my 2 cents on cfls/t5 - GreenPassion.org - Dedicated to Medicinal Cannabis Cultivation and Education

ganathan · #1 (**permalink**) 08-26-2009, 02:21 PM

Just wanted to add my experiences with cfl/t5.

I am flowering under the stairs in my place in a 2.5'x5'x 4'tall box. Due to height restrictions I am using a 4 bulb 4' t5 for top lighting and the same fixture on the back wall. I also am using 4 23w cfls around the bottoms of the plants for a total of around 500w. I am also using 42 and 23w cfls in a veg box. I am currently using bag seed while i figure things out. One more group of plants to flower and then i will take my reccomendation to the club and obtain the genetics i really want

I have had some issues with the first set of plants mainly because i am a nooob, but also because they were in mystery soil with no perlite in 5 gallon pots and pretty much too tall for my space before they even started fowering.

Flourescent lights put out as much heat watt for watt as hid lights they just distribute it better. They also put out less lumens per watt(65-90 vs. 110-150) In a sealed box the heat must still be exhausted with a quality exhaust system. My lights seem to produce reasonably dense buds, but I have lots of light within an inch or two of my plants.

23w cfls get hot to the touch, but can be placed within an inch or so of your leaves. The 42w bulbs get much hotter and will burn your plants if placed too close. I have no experience with the larger cfl's but expect they would get even hotter. I paid about 12 dollars a bulb for the 42's and just got a 4 pack of 23's sponsored by so cal edison at the hardware store for 2.98. you do the math. I also think its better to put (2) 23's really close to your plant than worry about cooking leaves with a 42, so I am slowly phasing out my 42's

CFLs are cheap, easy to find, easy to move around, easy to swap, ... They are great for the beginner/ micro guy because of this. I have ende up using them as supplemental lighting. I wanted the even light distribution of a t5 and they also fit my space great. My main light source 400w comes from two t5 fixtures. These were not cheap(300$+ together), and they are not real easy to find in my little town. I have seen people build their own t5 fixtures for much cheaper, but the 4 bulb units just seemed so slick.

Flourescents lack the ability to remote ballast, unless you are electrically inclined, and dont really have a cool tube option. This makes it more difficult to control humidity and co2 because you must be constantly venting the whole grow area. If I had no height restricions I would probably be using a 400-600 hid switchable remote ballast with a cool tube, but have been happy with my results with fluro.

Ohh yeah I veg under 6500k and flower under 2300k with a little bit of 6500k. This advice is worth what you paid for it

jangel · #2 (**permalink**) 08-26-2009, 02:28 PM

You have done spectacularly with what you have. You have some nice meds coming along there! Good for you!

I have a small t-5 fixture that I start my clones and seedlings under. I held my mothers under that all winter. I really like them.

Thank you for sharing your experiance.

Welcome to GreenPassion!

Peace

I8ntLucky_UR · #3 (**permalink**) 08-26-2009, 02:40 PM

Gr8t post and your buds look fantastic. Good work and thanks for the info.