T5 Exclusive Grow / First Grow

plants look great how many lumens where your setup running? haw many watts in t5?
how did I smoke I bet it tastes good

cap master said:

plants look great how many lumens where your setup running? haw many watts in t5?
how did I smoke I bet it tastes good

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Ran everything in this journal under a 6 bulb 1.5'x4' T5 - 216 watt lamp. As for lumens?They're throwing 20k/bulb, but I can only speculate without the means to actually measure, and what with slight loss over the distance between bulb and canopy, though it's not much. I cool w/ a 20" box fan in what's otherwise a fairly open area. This gives me more than enough ventilation to keep those bulbs within a half inch of the tops, so... if I'm gonna pay for the watts, I'll stuff 'em all down her throat so long as she don't get toasted.

All things considered, the afghani harvest capped my first grow off at just over 4.3oz
I can't be anything but ecstatic over a generous quarter pound for my first run!

Thanks for the post!

np sweet setup. I'm runnin 8 t8s right now pushin 23.2k aprox was trying to see what kind of harvest to expect

cap master said:

np sweet setup. I'm runnin 8 t8s right now pushin 23.2k aprox was trying to see what kind of harvest to expect

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I chose floros to reduce any noticeable pull from the grid plus the added benefit of running cool enough to keep 'em right on top of the canopy and maximizing lumen exposure. More lumens, more bud!

The buds aren't going to be crazy dense, but mine were just as dense as the dispensary bud when it was finished. Tip? Maximize your light exposure to your budsites w/ floros and make sure to get those lights as close to your girls as possible w/o burning 'em.

I have them half inch to an inch away and it never hurts them, right now I'm in veg and only running 2 hoods I have 4 total. and in my bud chamber I plan on running 5 more hoods that are 3 bulb and push around 47,000 lumens at around 750w. or I may possibly do one full flower run in my veg cab sell what I harvest and invest in a 400whps instead but then I will need better ventilation ect and its in an out building veg is in my house just don't have the room for both inside

any high intensity discharge lighting isn't all that cost effective when I can produce more than what I need using a few flouros.. but it sounds like w/ the T8's you're losing lumen/watt efficiency. An upgradIe to hps might be the way to go.. but going that route, you'll most likely lose sq ft coverage overall so... middle of the road? T5s!.. and other smaller flouros maybe for some side lighting? I've thought about rigging a few cfl's to improve side lighting. People on this site have done some very creative things w/ those neat self-ballasting high efficiency bulbs.

You'll never really get the density that any high intensity light source will give you from flouro sources, but you can still do extremely well. (not that I'm going to let me stop from trying) In addition, your light bill will keep you smiling every month. I know mine do.

I'm using 11 2 ft T5 HO bulbs inside a rather small cabinet with 5 auto flowering Wappa's growing. How do my ladies compare to yours around the 35 day mark? It's my first grow and I'm definitely as nervous/anxious as you are!

PeteMicek84 said:

I'm using 11 2 ft T5 HO bulbs inside a rather small cabinet with 5 auto flowering Wappa's growing. How do my ladies compare to yours around the 35 day mark? It's my first grow and I'm definitely as nervous/anxious as you are!

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Hard to say,.. apples and oranges man
yours are auto's, whereas mine were not. At day 35, mine were still in veg, but since yours are autos, there's no definitive point in your flowering schedule..
That being said, they look a few weeks into their respective flowering stage and they're doing really well from what you've posted.

Anyone who tells you it's not worth it to flower under floros. probably hasn't done it. (6) 4' T5 bulbs was all it took for me to come out on top w/ over 100 grams. Nothing extravagant, but that's more than enough for personal use, which is all I'm in it for. At the overhead and operating cost of a decent fan or two and a couple of floro bulbs, who's gonna argue with those results?

I've never run autos, though I'm sitting on a few Freeze Berry seeds. I'd be interested to see how everything turns out. Good Luck, and post good pics!

PeteMicek84 said:

I'm using 11 2 ft T5 HO bulbs inside a rather small cabinet with 5 auto flowering Wappa's growing. How do my ladies compare to yours around the 35 day mark? It's my first grow and I'm definitely as nervous/anxious as you are!

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So of my own ignorance, and have since learned of it and corrected it, I've found those T8s to be fuckin' awesome LPW rating, (same as T5) and super low operating temp, which is impressive for the efficiency. because of the low operating temp (77 deg. F) which is low enough for them to actually grow into the fixture.. super handy for side lighting, or primary really.., depending on the budget nd intended yield. I'm sure you knew that by now, though. Have a buddy now who runs a small perpetual under all T8 now in some spare sq/ft-age, and does quite well. Inspiring, really.. and so "green" of us..

Hope them T8 girls came out great!