Flowering with t-5s? - GreenPassion.org - Dedicated to Medicinal Cannabis Cultivation and Education

GreenGoblin · #1 (**permalink**) 07-31-2009, 03:31 PM

Hey everyone.. I am thinking about throwing together a small flowering box for some of my extra clones, unknown bagseed, etc that I don't either want in my main flower chamber, or I just don't have room for. This will be kind of a "franken-chamber" for experementing a bit.

I was going to use CFLs, but I am worried about heat in this small space (30" wide x 36" tall x 18 " deep). What are thoughts on using some 2ft t-5s to flower in this space to keep the heat down? I am not really concerned about spending the $ on the t-5s.. but rather having a nice little grow box that will pump out some regular bud in a micro sog or scrog down the road.

jangel · #2 (**permalink**) 07-31-2009, 03:38 PM

That would work brilliantly in my opinion. Make sure you get the right spectrum of tubes for bloom. And add 1/4 veg lights, to balance it, so say 3 bloom tubes(warm red spectrum) , 1 veg tube. (cool blue spectrum)

The problem with T-5's for flowering is that they do not penetrate very deeply. But if the canopy or grow is only so tall, then it should work just fine.

Now, they do produce SOME heat, but not as much as cfl's. You will need an air exchange system though not high powered. And the tubes are cool enough the plants can even touch

them without damage.

Also, get both sets of tubes as they are wonderful to veg under as well, and to have the plants set up from veg to bloom in one space is only to your advantage. Plus vegging under the t-5's you can fit more plants in than you will want to flower under there. Then you have the option of adding to your flower area when you need to. It adds a whole new demension to your capabilities in your grow room.

Good luck. I love my little set, and have used them almost constantly. Best grow investment I made.

Peace

GreenGoblin · #3 (**permalink**) 07-31-2009, 03:48 PM

Thanks Jangel! Yep, I was thinking of that exact mix of spectrum for in the box. I am trying to figure out if I will have enough lumens/sq ft for flowering. I though I read somewhere that 5,000 per sq ft was ideal for flower. From what I can tell, I can get about 2,000 lumens out of one 2ft t-5, so that would mean 10 of those 2ft t5s in a 4 sqaure feet area! yikes!

For cooling, I was going to rig two or three cpu fans together and exhaust them with a few passive intakes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jangel

That would work brilliantly in my opinion. Make sure you get the right spectrum of tubes for bloom. And add 1/4 veg lights, to balance it, so say 3 bloom tubes(warm red spectrum) , 1 veg tube. (cool blue spectrum)

The problem with T-5's for flowering is that they do not penetrate very deeply. But if the canopy or grow is only so tall, then it should work just fine.

Now, they do produce SOME heat, but not as much as cfl's. You will need an air exchange system though not high powered. And the tubes are cool enough the plants can even touch

them without damage.

Also, get both sets of tubes as they are wonderful to veg under as well, and to have the plants set up from veg to bloom in one space is only to your advantage. Plus vegging under the t-5's you can fit more plants in than you will want to flower under there. Then you have the option of adding to your flower area when you need to. It adds a whole new demension to your capabilities in your grow room.

Good luck. I love my little set, and have used them almost constantly. Best grow investment I made.

Peace

jangel · #4 (**permalink**) 07-31-2009, 03:58 PM

Until you try them, don't necessarily go by that. You can always add to your system. But once you have bought them, you are stuck. Try one set to start and I have in front of my plants a red flouro tube,single fixture, cheap and cheerful from home depot, And a bath bar of cfl's but you won't have the air control to do that. So far, I don't know that you will need more with a good t-5 set. Mine is all open pretty much and a room, versus a box.

I think that formula is 100 watts per sq ft. Not sure what t-5's are. But you can get away with far less.

operator1 · #5 (**permalink**) 07-31-2009, 05:04 PM

I did something similar with my first grow... had t5's all over the place in the closet... had a rack with three two foot two bulb fixtures hanging over the plants and then had two fixtures on each wall to get more penetration... even had two cfl's on the floor the light from under the plants. It worked pretty good i must say but I got the cash to get a simple 150 watt hps fixture and switched to that, still kept the t5's on the wall though, worked out pretty good... with cfl's and t5's I would say the more the merrier, just as long as you can control the heat you can put on as much light as you want really

GreenGoblin · #6 (**permalink**) 07-31-2009, 05:12 PM

Yeah.. I was trying to avoid an hps due to the heat issues, and having to keep the plants farther from the light. I like the cooler running t-5s for this, so the hps would be out. I don't want the higher heat, and higher cfm fans that will produce more noise. I thought about LED, but the price is a bit steep for me yet on those.

operator1 · #7 (**permalink**) 07-31-2009, 06:29 PM

i would go with t5's then... definitely worth the cash for the output... I had plants growing into them at one point... no burning or anything, the sidelight really seemed to help the lower buds develop as well. good luck

Dez · #8 (**permalink**) 08-01-2009, 08:08 PM

http://www.greenpassion.org/f16/rook...-journal-9921/

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenGoblin

Hey everyone.. I am thinking about throwing together a small flowering box for some of my extra clones, unknown bagseed, etc that I don't either want in my main flower chamber, or I just don't have room for. This will be kind of a "franken-chamber" for experementing a bit.

I was going to use CFLs, but I am worried about heat in this small space (30" wide x 36" tall x 18 " deep). What are thoughts on using some 2ft t-5s to flower in this space to keep the heat down? I am not really concerned about spending the $ on the t-5s.. but rather having a nice little grow box that will pump out some regular bud in a micro sog or scrog down the road.