maillady929
Well-Known Member
just curious if anyone besides myself still uses these.
Tube fluorescent bulbs
- Thread starter maillady929
- Start date
I use them all the time ... but, I am a clone farmer.
I use them to sprout the babies, and to get the clones a good start before I take them to the collective.
On the mothers I use HPS because the light from a flourescent doesn't reach very far ...
Are they good for anything else?
~ Auggie ~
I use them to sprout the babies, and to get the clones a good start before I take them to the collective.
On the mothers I use HPS because the light from a flourescent doesn't reach very far ...
Are they good for anything else?
~ Auggie ~
TheRoach
Well-Known Member
I use them for clones and seedlings too.
I once heard you can use them for non-cannabis-growing applications, but not sure.
I once heard you can use them for non-cannabis-growing applications, but not sure.
OldMedUser
Formerly Known as LabRat
I'm going to be using my old bank of 6, T-12s in my little tent for vegging plants until big enough to go into the flowering room so they better work. Always did a good job vegging before but not so good at flowering.
L8r
L8r
lexort420
Well-Known Member
I use a fluro in conjunction with some CFLs for my grows
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- #6
maillady929
Well-Known Member
I actually use them for my whole grow. I might not have quite the yield you guys do but it does grow some banging weed.
Hi all just saw this discussion. I used T-12 for many years just have to keep them between 1 to 2 inches from the top of your plants. Three two bulb fixtures fixed side by side to 1x4 lumber will have 6 bulbs covering a 2'x4' grow. Six cool whites for veg and replace two bulbs with warm white for flowering.Best grow was three plants under a screen which produced 4 oz of good bud.
MickFoster
Well-Known Member
I use them for the entire grow - just change out the bulbs for flower. 2 fixtures (4 bulbs) above and 4 fixtures (8 bulbs) mounted on the back wall of my closet.
OldMedUser
Formerly Known as LabRat
CFLs and fluoro tubes are really the same thing but just different shapes Lexort.
I did my whole grows at first with the T-12s swapping some of the daylight tubes for warm white in flower then got my first 400W HPS and will never flower with fluoros again. The difference in yield and quality of smoke is way ahead with a good HPS flowering bulb. I've never used LEDs so have no opinion regarding them other than most of the buds I've seen with them in various grows would be better with HPS. Really liking the EYE Hortilux Super HPS I got now.
L8r
lexort420
Well-Known Member
Ya i know OMU lol i just know some people when the say fluro refer to t8's and t12's not CFLs so much but your right they are practically the same just different shapes and CFLs are selfballasted
I grew one lot of pot in a closet in Cali back in the 70s using 4 x 4 foot floro grow-lux tubes. The plants were 4 feet tall and doing great when my place was broken into and they cut all the large leaves off my plants. Bad enough to get broken into and ripped off, even worse to get ripped off by complete idiots. Anyway, the grow tubes were nice and cool and did not use much power or produce too much heat. They worked fine for veg growth, but not so great for flowering. They also worked great for house plants and veggie starts for the garden. I use 400W MH & HPS now (Sunlight Supply). I cannot decide if MH or HPS is better. I have both with switchable ballasts.
OldMedUser
Formerly Known as LabRat
The MH is best for vegging and the HPS does the flowers better.
L8r
L8r
DaKindbuds
Well-Known Member
You can make anything work. But I personally only use T5 for clones and to reveg
Tennessee Tim
Well-Known Member
I have used 1000 watt and 600 watt MH/HPS and T5 HO 6 and 8 bulb 48" fixtures. The HO T5's do an excellent job for growing seedlings of all types (vegetables /flowers/weed), but daily attention is required to keep the plants about 3-5 inches from the lights for best results. They will, if you change the bulbs to bloom bulbs, flower weed OK. The yields will be reduced, and the buds less impressively developed. However, for auto flowering auto fems it will yield some decent smoke in fair quantities. The yield and the quality will be better with HID HPS lights,but the heat and fire risk increase, so more attention to those factors are required. I have no experience using LED lights for grows yet. I often use the T5 lights for a grow of Autos while the HPS grow room is tied up with a larger crop that takes longer to mature.
