need some advice on spectrum

Hey guys, been kicking around here for a while and have done a bit of CFL growing but not much....

i have a 4 bulb T5 HO unit for a saltwater reef aquarium. I want to use if for a small grow from start to finish with only one set of bulbs..I want a nice broad spectrum that will assist the plant in all stages and functions of its life cycle. i know some wavelengths help produce resin glands and some help growth of foliar and flowers.

http://www.wave-point.com/Lighting_folder/LampMain.html

^^ link to bulbs i need

my question is which 4 bulbs would be most benificial to give me the best spectrum for a full grow from start to finish without changing bulbs out..

anyone?

I used all 6500k in veg and they kicked ass.glad I bought the tek t5s.so get close to 6500k

could really use some advice from someone who has done alot of research in spectrum and knows what they are looking at..

thank you for your input Pghdave it is appreciated just looking to get a little more in depth is all

For vegetating you want bluer light, which is going to be around the 6500k spectrum. For flowering you want redder lights, which are going to be around 2700k spectrum. These are comparable with the HID lights Metal halide (blue), and High Pressure sodium (red).

In nature, spring tends to have bluer light wheras fall has redder light, plants tend to vegetate in the spring and flower later in the summer when the light starts changing.

Thats just a short answer, if that doesnt help you I can give you a better one XD

Me and pghdave420 both use floros, my grow is in my sig its just wrapping up

yeah, i understand the basics as far as blue red i just dont know wich lights to buy. i know that theres a place in the kelvin rating that provides little to no brnifits for the plants.

the visible light spectrum is about 450-750 and is measured in nm, dont ask me i dont know what nm stands for. plants use about 420-770nm. there is a big chunk in the middle which while isnt the best for growing can be used, this is about 500-600nm or the green spectrum, 400s are blues and purple, 600s are oranges, 700s are reds to deep reds.
2700k-3000k flourescents are higher in the 650s but also contain some of the rest of the spectrum due to being white light, 6500-6700k is more focused on the blue spectrum or 420-475nm. there are special bulbs and such, acitinic, grow bulbs, yada yada, 12000k, but for the most part its 2700k, 2900k, 3000k, 6500k, 6700k. you will want the red spectrum or 2700-3000k for flowering as this helps with the plant make fruits, flowers, buds, etc.... the blue spectrum helps with growing, bigger leaves, bigger stalks, etc. the far or deep reds such as 770 are used to induce early night cycles, aka putting your plant to sleep faster, apparently it takes up to 2 hours for your plant to get to sleep and switch to the night cycle, 770nm bulbs can put your plant to sleep faster which can help you get more lights on time. aka it can flower at 15hours of daylight instead of 12-14 hours. this just lets it absorb more energy through the day which means it can party more at night.

so to wrap it up and make shit real simple, veg your plants with 6500-6700k or a blue acitinc bulb, flower them with 2700-3000k bulb, if you can get your hand on a 770 (sometimes called a far red initiator) led light, put it on for 10 minutes 5 before lights turn on, 5 after lights turn off. the rest of the bulbs, 3500-6000k are not as effective but can work, do not expect great results,

also as a side note, if you can grab a uvb reptillian heat lamp bulb, cfl, use it during flowering to increase trich production since trichs were originally a way to protect the plant from uv light. only use during flowering and do not place to close, heat and uv poisoning will kill leaves. approx 8 inches to 1 foot away and it is usually 10-20 watts.

EDIT, approx 400-720 visible human spectrum

thanks for your detailed response, i have ultimatly decided to just use the dam HID again i think. sorry you wasted so much time writing this for nothing but the information is absorbed now and will be put to use in the future.

all good, you might want to look into the uv and far red bulbs, regardless of hid fluoro or led. they help with all grows

yeah i knew about the UVB bulbs and have used them before. We actually keep reptiles here so have them around the house.

awesome, good luck dude, keep us posted with results.

will do journal is in sig if interested. just started so kinda lame right now. prob pposting a few pics later.

RetiredMatthebrute said:

Hey guys, been kicking around here for a while and have done a bit of CFL growing but not much....

i have a 4 bulb T5 HO unit for a saltwater reef aquarium. I want to use if for a small grow from start to finish with only one set of bulbs..I want a nice broad spectrum that will assist the plant in all stages and functions of its life cycle. i know some wavelengths help produce resin glands and some help growth of foliar and flowers.

http://www.wave-point.com/Lighting_folder/LampMain.html

^^ link to bulbs i need

my question is which 4 bulbs would be most benificial to give me the best spectrum for a full grow from start to finish without changing bulbs out..

Click to expand...

not sure if you remember riddleme? He stopped back by as Hogbud and posted some threads on his "tanning booth" it is all t-5's. He is the person I would talk to.
http://rollitup.org/t/hey-new-growers-lets-try-this-again.830322/
if you can't get a hold of him here, let me know, He has a private forum and I will let him know to come help you.

just going to settle for the 400w HID.