Clone/mother room lighting

im finally building my mother/clone room after finishing the flower and veg room. Flower and veg room use high spec cobs custom built and cost me a fortune making sure it was extremely energy efficient.

I'm thinking of not bothering with cobs at all for the mothers and clones simply because I don't want to spend more money.

I will keep the clones in this room for 5 weeks so I want a decent amount of light for some steady growth and I want the mother plants to grow enough so that I can get 100 clones from two mothers every 5 weeks.

Can anyone recommend a cheap lighting system I could use for this that will get me some decent growth?

It's a low hieght area on a shelf long and narrow so i don't think I'll get away with any type of HID.

LEDs would be ideal but it's the heat sinks and the aluminium angles that's cost me a bomb as I need to get them imported.

You don't list any sizes but based on the low ceiling comment and small space if you can cool T5's, or maybe blurple Chinese panels you can get cheap without buying DIY COBs. I wouldn't recommend those blurple panels for flowering at all, but they do well in veg. I ran those for 4 years or so, still have one going.

GroErr said:

You don't list any sizes but based on the low ceiling comment and small space if you can cool T5's, or maybe blurple Chinese panels you can get cheap without buying DIY COBs. I wouldn't recommend those blurple panels for flowering at all, but they do well in veg. I ran those for 4 years or so, still have one going.

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Not sure what you mean by sizes?

The length of room is 70cm wide 4m long.
How hot do t5s get?

George2324 said:

Not sure what you mean by sizes?

The length of room is 70cm wide 4m long.
How hot do t5s get?

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Only other option I can think of is if there's a way to mount cobs on something that's a lot lighter than aluminium heat sinks

George2324 said:

Not sure what you mean by sizes?

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What height are you working with?

a mongo frog said:

What height are you working with?

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30cm distance between tops of plants and the light fixtures I reckon.

Plants won't be very tall bonsai moms and clones that are beggining their mainlining for 5 weeks before going into veg room

Bridgelux eb strips are a good option if you want to diy. Mount them on an aluminum flat.

Wickedkultivator said:

Bridgelux eb strips are a good option if you want to diy. Mount them on an aluminum flat.

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I like the look of those but need more info if you don't mind. I spent hours and hours researching cobs to use and went with 4 x citizen 1212 per square foot so that I have a 55% efficiency.

These strips seem entirely new to me.

A single flat piece of aluminium will be enough to cool them?

What kind of penetration will it give on mother plants? Will I get decent light 12 inches down?


How many watts per square foot should I use on them for mother/ clone and how many strips per square foot?

Sorry for all the questions but they actually seem perfect for what I need aluminium flat is cheaper here

50 clones from each mom every 5 weeks? This I got to see.

Hotwired said:

50 clones from each mom every 5 weeks? This I got to see.

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You reckon you can't get 50 clones from 5 weeks growth?

A single flat piece of aluminium will be enough to cool them?

Yes 1/8" thick

What kind of penetration will it give on mother plants? Will I get decent light 12 inches down?

Yes they do very well. Reflective walls are a must


How many watts per square foot should I use on them for mother/ clone and how many strips per square foot?

I'm not beside mine right now but when I am I'll let you know what I have.

Wickedkultivator said:

A single flat piece of aluminium will be enough to cool them?

Yes 1/8" thick

What kind of penetration will it give on mother plants? Will I get decent light 12 inches down?

Yes they do very well. Reflective walls are a must


How many watts per square foot should I use on them for mother/ clone and how many strips per square foot?

I'm not beside mine right now but when I am I'll let you know what I have.

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Great cheers I've found a supplier for them decent price depending how many I need. How long are they? Can't seem to find dimensions

Edit found data sheet... 28cm long... depending how close u need them width ways they are cheap as hell

Check this out.
http://ledgardener.com/diy-led-strip-build-designs-samsung-bridgelux/

That's what I based my whole build on. Cheers .

George2324 said:

You reckon you can't get 50 clones from 5 weeks growth?

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Not me. Not 50 clones from 1 plant in 5 weeks...........no, I don't reckon.

Hotwired said:

50 clones from each mom every 5 weeks? This I got to see.

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Easily. More like 3 weeks once the mother is established.

George2324 said:

Not sure what you mean by sizes?

The length of room is 70cm wide 4m long.
How hot do t5s get?

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I meant height of the space you'll veg in. The higher the better for dissipating heat.

T5's throw off some heat which is why I was asking about the height. Those strips, QB style LED's would work well and cool, but higher cost.

I have 12 of the mid length ( about 2' long) running on a hlg-240h-20b in a 4x4 area. It pulls 275w at the wall.

Wickedkultivator said:

I have 12 of the mid length ( about 2' long) running on a hlg-240h-20b in a 4x4 area. It pulls 275w at the wall.

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What's the difference between the 350 nominal drive current and the 700 on the data sheet?
https://www.bridgelux.com/sites/default/files/resource_media/DS131 Bridgelux EB Series Gen2 Data Sheet 20171020 Rev A.pdf

BXEB-L0280Z-50E1000-C-B3 is the 5000k and it says 350 nominal current next to it


BXEB-L0560Z-50E2000-C-B3 this is also 5000k but it says 700 nominal current.

Which ones are you using when you say you have 12 in a 4 x 4?

The difference is the length the first is 280mm long. The second is 560mm long which is what I have.