Lighting

[Giantsfan24]

My comment was in regard to the original poster about a 4 x 8 foot space and in regard to the use of HIDs. I have been using CFLs now for a couple years and will never go back to the high heat and high power bills of growing with HIDs personally.

Oh sure, you had to say that about CFL's just when I had thought my mind was made up...

The knock on CFL's is the potency and yield limitations...am I wrong there? The reason I was thinking 250W hid/mh was to get the most lumens out of the lights/space..

I had settled on T5 lighting but it seems expensive for the lumens I'd need to make it work. The CFL lighting tutorial is saying 7000 to 10,000 lumens per square foot..in other places I've seen 3000 per sq. ft.

Any recommendation there?

 

[G-Dog]

If you get the CFLs close to the buds (and keep them there) you can get everything you get with a HID. You just have to work pretty hard on keeping the lights in the right place, where as in HIDs you can put them above the canopy and almost forget about them. I mess with CFLs daily.

 

[XxUpInSmokExX]

my apologies gdog, i thought you were commenting on giantsfans layout

but i too have only used hps...thats what i started with back in 05 when i first joined this site and have since had many successful grows with phenomonal yields and potency...but i too am going to be venturing into CFLs for the next grow and the rest from there on out

i think i was going to go with t5's in conjuction with cfls but I have not done the amount of research i should have on t5s yet

 

[Giantsfan24]

If you get the CFLs close to the buds (and keep them there) you can get everything you get with a HID. You just have to work pretty hard on keeping the lights in the right place, where as in HIDs you can put them above the canopy and almost forget about them. I mess with CFLs daily.

Cool..I didn't know this. Do you have any experience or knowledge about T5 lighting?

I thought that the profile would be a space saver for me and that's part of the reason I was thinking of going that way.

Although it's more expensive, it's more of a stealth way of doing it and saves energy to boot. If the product is roughly the same or close...I'm in for fluorescents..

 

[G-Dog]

T-5's are fine if you can keep the canopy perfectly even.

 

[Giantsfan24]

T-5's are fine if you can keep the canopy perfectly even.

Keeping the canopy perfectly even then is a matter of pruning, lst, supercropping...etc? I'm assuming that once flowering begins, all pruning is pretty much over?

What about side lighting? I was thinking that I'd add side lighting on 3 sides plus the standard light above..

Do you think that's necessary?

Thanks for the help..my entire box design hinges on which lighting I chose. The hps/mh idea means I don't need to do many box alterations and going t5 means I do. If I'm going to do the work, I want to know I'll get a return..ya know?

Thanks!

 

[kfswantoon]

Those 2ft. T5 bulbs don't seem to be very economical even though they seem convenient for a small cabinet. I think I'd go with a 4ft. fixture, cfls or small hid system. If I remember correctly a 4ft. fixture is too big for your grow space. Maybe a dimmable electronic ballast would be a good idea. That way it can grow with you.

I have two 120mm fans in my cabinet and they work well as long as there is little restriction. I tried a homemade carbon filter also and those two fans wouldn't push any air at all through it...they just can't generate enough pressure. All I can say is if you are going to use muffin fans then make sure your filter is built with PLENTY of surface area, maybe two square feet or more would be my guess. I don't want to be discouraging, just trying to pass on my limited experience.

 

[Giantsfan24]

Those 2ft. T5 bulbs don't seem to be very economical even though they seem convenient for a small cabinet. I think I'd go with a 4ft. fixture, cfls or small hid system. If I remember correctly a 4ft. fixture is too big for your grow space. Maybe a dimmable electronic ballast would be a good idea. That way it can grow with you.

I have two 120mm fans in my cabinet and they work well as long as there is little restriction. I tried a homemade carbon filter also and those two fans wouldn't push any air at all through it...they just can't generate enough pressure. All I can say is if you are going to use muffin fans then make sure your filter is built with PLENTY of surface area, maybe two square feet or more would be my guess. I don't want to be discouraging, just trying to pass on my limited experience.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with lighting at the moment. The HPS/MH would give me more side room in my box, produce a better product but I'm not sure about controlling the temps is such a small space..

Fluorescents will give me more heat control but they will cost more and take away some growing space..and potentially not produce the quality result I'm looking for..

CFL's just seem a little too homemade for me..I could figure it out but ...I don't know I'm looking for my best option and I'm not sure what that is yet.

If I could find a way to make sure to dispel the heat from a 250W HPS/MH I think that would be my best choice...

As far as the fans go, they pull better than they push from what I understand and that's how I was going to set those up..to pull through the filter..