LED Without LEDs -My First T5 Grow

[BlueB]

i am not able to grow at the moment due to my situation but i have sun reds, super actinics, 6500Ks, 10,000Ks, an 3000Ks in my stock.

an i just dont see HPS grown buds as being any leafier or looser than the others. I get that a bud with more leaf tissue in it isnt gunna be the same as one that is tighter and more calyx packed. I just dont see the increased leaf size under HPS that you speak of. Just a longer stretch n thats obut it.

if UVB is what makes the terpenes show, why not just use HPS with a couple low wattage UV bulbs added as I have in the past with awesome results? HPS increases plant cell count as you say, so add the UV and bam you got bigger buds with the terpene production without buying 4,5,6 dif types of bulbs!


thank you for taking the time to type up that post, I know you put effort into it and theres alotta good info in there just debating to get to the bottom of it all

I agree about the HPS/UVb. HPS is just not a good stand alone light source. If there was a HPS bulb that emitted more of a reddish spectrum instead of the yellow I would be all over it. But we can only use what exists. I think that a HPS/MH blue/UVb in a 3:1:1/4 would be a good combo, but we are talkin A LOT OF HEAT, and a lot of $$ for electricity. A lot of folks here use the T5 mainly due to the heat issue. T5's are a really good BLUE light source. I suggested earlier to combine some 630-660nm RED LED with all these good T5 bulbs and utilize the best of both worlds. I think I might just do that, and design some sort of light that has both. Right now I am running a few different experiments to compare. I have both a 400w dual arc HPS/MH and a 400w CMH bulb over a few plants to see how it compares to my last 600w HPS grow. In another area I have the T5 and CFL side lighting experiment to compare. I am anxious to see the final outcome. I will be posting the results here. Here is a teaser shot of the 400w dual arc/CMH grow and a teaser shot of the T5 grow.

400w dual arc HPS/MH and 400w CMH,

T5/CFL grow,

 

[Myles117]

cheers to the experimenting bro! Ill be watching on with jealousy. kills me not growing but gotta think safety and freedom is more important than any amount of homegrown. Hopin to do a few outdoors this coming season

and correct me if I'm wrong but CMH's wont run correctly with digi ballasts will they? Thought I heard they need a magnetic ballast which is obv less efficient.

 

[BlueB]

cheers to the experimenting bro! Ill be watching on with jealousy. kills me not growing but gotta think safety and freedom is more important than any amount of homegrown. Hopin to do a few outdoors this coming season

and correct me if I'm wrong but CMH's wont run correctly with digi ballasts will they? Thought I heard they need a magnetic ballast which is obv less efficient.

CMH's use a magnetic HPS ballast only. Here is a shot of a leaf comparison I posted the other day. HPS grown leaf on the left, PUR T5 leaf on the right. What differences do you notice?

 

[Myles117]

hahahaha oh sure, show a leaf from each that shockingly fall right into what you were sayin An you promise this is a steady trend not just selective pinching for said pic?

 

[BlueB]

Lol, I posted this the other day. Go back a few pages, trust me. I have nothing to gain by proving a valid point. I am as intrigued by these experiments as everyone else. I have noticed a general trend from everyone and from the last 10 years that I've grown, that plants grown under HPS lights make for very yellow growth. I've always wondered why up until now. There is just not enough blue light emitted by HPS. My buds under HPS have always smelled/tasted the same whether it was a blueberry strain or sativa. I have only recently been getting better smelling/tasting buds from adding more blue light into my grows. Blue light as in UVb, 420nm 440nm 470nm etc. The good stuff. I'm by no means saying that I'm 100% correct. By all means prove me wrong, I welcome the insight and info!

 

[Myles117]

haha just giving you a hard time. I honestly never noticed larger paler leaves under HPS but maybe its cuz i never had them side by side to compare?

 

[falcon223]

I guess the next thing we will have to come up with is a T5 dominant strain. I am working on something similar and will post pics as soon as I see some improvement , with the stains I am trying.
But cluster bomb looks promising. A short fat lady, I cant get it to stretch. And the buds are rock hard. Will know more with more time.

 

[BlueB]

Update to room #2, 400w HPS super hortilux, and a 400w MH super blue hortilux. I took out the CMH and the dual spectrum because I think these are higher quality bulbs,

This bud shot was NOT taken with a flash, this is how it actually looks under the 2 lights.
Since this covers more of a full spectrum and includes the blue spectrum, I think it will be more of a fair comparison to the T5's. I can't wait for the next batch. Temps are stable at 72 F with the addition of CO2 at 1300 PPM. yeah baby yeah
Should it be warmer since there is CO2 added in there? I'm not sure what the ideal temps should be.

 

[Undercover Cop]

400+400w= 800wHID vs 432w of T5?

 

[BlueB]

400+400w= 800wHID vs 432w of T5?

The T5 grow I'm doing has 130w of plant grow side lighting as well. So 562w of T5. Then when I add the UVb it will be an additional 108w which puts it at 670w. I think it's a fair comparison considering the T5's consist of a more "exact spectrum." Yes, very fair. I can't wait!!!!!!!!!

oops, I gotta edit my signature

 

[BlueB]

Has anyone tried the california orange strain? Is it decent?

