LED Without LEDs -My First T5 Grow

I agree it really depends on what your needs are. I am only growing for personal use as well and I have no intentions of selling any to the dispensaries (which is the only way I would sell any. Gave up street dealing when I was in my early 20's.) T5's are awsome unless you are running a comercial grow. For large crops of 30+ plants I would be using HID lighting. I agree with AN to each their own as long as they get the job done.

Snooch to the Nooch
 
I'm still here to stay I'm not in it for the commercial grow just myself even if I was in it for a commercial grow I would still use the par setup as IMO the patients are in it for quality not quantity - but I mite be mistaken for most people who get mmj but my whole lyfe growing up it has been quality over quantity
 
pedro420 said:
I'm still here to stay I'm not in it for the commercial grow just myself even if I was in it for a commercial grow I would still use the par setup as IMO the patients are in it for quality not quantity - but I mite be mistaken for most people who get mmj but my whole lyfe growing up it has been quality over quantity
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Well, quality is certainly important to the patients, but quantity tends to be necessary to off-set costs for the grower. Then again, what do I know, I don't grow for others ;)
 
Lucius Vorenus said:
As great as those buds look the point ive been speaking about is proven here. the point of diminishing returns. This is more electricity being pulled here by these bulbs than by 1 quality 600 watt HPS and a 400hps together. Which would probably yield a bit more if placed barebulb in that same grow area 4-5" from the plants.

Im gonna run a couple more grow with the T5's but then probably switching back to HPS and running vertically hung 600's. 4 of them for 12 plants. Rather than 32 T5's over 18 like im doing now in that room. My HPS room is currently 2 1000"s over 12 plants. That consistently gets me 3.5lbs yield for my patients.
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I still cant believe you were managing 32 panels.. Now thats a lot of work. If your pulling 1.5 g/w on the other system, it makes no sense for you to use T5's for that type of yield.(labor intensive) Instead of switching completely to HPS, why dont you use some of your T5's as supplemental lighting. (side lighting, coral waves, red suns)
Since I only run a few at a time, yield is important to me. Selecting pheno's that are short and bushy in nature also helps you maintain an even canapoy. I stay away from sativa dominant or long flowering pheno's. Not worth the stretch per square inch of light available. IMHO

-48
 
pedro420 said:
I'm still here to stay I'm not in it for the commercial grow just myself even if I was in it for a commercial grow I would still use the par setup as IMO the patients are in it for quality not quantity - but I mite be mistaken for most people who get mmj but my whole lyfe growing up it has been quality over quantity
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The good thing is that you can have both. There is no reason why one can't achieve the 1g/w ratio using T5 lights.
 
Well my replacement red suns are still going strong. When Jeff said he would replace them for free I was skeptical, to say the least.
I had to wait 2 months, but I think they got the problem fixed.
I use a 400 watt CMH, and sup with T5s,. I got plants that are almost 3 feet from the T5s, and the leaves are turning toward the T5s. I hope I get the best of both systems.
 
48martin said:
The good thing is that you can have both. There is no reason why one can't achieve the 1g/w ratio using T5 lights.
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Well idk what my h/w is but when I harvest I'll let everyone know but I can say that it will be more than I originally thought it was going to be
 
pedro420 said:
Well idk what my h/w is but when I harvest I'll let everyone know but I can say that it will be more than I originally thought it was going to be
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Its all about what fits your needs and makes you happy. I use this formula which someone else posted on this site. Its just a guide that helps you look at your progress from grow to grow.

Grow Room Efficiency Calculator

You need figures for -

Total light wattage
Total flowering time in days
Light cycle hours
Total yield in grams

For example. A 600w HPS system used on a 12/12 hourly cycle in flowering for 60 days which produces 20ozs (560g) of dry bud.

1) Divide total lamp wattage by 1000 to get Kw/h.
600w/1000 = 0.6.

2) Multiply this figure by the hours of the light cycle.
0.6 x 12 = 7.2

3) Multiply this figure by the number of days in flowering.
7.2 x 60 = 432

4) Now divide the gram yield figure by the kilowatt figure.
560g / 432 = 1.29. That's 1.29g per K/w

Experienced growers should be shooting for a GE (Garden Efficiency) rating of 1.0, so anything over 1.0 is very good going.
 
