design. RM3 loves experimenting but I think this may be an effort to profit from the LED craze.everyone knows that the best 3 watt bridgelux diodes are less than 30% effiecient and adding 660 and 430 nm diodes to the mix will only lower that number. that does not include energy lost to the driver and cooling fan.with those diodes he would be lucky to match the efficiency of CFLs. wonder what his game is. this sounds a little like that campaign to ban dihydrogen monoxide because it is highly corrosive and can be toxic. it has killed millions of people
