LED Without LEDs -My First T5 Grow

Well, there is a separate sub-forum for micro grows which I find incredibly useful in terms of how people have MacGyvered stuff into small spaces like cabinets, dressers and PC cases. LED would be the logical solution in a micro grow, not T5 HO, IMHO. There is a DIY LED thread on another board that was done inside a PC case (full tower). If you don't want to build the LED panel yourself there are plenty of small panels available retail. Tube floro would just take up too much space, even vertically. I could see what you are talking about being done in a grow tent 2'x2'x6', with four individual vertical tubes in the corners as supplemental light to an overhead 2' x 4 lamp T5HO panel. Can't see getting more than one plant going though. You may not need the vertical with the 4 lamp overhead, it's an interesting idea. I have seen lots of closet grows with vertical floro, but that's normally old T8 with full spectrum or warm whites. I believe the term is ghetto grow, not that I'm an elitist or anything. Whatever works and doesn't burn the place down, right? You should start a journal and demonstrate how it can be done in the microgrows forum.

Thanks for the reply. Sorry if this is the wrong place for this ultimately. I do plan to journal it, definitely want to see how much less watts i can go with and still fill a 8"x18" canopy, like if done right 4 23w CFLs can do to the tune of an oz or two. But i do have a question i thought might be pertinent, although i did ask it in a long winded manner. Sorry for that too.
the question: If you could only go with two 24w bulbs, what 2 bulbs would you choose to grow with from start to finish?

That's roughly half the watts, but im betting from what I've read way more than 2x the PAR vs 2700k cfls. We all train plants govern to our lights so im not sure i see any different in a vert formation. Some might even say less plant maintenance is needed in vert.

Tks in advance


Peace

Wondering is anyone has some comments on the following product

canadian1969 said:

Wondering is anyone has some comments on the following product

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Junk. 8 watts!!! Lol

You can get 13 watt 2' units too, just haven't seen them on ebay, How many watts do you think an 2' LED light strip should pull?
4' ones are 26 watts / 1200 lm on a 4x4' panel would be 104 watts / 4800 lm. All PAR.

Specification(from another source) same type of product T8 LED grow bar/tube.

Product length: 2Feet /4Feet

Wavelength (nm): Red 650-670nm,Blue 450-460nm
Led ratio: 8R1B

Power: 13W/26W
Led Quantity: 24/48Pcs
PPFD: 10cm 42-45 μmol/(sec &#13217
20cm 20-25 μmol/(sec &#13217

Led Angle: 140°

Thermal type: Al Cast

Working Temperature: -30-50°C

Input Voltage: 100-240VAC(50-60Hz)

Life Span: +30000Hours

I have seen some 4' 10 and 18 watt models as well, Lumens seem to be between 1200 and 1500 per tube.
I mean if you already had the T8 fixtures which you can find anywhere, then why not? Certainly seems like a vertical supplement option as DIYer was talking about. low power, par and can be found in 2' lengths.

Hey I thought we had passed the point of laughing at low wattage, it's all about the PAR right? Or is it the photosynthetic photon flux density? Thanks for the link canadian, i see what you're driving at now. Of course it brings another question to mind. If the T8 LED tubes you linked are "All PAR" those tubes put out 46 PAR per watt (if thats even right to say). So do we (and when i say 'we' i mean anyone else) know the useable PAR output from a 23W 2700K CFL? I'm trying to wrap my wee lil brain around the math so i can compare PAR of the 4 CFLs normally used to what 2' tubes ill be buying so i know how many i'll need.

Peace

I just realized you don't even need a ballast with those i dont think,.. is that right? You can wire them right to a 120v outlet?

Yeah, I didn't have the energy, lol
Unless you have the spectrograph of the light you will have to go with luminous efficacy or lm/w, but you are right its all 100% useable light to the plant, no energy waste. Proximity and surface area coverage are variables.
Yes some of those don't need ballasts, you can get them in just about any configuration, just not on ebay. I'd start selling the better ones if I thought there was a market.

+REP- I just got my 4' 8 lamp T5, (4) 3000k and (4) 6400k. I just looked up all of the lights and will be getting these very soon. I'll just use the 3000k for my side lights. This is such an awesome and encouraging thread. Thanx pr0f!

DIYer said:

Hey I thought we had passed the point of laughing at low wattage, it's all about the PAR right? Or is it the photosynthetic photon flux density? Thanks for the link canadian, i see what you're driving at now. Of course it brings another question to mind. If the T8 LED tubes you linked are "All PAR" those tubes put out 46 PAR per watt (if thats even right to say). So do we (and when i say 'we' i mean anyone else) know the useable PAR output from a 23W 2700K CFL? I'm trying to wrap my wee lil brain around the math so i can compare PAR of the 4 CFLs normally used to what 2' tubes ill be buying so i know how many i'll need.

Peace

Click to expand...

We are passed that point. But what's even more important is spectral balance. If you don't get the balance right, your plants are going to exhibit some strange growth. Ya really gotta play with the lights and your plants to see what works best for you and them.

Sure T8 led tubes are going to work if you do it right. Might even work well for a little grow. You're not going to get any trees growing with them however.

I think you could get a good grow mixing T5's and these T8 led tubes if used the correct colors.

You could try some Flora Suns and then some 630nm/660nm T8 tubes if you wired up your own fixture. The led tubes have their own driver built into them so make sure not to run those tubes off the T5 driver or you will fry something out. Do it yourself and get some barebones retrofit kits.

If you guys haven't already seen this website, it's an alright one even thought the author is kind of a jerk he still has a few useful things to say. One thing he talks about is gene expression through wavelength control. Check it out if you will.

sevengens.com

here is where he talks about gene expression through wavelength control

http://sevengens.com/id75.html and here,

http://sevengens.com/id110.html

Can a mod pin this thread for all fluro growers? I find this thread very beneficial, and I can never seem to find it (even through the search engine) when I need to reference this lighting system.

Hey guys, a noobie here planning to get this kind of set up.

Im just wondering if Solarmax can be considered a smart choice?

ATI, Fiji, and UVLs are not available here in my country plus im trying to minimize my overall fixture cost..

So do you think Solarmax T5HO actinic bulbs can do the trick?

I would've included my T-5 grow here, but it appears the interest has been lost some what. So I've started my journal here.

Thanks to ALL of you guys who've been here from the beginning. Special shout out to Pet Flora, hyroot, Lucius Vorenus. IMO you guys were very consistent in your info, replies and faithfulness to this thread. You kept it going when Professur had to step away. Others helped too, but you guys stick out the most in my mind.

It took me approx 2.5 months to get through this thread, and gain the knowledge and balls to just do it! So I did, and I'm very happy thus far with the results. This is my first grow, using HTG T-5 SlimStar 4ft 8 lamp. Right now they're in veg under 4x6500k and 4xblue antics.

Peace!

While not was very fun and we grew some great herb using T5, we exclusively use T5 for vegging.

Got a question, I have an 8 bulb light with an even mix of 6400k and 3000k, if I could only afford 4 bulbs right now which would u recommend to buy to mix in with the bulbs I already have for flowering and what order should my 8 bulbs be in?

Great ceasars ghost its back. Every one run and hide.

4 bulbs. Zoo med flora suns. . Cheapest at drfostersmith.com. $14..99 ea. Spend $49 and get free shipping. So $60 for 4 bulbs. Imo those are the best t5 bulbs for flower. Can be used in veg too. They are full spectrum. Uv-a,, uv-b - has every wavvelength on the par scale. Peaks are at 45nm, 550nm, 630nm, 660nm" 730nm

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4479

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thanks for the input