T5s T8s how are these as far as using them for veg? im putting together a veg area and wanted to stay away from HID but wanted to know how other peoples results have been using these. I will be using hps for flower
I'm extremely happy with my T5 in the veg tent. 5x5 tent with an 8 bulb T5. It doesn't put out too much heat and my plants, seedlings, clones flourish in there.
Check my journal There are 4 moms, soon to be two or three more. Clones go in there, 50 at a time, then transplanted to Dixie cups, 50 at a time, then they move to 3gals and the flower room. There pics all throughout my journal.
you have to think how much money will you spend on t5, how much money will you spend on t8. can you get more t8 in there for the price of one t5 bulb? t5 have 15% more output for less watts. but t5 are typically expensive compared to t8. home depot carries t5 fixtures with bulbs. 4 feet long 2 tube fixture with 3000k lamps run you 34$ not bad hu? but you got to spend 3-5$ to buy a cord to wire up the fixtures. t8 are readily available with many color temps to choose form, not so with t5. you sometimes have to special order them and pay shipping. in the long run i believe that compact florescent are more beneficial and t8 may be better for the price, but t5 are better if you have the cash to spend. cfl have more lumas then t5. but cfl use higher watts. so you then have to think. what are you getting for your watts. lumas vs watts. i dont think there is a huge difference between light output for t8 bulbs and t5 bulbs especial if you dont have a deep pocket book. know what i mean? out of my personal experience, returning t5 fixtures to home depot and getting my 70$ back for the 2 fixtures i bought. then using the cash to buy CFL and saving myself 40$ to each there own... but get this. i have a 24 inch fixture with 4 t5 bulbs. 6500 and 3000 k at 9,000 lumas running 96 watts. and i spent 150$ on it with shipping from this site http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/t5-new-wave-2ft-grow-lights-c-321_269.html hope this helps you choose which rout you want to take cfl, t5, t8