i have sunblaster f54t5 54W HO 6400k and plantmax FL54/T5 830/HO. Now, i have 4 of each and was wonder just how to use the lights and will they take me through a full grow cycle. I came across a deal that came with a grow tent(dr 90) and a vortex power fan.Everything works im just not sure how to set this up for best results.I bought white widow and dont want to start anything till i have a better idea of what im doing. Im growing hydroponicly (DWC)
Thanks
Chess
So you have 8 x 4 foot 54 watt T5 HO lights? 4 x sunblaster f54t5 54 watt HO 6400K and 4 x plantmax fl54/T5 830/HO? What is the color temp. rating of the plantmax?
The sunblasters are 6400K and this can be used for the entire grow as it is close to true “daylight” color and is also good for veg as it has a lot of blue in the spectrum.
You can probably use all 8 lights for the entire grow if you want, I have no idea what type of tent or what size tent you have. Or what type of light setup you intend, all eight might be positioned above the plants or maybe four above and 4 vertically, one in each corner as side lighting.
my grow tent is 3x3x6 DR90… now i hear and read that people use different light during the flowering stage, or are they just adjusting the times the light is on …18 on 6 off then for flower 12 on 12 off… does this trick the plant into flowering… my plantmax lights dont have anything else on them then what i said in the original post and comes in a red box… i didnt buy these from a store but from someone getting rid of there set up…
thanks
Chess
Yes, cannabis is a short day flowering plant, that means outdoors it flowers during the fall/winter when the days are getting shorter. And yes, so the 18/6 is for simulating the long days of summer and has the plant grow in an aggressive “vegetative” growth cycle where the plant devotes most of its energy into building the size and structure of the plant and then later with the 12/12 light cycle it does indeed “trick the plant”, so to speak, into thinking winter is coming and therefore it starts putting all its energy into producing flowers.
I did a quick google search on the plantmax and they are 3000K, this is a light with a lot of red in it that can be beneficial during the flowering cycle.
This is what I would do with your setup, I’d get a 400watt HID MH/HPS they sell on e-bay for like $100 and use it in this tent and use the T5 lights in the corners for side lighting. I’d take the 6500K and the MH lights for veg and then the HPS and 3000k lights for flower. You can use just the T5s alone without any top lighting and still get decent results in that tent, but with the 400 watt HID combo you could have some seriously dense sticky nuggs coming out of that setup.
If I used only the T5s I’d use the 6500Ks for veg and then add the 3000ks for flower, so you’d run all 8 T5s during flower. Obvioulsy in a 3 foot tent you are not going to be putting 4 foot lights horizontally above the plants. Like you can and would with the 400 watt HID light and only one color set of the T5s in the corners.
Thank you for your input, im going to use the lights I have, its just personal crop. Ill rig something up so I can use all the lights once that time comes. maybe in the future ill invest in the 400 HID, as I grow mostly vegies… ill post update at a later time.
Cheers
Chess
Great info NacG. If you flood that small of a space with all those T5s. I think it will be a nice result. Smaller than the result from using HID lamps.
I hope you do well