a step beyond T5's .....I found T4's

[silken]

Originally Posted by Ray

If the 4' fixture is only 22 watts, it explains the lower price.

The HO fixtures are 54W, so have almost 2.5x the light output, too. I am using a single $45 Hydrofarm "High Performance" fixture over a 55-gallon tank of jewel orchid seedlings.

My Sunblaster T5's are 54W HO and they used to cost around $37.00 to $40.00 here but recently the prices have come down somewhat. They are $32.99 in a gardening store here now.

Sorry John, still discussing T5's. Just look at the interesting thread you created tho! Lots of food for thought.

[johnblagg]

lol since we started discussing the lights I built from off the shelf parts ...yep definatly side tracked since it was a discussion about building your own lights ....

but like I said lots of good stuff comes out of it even side tracked

[johnblagg]

Originally Posted by silken

My Sunblaster T5's are 54W HO and they used to cost around $37.00 to $40.00 here but recently the prices have come down somewhat. They are $32.99 in a gardening store here now.

Sorry John, still discussing T5's. Just look at the interesting thread you created tho! Lots of food for thought.

I agree totaly, but remember the bulbs Im using are in fact according to the package t4's I dont see how that small a difference is much to say though...just interesting.

My real interest was that I am using stock off the shelf bulbs that are not Ho bulbs and running them with a electronic ho ballast. Im considering using a technique called overdriving that would allow me to crank the wattage of the 65 watt bulbs output up to over 100 watts.With electronic ballasts you can actually tie the lines that would go to the second bulb to the first bulbs and "OVERDRIVE" the bulbs.

100 watts in a 4x8 inch footprint now thats some power

[silken]

Originally Posted by johnblagg

My real interest was that I am using stock off the shelf bulbs that are not Ho bulbs and running them with a electronic ho ballast. Im considering using a technique called overdriving that would allow me to crank the wattage of the 65 watt bulbs output up to over 100 watts.With electronic ballasts you can actually tie the lines that would go to the second bulb to the first bulbs and "OVERDRIVE" the bulbs.

100 watts in a 4x8 inch footprint now thats some power

Do you know if the bulb's life will be shortened doing that?

[johnblagg]

It will infact be shortened ...but a $13 bulb I can afford to replace a few months early.

Im thinking I will use the last ballast I bought to do this and see how it holds up compared to running them as is .....lol I bought 4 ballasts and next month am thinking I will buy a couple more while they are in stock to have as backups not cheap but not outrageous either at 37 per ballast and each will run two bulbs of up to 96 watts and they are HO ballasts as well.

If I can find some 96 watt bulbs I may try overdriving one of them as well,thinking about buying a high wattage grow light that is not self ballasted and trying it.

[silken]

Keep us posted!

[johnblagg]

ok peeps here is the update ...... lights preformed incredibly well and everything bloomed well and lol the dendrobium aggregatium even spiked mid winter and made its first bloom spike and had 13 blooms on it ....

Could not ask for better lighting as far as I can see.

[Magnus A]

I like the developement but I prefere the one loop versions. As they are working much better with reflectors...
You lose half the light going up, therfore I think you get more light if you use T5 with good reflectors than this T4 that you can not fit a desent reflector on...

Would be nice to get a light meter reading half a meter from this tube to be able to compare real light fluxes at the plants.

/M
/Magnus

[stefpix]

I got 14W 4 band LED panels (225 LEDS per panel) about $25 each and I am really happy, I am using it on Ficus species seedlings / cuttings and I notice an amazing leaf growth in 2 weeks I have used them. I am making a comparison with similar sized seedlings of the same species under LED and T5 and windowsill. trying with orchids too. I was not really hopeful about the LED but I was really surprised. googling arounnd I noticed that people that give bad reviews are usually weed growers that complain that are good for vegging but not for budding.

What I like is that I can use them in my bedroom on a shelf and they mace a nice ambient/accent light. CFL gave a horrible ambiance.

These panels are very light and can be easily attached to a shelf. it would be great to have some extra $ and put some more vertically.

I also bought a 4ft 4 tube HO T5 on ebay for $98 or so incl shipping and it is great, I notice Cattleya species and Myrmecophilas growing a lot of new roots. but that is in my walk in closet.

But I love the LEDs. there are more powerful LED panels but are exponentially more expensive.

After being happy of the 14W LED panels, I bought 2 more from a different vendor and I have to say these ones appear even better and brighter even if it is the same wattage. the leds are Red, Orange, Blue, White, you get a reddish / purplish light over all but enough white to enjoy looking at your plants.

[johnblagg]

Originally Posted by Magnus A

I like the developement but I prefere the one loop versions. As they are working much better with reflectors...
You lose half the light going up, therfore I think you get more light if you use T5 with good reflectors than this T4 that you can not fit a desent reflector on...

Would be nice to get a light meter reading half a meter from this tube to be able to compare real light fluxes at the plants.

/M
/Magnus

there is no reason you could not use this with a reflector it is flat and just 4 x 8 .... and lol they hang just a few inches below a shelf painted flat white one of the best reflectors you can have in fact ... as for lost light there is no such thing with every surface painted flat white when I use every bit of it for growing something and have enough light to grow pepper plants in the center and I have a 10 x 20 room so how is it lost ?The only light that is lost is what spills out the windows .... as for measuring light since I bloom everything from catts to den aggregateum under them and at anything closer than 1 foot away from the lights get reddening of leaves and minor burn I see no need to measure ... the orchids approve and thats all I need