I'm planning on vegging 12 plants under a T5 4' 8bulb right up to flower stage then put them under 1000w for flowering. My question is, will the T5 be sufficient enough for the veg stage? I only plan on vegging at most 30days. I would like to keep my heat and cost down during veg. Plants will start from clones if that helps/matters. Thank you
Chinlin: If the tops are even enough so that you can get them close enough, 1 to 2 inches, they'll do the job. Mine did. Hank
I use T5's 4ft 10rack they are great, then bud under 600w, if in doubt keep the light off, 6-8" above for thr first 24hrs, then lower to 2-4 inches after that peace "V"
Chinlin: if you change the bulbs from blue to red you can flower with your T-5's at a lot lower utility cost. Something to think about. Hank
It might start getting a little crowded towards the end of your veg, but the T5 will work great. I've got several clones under one at the moment. You can have 3 rows of 4 plants per row and alternate which row is in the middle every couple days to make sure you get even growth.
Flowering under t5s is nowhere near as good as hps. If you use t5s you will only get decent buds on the tops of the canopy. hps will penetrate much deeper and give you more bud lower down.
Chinlin: What I've found through trial and error is that if you have a long enough and wide enough T-5 fixture over your grow you're in business. Just make sure your fixture is as long and as wide as your grow because you don't get strong illumination beyond the limits of your fixture. Ideally, if your fixture is a little wider and longer than your grow area you should be very happy. Hank
In the old days...I mean 1970's thats all we had was flouro tubes, you vegged under cool white and budded under warm white, we always trimmed off the lower stalks and leaves now called SOG, then some guy decided to steal a street light and bud under that. and thus the HPS idea was born.. peace "V"