t5 8 bulb fixture questions (peppers)

17 years ago

Hi guys, I've purchased a t5 8 bulb fixture (got a great deal on it). I have 6 white and 2 red bulbs set up right now. I'm going to be growing a minimal amount of plants and my setup will be in an office and setup on a home made bench/cabinet, and the entire grow area will be small- roughly 5ft x 3ft (including canopy)- the actual table will only be 4x2.5'. My hope is to grow the plants to roughly 2.5 tall max and top them so they stay short and bushy, and once fruiting keep them on a 12/12 schedule and hopefully keep the plants fruiting for as long as possible. I plan on growing no more than 6-8 pepper variety -a couple of habaneros and the rest will be ornamentals. I will be doing a either a ebb/flow setup or a drip I'm leaning to the drip system which will allow me to adjust the height of the plant container so I have an even light level and not a tilted fixture accommodating shorter plants.

To my main question. Will a 8 bulb t5 fixture do what I want to do? Should I have purchased a HID or HPS w/ switchable ballast instead?

My main concern w/ anything other than the flours is "HEAT". I don't want to have to set up any other type of ventilation besides an overhead ceiling fan and a oscillating fan at plant height set on low if/when needed.

My fingers and toes are crossed that this will work. The store I bought the fixture from had this same fixture set up growing a massive tomatoe plant on a flood table w/ several other smaller plants surrounding including a miniture bell type pepper plant that had red and yellow pods - looked really cool! The lamp was up approx 3-4ft in height in roughly the same size area. There was a window close by but it was heavily shaded and the guy helping me said 99% of the light was from the fixture. He seems to think that I'll be able to grow what I'm hoping to w/ this.

What do you think?

Any suggestion on what type of plumbing system - drip or ebb/flow - for peppers is greatly appreciated!

Thanks for reading and for your suggestions!

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Comments (6)

cannabisgrower
17 years ago
3000 - 5000 lumens per square foot provides a nice intensity for growing peppers - I think your setup is in that range, but check the ratings of the lamps and you'll know for sure.
Standard cool white temperature color is ideal for general growing.
arizona_pepper_man
Original Author
17 years ago
Hey Sativa/Canna or whatever you'd like to be called :)

Thanks for the info. What's the easiest way to find out the amount of lummen per square foot? Simple math?
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garysgarden
17 years ago
Yep. Just add up the total lumen output of your lights (each bulb in your fixture) and then measure the light footprint it puts off. It's not exact, but it's close enough for this kind of work.

I'd say you've got plenty of juice there to grow what you're looking to grow. You should be very happy with the results.

Definitely use the fans, though. For one thing peppers seem to like cooler temps and breezes, but mainly the airflow will promote thicker stems and bushier growth. If you get lucky and get a lot of peppers those thicker stems will be great.

One of the biggest problems indoor plants have is that without that breeze they get lazy and think they don't need a strong stem. Outside they grow strong to survive storms, but there's no point wasting energy to build a stem if you're sheltered from the elements.

Double check with your specific pepper types, but I know that peppers like much lower Nitrogen than most plants. A friend of mine had trouble getting any fruit set at all while he was using fertilizer that had nitrogen in it.

Also, you should do fine with a drip or ebb and flow system either way. It's mainly just a matter of getting the right amount of moisture to the plant. I think some peppers vary slightly, but they like less water than say tomatoes.
cannabisgrower
17 years ago
Keep the pepper within an inch of the lamps - the closer the better.
garysgarden
17 years ago
An inch is a bit close IMO. You can't let the leaves touch the bulbs or you'll burn them, and the plants will easily grow an inch fast enough that you don't want to sit and watch, waiting to move the lights.

"The closer the better" is correct, but you want to leave enough room for growth that you don't burn the tops between the time you check them next. I try to give a few inches - like 3-4 to allow for growth.
plantboy_grower
17 years ago
You may want to consider this thread for energy savings on those red bulbs until you see signs of the first flowers: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/lights/msg1018592616139.html?1

I'm not sure if two red bulbs in an eight light fixture is enough blooming light or not for such a large growing area?

As in the thread I mention above, I have a four foot long, four lamp T5 fixture - so about half the width of your 8 light fixture - and I have grown lettuce and tomatoes under it with GREAT success. Tomato plants were just as you said, about 2 feet high. Just make sure you choose varieties that tend to grow only about this tall, makes it easier (never tried to see what would happen if you chop off a variety at 2 feet that is supposed to grow to 10 feet).