T5 Aquarium lights 10000k good or bad for veg and flower?

[Budder]

ok Ive got 6 T5 54W high output tubes 4ft long 46W, 6 parabolic reflectors and 4 ballasts for the tubes all I have to do is wire them up and then mount them on some plywood,

the tubes are 10000K

Would these lights be ok for veg and flowering, i know they need some red spectrum light when flowering but will they be ok without? or will my buds be week loose?

 

Cheers.

[cunningstunt]

I would also like to know if these are ok for clones

I have 2 x 39 watt 10000k tubes and wondering if they would be suitable

[Al B. Fuct]

Almost any flo will do for clones, but 10000K is a bit far into the blue; given the bandwidth of a flo, there will be next to no red-yellow. Not such a big deal when you're trying to convince a clone that it is daylight for a week or two while setting root, but a real problem in later stages of growth.

 

Fluoros in general, including CFLs, are a last resort for flowering; their low intensity light will not produce dense buds and they have limited coverage range, just a few inches, requiring frequent relocation as the plant grows to keep the tube within the correct spacing to the leaves. Something as blue as 10000K won't work well for flowering at all. I suspect that a light source which is that blue may cause extremely short internodal spacing.

 

A 6000-6300K flo will do OK for vegging mother plants when you don't need to do cuttings very frequently. If you need to raise up mother plants more quickly so they can provide cuttings every few weeks, a small MH or HPS (150-400W) is the go.

 

I veg under a 400HPS. The red-yellow spectrum tends to encourage long internodal lengths. I prefer to cut rather tall clones (8-10") for my SoG op, so this is just fine for me. I recently tried a MH conversion lamp but was not happy with the reduced internodal distances for my application. MH works fine for veg in other applications where long internodes are not preferred.

[Gazza2001au]

10000k fluro will veg your plants just fine other OSA members are using the 130w CFL's in 10000k and they are having no problems at all

[Luke Skywalker]

The 130's are 14,000k actually, quite a bit higher in Kelvin measure.

 

The K figure is only an overall appearance thing anyway, it compares the light given off in total to a black body heated to that kelvin temp (kelvin = celcius take 273). The 14000k's still put out a reasonable amount of orange/red spectra. Check out the spectrum charts for them and you'll see what I mean.

 

The T5's are pretty efficient nowadays, I wouldn't flower under em myself, but you can't dismiss them totally. You wouldn't get the yeilds you would with a HID, but perhaps that's not what you're after.

 

Plenty of people flower under MH's and get tight internodes, but not "super tight" or anything.

[wassily]

Luke Skywalker - long time no see. Good to see you are still using the force. Re the T5 HO's you can get some made by a company called Hagen that are called "Lifeglo" and are 6500K. They are awesome for veg growth and cloning.

Cheers.

[Luke Skywalker]

Hey wassily, good to see ya round man.

 

You don't see T5's in Australia often, but perhaps the Eastern States and some particular WA shops might have em.

[jimbojones5678]

The 130's are 14,000k actually

I think they come in three different levels - 2700k for flowering, 6500k for general and the 14000k for marine applications and accelerated growth.

I use the 6500k and it's very good but I might try the 14000k next since you say they are good Luke.

 

Jimbo

[wassily]

You can get the tubes at most aquarium shops. Ther'e a seller called 1guppy1 on ebay that sells nice fittings cheap. The good thing about them is the penetration compared to a T8. The other interesting thing is the 48watt ho compact fluoro globes Bunnings sell. Fit a normal light fitting.

[Luke Skywalker]

Yeah jimbo, I was assuming they were referring to the marine 14000's though.

 

The 6400's do a good job, but the 14000k are excellent for mums, clones (at a distance) and prevegging.

 

I've got a couple of those 48w cool white (something around the 6000k mark although not exactly sure) compacts in the GR. Do wonders for the outer canopy.