 

[PetFlora]

Well I grew the same strain with the same nutes in different rooms one under HPS and the other under T5,

My results when comparing the two where. The hps grew huge donky's that where very delicious. The T5 grew small nugs that where more fragrant, and where more densely packed with trichomes.

I'm not wishing one was better than the other. I'm just stating what my experience was.

Only because Myles had failed to mention that he was supplementing, was your hps bulb same wattage as the T5 fixture, AND, was it supplemented in any way? We need full bulb disclosure if we are to work this out. Looking at the bulb mix in your sig, you are very heavy in the blue range. i would think a couple FloroSuns and or Coral Waves would help for budding.

 

[PetFlora]

lol if HPS light were a simple carb to the plant would not live nevermind thrive!

the medicine is in the terpenes? what are you even talking about with that statement bro?

why did i get exceptional smelling and tasting buds without the short wavelengthed light? i just dont buy it at all.

Then why did you supplement it?

 

[Myles117]

for increased trich production, nothing else. HPS has low UV but better spetrum for flowering.

 

[PetFlora]

i am not able to grow at the moment due to my situation but i have sun reds, super actinics, 6500Ks, 10,000Ks, an 3000Ks in my stock.

an i just dont see HPS grown buds as being any leafier or looser than the others. I get that a bud with more leaf tissue in it isnt gunna be the same as one that is tighter and more calyx packed. I just dont see the increased leaf size under HPS that you speak of. Just a longer stretch n thats obut it.

if UVB is what makes the terpenes show, why not just use HPS with a couple low wattage UV bulbs added as I have in the past with awesome results? HPS increases plant cell count as you say, so add the UV and bam you got bigger buds with the terpene production without buying 4,5,6 dif types of bulbs!


thank you for taking the time to type up that post, I know you put effort into it and theres alotta good info in there just debating to get to the bottom of it all

OK, but you ARE adding IR bulbs + a fixture/outlet. If you also added UVb, you would need another fixture and another outlet to simulate what we can do with ONE T5 fixture. Next you would need to balance the IR/UV bulbs to match the intensity of the hps wattage to achieve max benefit. Let's use 250 hps as an example v 400 w hps: you would need ~ twice as much IR/UV to balance the 400, meaning even more (or bigger) supplemental fixtures/bulbs.

If 'we' are using an 8 bulb HO fixture (@ 54w/bulb) then 5 bulbs is ~ 250w to simulate hps spectrum. That leaves 3 slots for IR/UV bulbs + , so you could start there to run some AB tests. hth

 

[Myles117]

OK, but you ARE adding IR bulbs + a fixture/outlet. If you also added UVb, you would need another fixture and another outlet to simulate what we can do with ONE T5 fixture. Next you would need to balance the IR/UV bulbs to match the intensity of the hps wattage to achieve max benefit. Let's use 250 hps as an example v 400 w hps: you would need ~ twice as much IR/UV to balance the 400, meaning even more (or bigger) supplemental fixtures/bulbs.

If 'we' are using an 8 bulb HO fixture (@ 54w/bulb) then 5 bulbs is ~ 250w to simulate hps spectrum. That leaves 3 slots for IR/UV bulbs + , so you could start there to run some AB tests. hth

you are a bit confused, I never added IR bulbs in with the HPS.... i added reptisun 10.0 26 watt compact flouros in with the HPS purely to increase UV. I wasnt worried bout increased terpenes, just increased THC

 

[Undercover Cop]

...HPS has low UV but better spetrum for flowering.

It has very poor spectrum for flowering, but has such an intense output that the plants can scavenge enough usable light to thrive, but its less than ideal. Body builders are big and appear to be very healthy, but are known for having chronic health issues and suffering later in life from from a lifetime of abuse. Sure HPS will work, and work well, but a proper T5PAR spectrum will more closely produce the optimal blend of light for photosynthesis. And if you work to keep your tops as close as possible to the tubes, using the inverse square law, you can actually get MORE intense light than HID when you consider the distances needed to prevent heat stress under HIDs. I hear lots of people keeping them 12-18+" from the tops to blend the spectrum... Blend the tube assortment and get em down low. People complain about stretch when starting flower, its because the plants are searching for the light they really want when theyre switched to HPS like most people do, not finding it and stretching. No stretch under PAR T5

 

[PetFlora]

you are a bit confused, I never added IR bulbs in with the HPS.... i added reptisun 10.0 26 watt compact flouros in with the HPS purely to increase UV. I wasnt worried bout increased terpenes, just increased THC

Nope, not confused at all. I was simply saying in order to simulate what T5s are capable of spectrum wise, you would need that too.

 

[Myles117]

yes but i got results every bit as good as any t5 grow iv done. so i wouldnt have any urge to add IRs to it.

 

[PetFlora]

yes but i got results every bit as good as any t5 grow iv done. so i wouldnt have any urge to add IRs to it.

Wait. So you are saying you added IR to your T5 grow and still preferred your hps + ir bud?