Light setup question

[LoveGreen]

Hi guys,
I am new to growing, so I keep searching for new stuff that could help me grow. I have been using CFLs for vegging, but since there are so many LED lights out there, I decided to try them out. I have another 300w LED light but I will use that for flowering. I read a lot about T5 lights and was impressed. It's a pain to buy too many CFLs and though I have quite a few, I was looking to buy something that would help me organize the grow. Since LEDs are energy efficient, I was impressed with T5 LED grow lights and decided to go ahead and buy 2 of 'em. You can see the pics set up by my husband and we still need to work things out. I have added two 45w CFLs for extra light. Until now, these babies (Special queen #1 and Exodus Cheese) were being grown under CFLs, but I would be happy to switch to T5 LED grow lights as shown in the pic.
Here are the specs of the T5 LED grow lights.
Wattage — 20w X 2 (replaces 36w CFL)
Color — Cool white
Spectrum — 6500k
Width — 4ft

So my question is, what's the distance supposed to be between the lights and the plants? Are the plants safe with a distance of about 1-3 inches?
The lights do not get hot at all...
Any advice will be appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[cannilingus]

i have been using a 4'-four tube t-8, for my small plants in one qt pots. from there, its into four gallon pots, or smart pots, and under my sun blaze t-5. (8, four foot tubes). flower room is one adjustable 1000/600/400 hps. and one 600, hps, that on next run, i will replace bulb with a hetal halide. i have read both spectrums will increase yeild. we shall see. as far as cfls go, i use one or two small ones, for the new clones, and put the tiny cuttings away from the light, for a few days. gradually moving closer. if i had it to do over, id of got an indiglo inductive light. full spectrum, uses less than half the power, and puts out little heat, with a long life.

 

[LoveGreen]

normal fluoros or led cannilingus?

 

[LoveGreen]

I don't see too many people growing in t5 LED lights...no idea why

 

[LoveGreen]

Anyone to help please? I'm wondering if I can actually grow and if 6500k led t5 tube lights can be used for vegging at least?

 

[iwltfum]

I didn't even know they made led's for t5's. Going to have to look into this. 6500K is right for vegging, but the amount of lumens/par might be different. I'm off to look into this.

 

[iwltfum]

My T5 HO lights put out about 1000 lumens per foot of tube. Standard (non- high output) T5's put out about 500 lumens per foot of tube. It looks like they have LED versions that are HO and non-HO. They don't have specs for the HO version, but it looks like the non-HO version produces about 450 lumens per foot of tube. So, looking at the details, you loose 10% of your lumes with these lights, but I'm assuming you can run them closer because they will be cooler, so it may not be a reduction of lumens at all.
Plus you may never have to replace your tubes again. Which would be the reason I would want to get some of these. I have a 5 gallon bucket slammed full of dead t5 tubes.

 

[LoveGreen]

This puts out 1900 lumens iwltfum, just released now. This is why I went for these, but after I saw that a lot of people aren't using them, I got a little worried. I also saw a grow journal with a side by side comparison and the t5 LEDs look a lot better because of the life span and power usage.

 

[LoveGreen]

The light is similar to this: 18W LED T5 Tube Light LED Light Merchant but mine has 20w and 6500k spectrum.

 

[iwltfum]

This puts out 1900 lumens iwltfum, just released now. This is why I went for these, but after I saw that a lot of people aren't using them, I got a little worried. I also saw a grow journal with a side by side comparison and the t5 LEDs look a lot better because of the life span and power usage.

The 4' light puts out 1900 lumens right? That would be 475 lumens per foot of tube. (It's just easier doing the math that way incase you were working with 2' tubes. In that case it would be 950 lumens per foot of tube, and equivalent to a HO tube)

Basically, it's not really that much difference from a standard T5. I'm in favor of the LED's at this point. The florescent t5's don't even put a dent in my power bill, but bulb life span is a priority for me. Since I end up buying 140 dollars worth of t5 bulbs pretty much every year.

 

[LoveGreen]

Great, so I am good to use these then!

Thanks a lot iwltfum!

 

[iwltfum]

I wouldn't consider myself to be an expert in LED's or t5's but from what little reading I just did on the subject, it seems that there would be little difference between the two. I'm pricing some for myself right now. Going to do a side by side of my own.

 

[LoveGreen]

Nice to hear that you'd do a side by side It's really cool to the touch so there's no problem there and very bright too. I only wanted extra light to grow more plants but the concept of sticking one cfl per plant wasn't going to be effective. So, while I was searching for fluoros, I saw these and was impressed.

 

[iwltfum]

Nice to hear that you'd do a side by side It's really cool to the touch so there's no problem there and very bright too. I only wanted extra light to grow more plants but the concept of sticking one cfl per plant wasn't going to be effective. So, while I was searching for fluoros, I saw these and was impressed.

I've seen some wild cfl rigs. You can get much more than one over each plant if you want, but those led t5's will probably work better than cfl's

 

[LoveGreen]

I have bought many CFLs and most of them are about 20, 30 and 40w. Somehow, I struggle to get maximum light spread to the plants, so this is a welcome change. I plan to buy 2-4 more LEDs and create a good lumen output for the young ones.