Large setup, looking for some advice also HID vs. T5 Fluorescent

K

KBking

Active Member
So basically I've decided to up the ante, mainly because I have a larger space to work with. Instead of 6 plants in one SH bubbleponics system, I'm going with the 24 plant version SH Hydroponics > Bubbleponic Pro II - 24 Planter

a mistic cloner
SH Hydroponics > Mistic Cloner

and a DWC kit for the mothers
SH Hydroponics > DWC Basic Kit

I will be growing Hawaiian Snow by Greenhouse seeds, or white rhino (same ppl)but that is yet to be decided (feedback???)

I will be doing a 12 plant rotation and need to decide on what lights I will use, either two of these flourescent setups, each one going over 2 of the 6 planter sites, or i was thinking about shoving all of the 6 site planters close together and running a 400W MH.
fluoro:
eBay: T5 FLUORESCENT FULL SPECTRUM GROW LIGHT = 400 MH SAD (item 260117950802 end time May-23-07 21:15:00 PDT)
MH:
eBay: HIGH PRESSURE METAL HALIDE MH Grow Light = 400 w HPS w (item 260118278775 end time May-22-07 09:15:00 PDT)

I might be putting in supplemental CO2, their will be a de-humidifier running and an evaporative AC going (dif. than regular AC units)

My main concerns are the total electrical usage as Everything down to the oscillating fans needs to pull less than 1.7kw, and I'm worried about hot spots showing (I'm on the top floor with this). Also looking for feedback on lighting (T5 vs. MH), which seeds to go with HS or WR (one easier to clone??) Or whether I shouldn't use the bubbleponics system and go for just a couple large plants in large DWC pots?

I'll also be using some UVB lights and I know everyone always says to go with foxfarm nutes, but the stealth hydro ones seemed to have worked in my other grow. Also can I use tap water that has run through a charcoal filter in my system??? As lugging up 45gallons of water every 10 days is really suspect.

The room is about 7' x 8' and has fairly high ceilings, like 10'
 
Thanks for the advice on using a reverse osmosis system, I was really looking for something like that.
 
any pics of mistic cloner setup..as i have the same thing being that i heard all stealth hydro stuff were good for newbs
 
This article on Fluorescent lights from betterhydro.com is pretty good

One thing a new indoor grower finds out very quick with HID lights, his power bill goes up. This kind of thing sucks. It sucks because you just did so much research on which lights to choose. You think that the decision you made was the best. Most sites you looked at preached HID light, because it was the brightest. The more lumen the better your plants grow. Sounds like your plants should do good with that. Well, my first 400 watt light raised my power bill up $25 bucks a month and the second 400watt light raised it $25 more. I did some research and found some good advice. I went to my hydro shop and found a fluorescent system that was the closest to the HID power I needed. I got the 8 bulb 4ft T5 sun System. The lumen of which are comparable to the lumen of the 400watt HID light. The energy used to run the T5 system is the same (50watts a bulb x8 bulbs), so the energy is not saved from direct light to light watt ratio. The difference came from not needing an ac unit to cool my over heated room from my lights, or an inline fan blowing air through those hot ass lights. Had I started out with the fluorescent system, I wouldn't have had to buy an inline fan and venting in the first place, also saving money. Additionally, the lights can be closer to the plants without burning them. The growth rate was awesome because I was able to mix up the bulbs. With 8 different bulbs it was easy to change the spectrum to achieve the growth I wanted.
 
Where to start? Let's start with the hawaiian snow. It is a tall plant, are your t-5's going to be able to penetrate down into your plant three feet? I can tell you now, they won't. I know because I used t-5's. Also, your whole light may be putting out forty thousand lumens, but they are stretched out along the length of the tube, it's not the same as a four hundred watt hid light coming from one small source. I'm not trying to knock fluros at all, you can grow some fine smoke with them. Each person has decide what is best for themselves and the space and situation they have. My suggestion to you sir, if you are going to use t-5's, find a way to tie the plant down. Before I moved into a now empty bedroom, I grew in a closet that was about six by two feet. I stretched shower curtain rods across the closet and bent all my girls and tied them to the rods. This way I was able to keep my lights a few inches away from the girls. You just keep tying the growing tips down as they grow. All those buds along the stem that would have been nothing buds now will turn into nice little nuggets.

Here's a couple pics of what they looked like.
 

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An evaporative cooler, is not an air conditioner. They are also sometimes called swamp coolers, odd, since they won't work in high humidity. An evaporative cooler needs humidity levels low to work. I'm talking ten and twenty percent humidity. Once your humidity hits around fifty percent, they are just about useless. They're great if you live in arizona, not so much if you live in florida.
 
Heads Up said:
Where to start? Let's start with the hawaiian snow. It is a tall plant, are your t-5's going to be able to penetrate down into your plant three feet? I can tell you now, they won't. I know because I used t-5's. Also, your whole light may be putting out forty thousand lumens, but they are stretched out along the length of the tube, it's not the same as a four hundred watt hid light coming from one small source. I'm not trying to knock fluros at all, you can grow some fine smoke with them. Each person has decide what is best for themselves and the space and situation they have. My suggestion to you sir, if you are going to use t-5's, find a way to tie the plant down. Before I moved into a now empty bedroom, I grew in a closet that was about six by two feet. I stretched shower curtain rods across the closet and bent all my girls and tied them to the rods. This way I was able to keep my lights a few inches away from the girls. You just keep tying the growing tips down as they grow. All those buds along the stem that would have been nothing buds now will turn into nice little nuggets.

Here's a couple pics of what they looked like.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure the OP isn't talking about flowering with T5's . . . merely vegging.

and penetration doesn't matter NEARLY as much in veg. if at all. T5's are totally sufficient for vegging needs. not flowering needs.
 
I was wondering if you had any success with your stealthdydro system?
I just received my bubbleponic system and was wondering if you liked it and if you had any pictures of your setup?

Thanks
 
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