Anyone use T5's to veg ebb n flow w/hydroton?

[RedReign]

If so, what EC/ppm are you using? How often do you flood?

I'm using (2) 4 bulb T5's evenly spaced over 4' x 4' (to the outside, 41" to the inside) trays. Vegging in 6" square pots of hydroton with the T5's about 12" above them. I'm using RO water, 2.5ml of MagiCal, and 0-5-10 of GH 3 part per gal. That puts me at about 1.3 EC. I flood every 4 hours. The plants seem to be growing much slower than they should.

I vegged in this same set up in coco, but I used 5 ml per gal of MagiCal, with good results.

I also have a 2' x 4' tent with a 430 watt HPS that I use for testing new clones and new seeds, and these plants veg much faster. I veg at 1.5 EC under the 430.

I'm wondering if I should drop my EC under the T5's even lower, maybe 1.0 EC, since the light intensity of the T5's are lower. Also, maybe flood less often, maybe every 6 hours?

At this point I'm thinking about switching over to 600's for veg, but I'd like to get the T5's to work for me if possible.

 

[alwaystoned_1]

you say you have the t5 tubes 12 inch above the cuts i keep mine about a inch

 

[Phrenic]

you say you have the t5 tubes 12 inch above the cuts i keep mine about a inch

I second that. The first few days of sprouting I might keep them a foot from the lights but after that I always keep them as close as I can without the possibility of the leaves touching the lights. I have my week old girls inches from the lights at all times and they flourish.

 

[paladin420]

From here it looks like the prob is your nutes!! I see no N.good luck

 

[blank85]

I used to veg with a 400w MH. Now i use CFL's. 40-50% strength instead of 100%.

Less light = lower ppm.

I figured this out because all my plants suddenly had N overload and started ram horning AAAH FUCK.

 

[budshoteyes]

How does it compare...is the power savings worth it,slower growth?

 

[RedReign]

Alwaystoned and Phrenic, I just double checked and the plants are actually 4-6 inches from the T5's. I need to keep them a few inches above the plants, or the 2 T5's won't cover the 4x4 evenly, which may be part of the problem.


Paladin, both MagiCal and GH micro have nitrogen.


Blank, yeah I'm thinking even 1.3 EC may be too much for them, I dropped it to 1.0 EC last night.


Budshoteyes, I used the exact same set up when I was growing in coco, and it worked great. I thought I could change over to hydroton and get the same results, but it's not working out so far. I used them originally since they save power and produce less heat, but growth is a little slower. I'm using 432 watts of T5 over each 4x4 tray now on a 20/4 light schedule, I'm going to switch over to 600 watts of HPS over each tray on a 18/6 light schedule.

 

[Phaeton]

I'm not much on nutes, but you did not mention the frequency of the T5's. I tried to veg with both the 6400K and the 6500K growlights, neither doing what I expected. Mixing and matching red in worked.
In your particular case I'm guessing a stronger red signal would help growth rate. Put in 3 of the pink bud lights interleaved with 5 blue veg lights across the area. Or add that third fixture that is needed, with pink bud lights in it, and spread them around.

Stick with the T5's, once tuned in they are quite the lights, and one more fixture will have you up to 664 watts.

I have 420/460nm aquarium T5's mixed with those 6400K & 6500K veg lights supplementing an HPS in the budroom. Different thread, but awesomely versatile lights.

Faster growth should put the nute use back up, dunno, you seem to have a pretty good handle on that part.

 

[blank85]

How does it compare...is the power savings worth it,slower growth?

Well i love the slower growth because i run a perpertual harvest and the plants were getting way to big under the 400w MH over the 9 weeks that the flowering room was occupied. So yes the growth is much slower but i also only use like 30 cfls for 32 veg plants. A mixture of 11w,18w and 23w cfls. 2/3rds 6400k, 1/3 2500k. So i think with more cfls especially if they were all 23w+ you could get pretty fast growth rate, especially if you fed daily (love you coco).

I also love that my veg room requires minimal cooling, the cfls warm the room to a lovely 27 degrees. I wont veg under HID's again.