HI I am new to this. Grew my first plant this summer inside. I put it into a huge planter and only had 1 plant and aquarime and 3 CFL bulbs but my leaves started to get b town spots and was not doing so good so l cut all the buds off. I got not bad for the size but. The time I want to do it just right. I have one growing for 2 weeks now and it is an auto fem, and I would like to know how much light I should be giving it right now , I would prefer if there is anyway I could use the same lights through out.
I have it in a room in my basement , warm, have fan but no grow tent . I have a white cupboard and have that on the back of it and a silver safety blanket that sort of works like a tent. No light can get into that room do you think that this will wrk or should l just keep the silver all around it instead of the white? I have more lights. I want to put around it.
It just feels s confusing if I am doing it right because last one was fine on the light and a tent made from silver blanket. Do they need to be covered up all the time because I notice that the grow rooms they are all over, I am only growing one , so. Is it better to be in a confined. Place?
I have it in a room in my basement , warm, have fan but no grow tent . I have a white cupboard and have that on the back of it and a silver safety blanket that sort of works like a tent. No light can get into that room do you think that this will wrk or should l just keep the silver all around it instead of the white? I have more lights. I want to put around it.
It just feels s confusing if I am doing it right because last one was fine on the light and a tent made from silver blanket. Do they need to be covered up all the time because I notice that the grow rooms they are all over, I am only growing one , so. Is it better to be in a confined. Place?
Tennessee Tim
Well-Known Member
You must have the lights close to the plants(3-4 ") for best results with flourescents. The more lumens delivered by your CFL's the better! A homemade grow tent made with a survival blanket should be fine! I think it would reflect better than the white paint, but don't worry! You might want to try the Auto flowering plants until you have HID lights and/or more experience. Auto flowering plants are almost fool proof! I suggest you give them 18 hours per day of light and relax , smoke a pipe full! Auto flowers do their thing ,well Auto! You do not have to worry as much about light timing but be consistent with every thing you do( always use a mechanical timer that will not be defeated by a temporary power outage like most digital ones!) Some people and Myself reduce the light duration a bit after they go into bloom, but using CFL's or T5's I have not reduced the time much, only to 16 hours per day for auto flowering plants. Auto Fems will need the time of lighting reduced more to stimulate the bloom phase, when it is time.That may not really be necessary with auto flowering plants! Brown spots on leaves may be caused by many things but most common is watering issues! Do not over water! Do not let the plants dry out to much either! The plants grown in a good organic well draining soil mix including lots of perlite and vermiculite (along with good compost or high quality mixes with beneficial organisms)seem to be less demanding. Confinement is not absolutely needed, except for the ability to reflect light, control the environment, and provide security! In your basement if no ambient light comes in during the dark periods from lights,windows ,etc.,no real problems from being without confinement in a tent, except less reflected light to your plant. Yields typically are reduced with less dense and heavy buds under CFL's or T5's tube bulbs as compared to HPS bulbs with their usually higher lumens than most CFL/T5 fixtures. Try to get approximately the same amount of lumens per square foot of grow for even a tiny grow, say as a 250 Watt HPS bulb delivers or better a 400 watt HPS equivalent! Plants in the later stages of blooming can get to looking a little like an old lady- showing their age, but also better at what they do! Don't let browning of leaves worry you into a premature harvest! If the buds are still developing, wait it out, relax, smoke a joint and the time you spend tending the lights/plants adjusting their environment, trimming, etc., will provide you with satisfaction now and later with some good homegrown! Care but do not stress with your plants, talk to them, blow your co2 rich breath on them, dream with them!
I just finished setting up a cloning area here. I went the cheap and easy to find route and bought several T8 fixtures ($18 each) and a box of twelve T8 6500k bulbs ($35). They are really cool. Literally, and figuratively. I let the plants grow right up to the lights. The mothers I am going to leave under the 400W MH light augmented with a CFL. The plants seem to like it.
BrodyNitro
New Member
My veg/clone cabinet has two 2 bulb t-8 fixtures standing up on the left and right side with 6500k tubes, and hanging from the top are two CFLs, one 6500k and the other 2700k. My buddy who I got started always says he can't believe how thick my main stems are before I put them in flower. It's about 2.5' x 2' x 5.75' so the lights aren't necessarily close to any plant in there and I've never had a problem with my babies stretching
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