I'll be sure to try and figure it out when I get my yeild in a few weeks to see what I got

And I understand that when you have plant and space limits you gotta do what you can

I'm restricted to a 4/2 tent its good for about 2 big plants 3 medium plants or if you can ide say anywhere from 6-8 plant sog or scrog
 
Happy page 400 everyone. ;)

I am itching to harvest... this is when the bug starts biting. I can't wait to run my new seeds, they have 8 week periods on the indicas. Looking forward to the shorter flowering time.
 
Ya I have 1 indica dom and she is pushing out trics way faster than the sativa dom but I'm more interested in the sativa as they was the ones I realy wanted to pop I like the short time on the indica strains but I prefer the taste of sativa its all crazy in my tent 1 indica dom 1 sativa dom and 1 mix that has indica and sativa leaves
 
Haha.. hear that. I just (Finally) got my airpots transplanted to the new bigger airpots. Also threw my extra mommy into a 5 gal smart pot. They're all really hurting for space-sharing in my veg chamber with just a 4-bulb... gonna do a rotating pattern for now so they can share the one sidelight... just gotta wait for these flowering babies to finish out and then they all go in the flowering tent... getting the itch to buy more fixtures now... money money money money... I spend too much fuckin money on this project... heh.
 
Ya I hear that I had to space all my buying out I could do it all at once but I'm sad cuz I'm moving so I'm gonna have down time mite give me time to buy a few things I need like a carbon filter

I'm gonna hate the new place when we move won't be able to grow as easily not knowing the area but there is a lake in the backyard of the houses so I'm gonna buy a rowboat to travel the lake and find a good spot in some woods away from all the houses good news is I love nature so finding a good secluded place won't be had - military survival training comes in handy when trying to hide in the woods from everything -
 
pedro420 said:
Ya I hear that I had to space all my buying out I could do it all at once but I'm sad cuz I'm moving so I'm gonna have down time mite give me time to buy a few things I need like a carbon filter

I'm gonna hate the new place when we move won't be able to grow as easily not knowing the area but there is a lake in the backyard of the houses so I'm gonna buy a rowboat to travel the lake and find a good spot in some woods away from all the houses good news is I love nature so finding a good secluded place won't be had - military survival training comes in handy when trying to hide in the woods from everything -
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Beware of large streams and larger bodies of standing water. That's where they hunt for grows. I don't have any guerrilla experience though. That may not even be an issue where you're going.
 
My main issue from the very start was the heat (Its been above 90 all week, and my grow is upstairs/south facing...) I started with a 400wHPS in a cool tube and I was able to get the tube right down onto the tops and got a good yield, but in the dead of winter the ambient temps in the room were approaching 90. I was pulling air from my house through the room and exhausing at 800cfm! I had to keep my entire house below 60 to be able to cool the room down to 73 and inside my 6hx6wx3d box is was 87. But I could run 864w of T5 and the box was only 79 with the other variables the same. Thats why I went to T5 exclusive... that and the fact that with equal amounts of wattage, the T5 yeilds were sooooo much stickier!

Lucius Vorenus said:
...This is more electricity being pulled here by these bulbs than by 1 quality 600 watt HPS and a 400hps together. Which would probably yield a bit more if placed barebulb in that same grow area 4-5" from the plants.
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Im running 1054w, some digital HID ballasts actually draw more than what they're rated at so for our purposes Ill say Im equal to a 600+400... but in my small space theres no way I could squeeze both of them into my hx6wx3d box at 4-5" above tops and still manage the heat... absolutely utterly impossible... if they were in cool tubes I could put them at that distance but I would hardly get any coverage beyond 1-2 plants per bulb, and I could never cool my room down even with the AC I have now. For small/medium sized personal grows, Im gonna say T5's are tits. Commercial Grows with wide open growing spaces with large AC's can grow for yield with monster HID's but wont ever get that connoisseur grade sticky like flypaper shit that people tell their friends about.
All variables the same (nutes, environment, medium/ph etc) feed one of your favorite strain 1000w of HID for 8 weeks and another 1000w of T5 PAR for 8 weeks, you may get a larger yield from the HID but the better resulting flavor and smell and resin production and overall bag-appeal from the PAR crop may be worth more to the small time personal grower or medical patient. I got some experience growing using both and became very educated on the subject and my HPS is sitting in the corner now.
 
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