Hps lights

mogie

Well-Known Member
No more hps for me going t5 high output flourscent. No more ballast or exhaust fan needed. My hydro guy turned me on to this. Awesome.
 

mogie

Well-Known Member
In the past, fluorescent lamps were typically not a good choice for lighting indoor gardens. Today, with improvements in technology and increases in light output, fluorescent lamps may be successfully used for growing indoors. The introduction of the T5 H.O. (high output) lamp has proven to be a lamp nearly rivaling (and in some ways surpassing) MH lamp technology. (NOTE, do not confuse T5 H.O. lamps with "standard" T5 lamps, as the latter are too low in light output and efficiency to be considered for indoor gardening). Generally, a T5HO fixture may be placed closer to an indoor garden because the heat produced by the lamp is spread throughout a longer tube than HID lamps. For example, a 250 watt MH lamp has a lumen output of 28,000 lumens, while a 4 lamp, 4' T5 HO fixture has a lumen output of 20,000 lumens; however the heat output of the T5 is spread evenly throughout nearly 16' of fluorescent tubes, while the MH lamp has the heat concentrated in a tube less than 1' long. Therefore, in typical use, the T5HO fixture could be placed within a few inches of the garden, while the MH fixture might have to be placed 1 or 2 feet way. The closer placement of the T5 fixture would allow for increased light intensity for this garden. Typically these fixtures are used mostly for smaller sized gardens or seed starting applications.
 

djfeav

Active Member
ahh i use 1000w metal halide cool shades dont have much probs with heat due to the cool shades an air con 9000btu/h do have hot air heatin me down stairs but thats not to bad how do i attach pics do you know cheers
 

loveisallyouneed

Well-Known Member
No more hps for me going t5 high output flourscent. No more ballast or exhaust fan needed. My hydro guy turned me on to this. Awesome.
Cool. I dont really want to get into exhaust and all that jazz so this sounds pretty ideal. Is this the same idea as envirolites? Unless my quick bit of research is wrong, 4 ft tubes using only around 50 watts a piece also save you quite a bit on electricity. Plus if they're anything like envirolites the spectrum makes them much more efficient as well. Mogie, just how effective are HOT5's compared to HPS? Peace.
 

mogie

Well-Known Member
For vegging these are great. The heat output in next to nothing. And you do save $$$. I still go with the big boys for flowering but the t5's are the perfect answer for ME when it comes to vegging.
 

Al B. Fuct

once had a dog named
mogie, my only concern about a T5HO fluoro vs a similar MH or HPS is the light intensity and foliar penetration- but you have addressed that concern by suggesting they be used for vegging instead of flowering.

As you note, the light output from a fluoro is spread out over the length of the tube, so the intensity of the light discharge is much lower per area of lamp surface and thus per area of lighted space.

Like you say, it sounds like T5HO fluoros would work pretty well for vegging your mums, but they probably would not give good bud density in flowering.
 

DoobsDay

Well-Known Member
"mogie, my only concern about a T5HO fluoro vs a similar MH or HPS is the light intensity and foliar penetration"

boom, hit it right on.
 

Al B. Fuct

once had a dog named
boom, hit it right on.
Don't get me wrong- I'm not being critical of mogie's comments. Fluoros definitely have applications in grow ops. The T5HO types appear to extend that usefulness from just maintaining cuttings and seedlings to proper vegging of mums, while reducing heat and power consumption- presuming you have the physical space for them. My mother area is a just bit too small for a 4' fluoro fixture.

mogie has the application notes spot on.
 

DoobsDay

Well-Known Member
i completely agree, everything has its place in the grow room. i was just pointing out that what you said was very valid.
 

northerntights

Well-Known Member
I have a friend that used T5HO bulbs for his grow and it turned out great! The light penetration isn't as good as HID bulbs but he fixed this by placing a single T5HO bulb on each of the walls of his grow box. His shit turned out to be amazing!

http://www.specialty-lights.com/ is the only place that I can find that sells T5HO bulbs with very specific spectrums, from what I know the ones with enhanced blue/actinic spectrum put out more usable light for the vegitative phase.
 

Al B. Fuct

once had a dog named
i completely agree, everything has its place in the grow room. i was just pointing out that what you said was very valid.
I very much appreciate that, thanks. :)

However, there's one or two folks on here who take any sort of caveat to be a criticism- I know mogie's not one of those, but we know who they are. :D
 

splifman

Well-Known Member
very cool man, I've been real interested in envirolites, whats your opinion on them (even for flowering)?
Envirolites don't seem to be as efficient as the HO T5. T5 HO put out between 82 lumens/watt (2 footers) to 92 lumens per watt (4 footers). High wattage compact flouors such as envirolites put out around 65 to 75 lumens/watt. I did a lot of research on them both before I switched out my MH in my veg room with some nice T5's.
It also depends what is better for your current situation. If you're just using the light for one or two plants the eniro might be better. But for many plants of the same or similar sizse lined up in rows, the T5 will allow for a more even distribution of light over the entire area. Plus you will be able to have the bulbs within a few inches of all the plants because the light is coming from a plane source as opposed to a point source...
 
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