Lighting help for indoor grow

Can anyone in U.S. help me to purchase the correct light system for 3 plants. OG Kush of Roberts site. Need to be inexpensive and low on electrical usage. I was thinking of a T5 lights, but am not sure. Can anyone forward me to a reputable web site where I can be confident on a purchase? They are in flowering now with small T5 and a large spiral cfl. Time is running out…
Thanks
nighttoker

How big are you growing the plants? How many square feet are you trying to cover?

No matter the type of light, if you can find the exact specs for its lumens/FLUX per square foot (or the equivalent PAR for red/blue only LEDs) you can use this as a loose guide as to what you need as minimums:

Seedlings and clones require about 400-1000 lumens per square foot.

Vegetative growth requires about a minimum of 2,000 to 3,000 lumens per square foot.

Flowering requires about 5,000 to 10,000 lumens per square foot, ideally, and can take possibly much more.

10,000 lumens is supposed to be about the average power of the sun at sea level on a clear day at high noon, or something like that, lol. 8,000 - 12,000 lumens is supposed to be about the power of the full sun without any overcast or no clouds.

It’s not idea, but you can make do with 2,000 lumens for an entire grow if necessary.

You might not save a lot on your electric bill with fluorescent over HPS, watt for watt and lumen output produced, high pressure sodium is much more efficient than fluorescent but it does produce a lot of heat. T5s and LEDs don’t make that much heat and are a better choice for people that can’t deal with getting rid of the heat. LEDs are very expensive to get a really good name brand system that will have a good warranty, however you can find nearly identical no-name brand systems for less than half the price if you know what to look for on e-bay, but that could be a gamble as the warranty won’t be as good, but it is what I’d do as I know how to repair and replace individual LEDs and individually the LEDs are dirt cheap, but of course this will require a lot of investigation and education, and this much effort is not for everybody. But LEDs are the most efficient overall in direct conversion of electrical watts to light watts with nearly no loss.

T5s are a known technology and you can even order them online and have it delivered to your local Home Depot. Really nice systems at very affordable prices are available on Home Depot’s website, even rivaling or better prices than similar systems online at amazon or e-bay and if you have a problem you can return the light straight to the store, unfortunately they likely won’t have an immediate replacement which could be a problem if you were in the middle of flower, but if it’s just a replacement bulb that is needed, that is a simple matter and most hardware stores should have a replacement in stock that would work.

tanks. I did buy my relative a 4 light 2 ft t5 lighting system from home depot to grow , seems to work, but he also has a tent to grow in. I think that is the way tio go. Would 2 systems work twice as good?

does this sound like a good product? area is 5x4.
MaxLume FL44G T5 4’ Fluorescent Light Fixture w/ 4 HO 54W Grow Light Bulbs

Sounds like it is a good light, you can grow a nice canopy in a 4x5 space.

I look forward to seeing your results. In the future you may want more intense light, but for now…nice plan :slight_smile:

Home depot has HO T5 is 4ft 4 bulb or 6bulb.
The 4foot 4bulb is 89.00 and the 6 bulb 139.00.Plus free shipping.
The advantage of 4 foot vrs 2 foot is twice the wattage.4 footers get 50 watts/bulb but the 2 footers only 26watts.
I almost got a T5 for whole grow but I went with leds and I’m glad I did.Sprouts don’t stretch even if 2 foot from light.
I can see how I’m either need to get a bunch of cfl’s,T5 or a small LED for veg so I can get two rooms going.One for flower,the other for sprouts and veg.
Another good thing I like about LED’s.It doesn’t look like a space-ship is landing inside house.I still have windows blocked but I can keep the door open to my grow room and it’s nothing like 4 26watt CFL’s. LED look like a tv might be left on.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia-Lighting-4-Light-T5-White-High-Output-Fluorescent-High-Bay-IBC-454-MV/202838871

thanks. I will retain lighting info as above. Thanks for clearing hings up for me.

I like space ships :mrgreen:

Hmm, now you’ve got me drooling over a whole bunch of lights so my room looks like the Enterprise. Might even have some blinky’s going on…