hey i was wondering if anybody uses the t5 high output fluros. i have the 2 ft 4 bulb right now. the guy at the hydro store says these are elite. let me know. does anyone use these lights? they also have the 2ft x 8 bulb and the 4ft by 4 bulb and so on. does anyone know which work the best? if anyone uses these how high do you keep them away from the e plants, i've noticed that they seem to be a bit hotter than the normal flouros so i have raised them up a bit. also they are supposed to penetrate close to an hps does n e one know how true this is? i would like to see picks of peoples who have these in their setup. also the bulbs are expensive like $16, so i bought two of the 6500kelvin and two 3000kelvin is it gonna be worth it to shell out more cash to buy 2 more of each so that 4 for veg. and 4 flower or is the mixed spectrum good? i never see anyone talk bout these bad boys so let me know asap. thanks!
I was thinking about purchasing a 2ft 4bulb setup, lemme know how that goes for ya. They are l33t, thats for sure. 8,000 lumens is damn good, and less expensive than a huge ass cfl light. Check home depot for replacement bulbs, I was looking at them yesterday - under $10. Your gonna be able to veg somewhere around 3-4plants and flower 1-2 and get some kick ass results.
I use the 4 foot 4 bulb 6500k. It works nice. I keep the light about 1-2 inches away. I vegged 4 plants under it for about 2 months.
you keep it that close?? i have the same lights and just got my babies today and i have it at a foot. guessing this is too far? (dont mean to hijack your thread)
As long as you have good ventilation. I have a square window fan blowing right under it. The closer the better. If the leaves start to canoe (curl upward) and the jagged pointy tips of the leaf point upward the light is to close.
ok well t-5 fluros are not comparable reallly unless u have multiple lights blah blah .. so on so on.... personally i think playin around with t-5's for awhile or even jus shop lights jus to get the feel of things is perfectly correct... t'5's are gonna be a lil bit hotter than ur normal cool white fluors which i belive are t--7s? or 9 correct my if im wrong i havent used fluros n forever and im a litttle drunk.... ne ways id recomend extra light on the sides of ur plants rather than jus top as in u were using an HPS.... like so MH which isnt as great.... learn from ur grows slowly progresss.. grow on, hopefully this helped n sum way?... take care, good luck with the grow brother!!!!
also i forgot to add my brother had wonderful growth from fluros with LST growing ways. i thinkts simp-ly cuz he could use so much cool wattts so closes to the nuggest.. .they were everything but the yield was outrageous.... i was suprised... quality wasnt really magnificant but ya know definitly was worth the dollars that he put into it! grow on good luck!
. It is vented well with a 6 inch blower and a little 6 inch desk fan to blow over the plants. So you think I should have the light about 4 inches from the tops? I dont want them to strecth and be all lanky like some kid who hit puberty too fast.
yeahh isnt that what is aid idk im preety hammered? idk if ur backin me up or adjusting me hahah either way w/e
alright thatnks for the input i guess i goota move them down some, and get a fan or something in there
I use T5 lights for veg and have been for a couple years. First off, throw away all your old crappy 26W T5 tubes (the home depot kind) and get the 56W HO (high output) 6500K T5 bulbs- those are the only ones that are worth spending money on. It's hard to find them anywhere but hydro-shops, but they are worth the $15-18 each. Second- anything more than 4" is WAY TOO FAR!!!!!!!! T5's are extremely efficient when the lights are directly over the plants. Each addittional inch makes you lose a lot of light intensity. There is a reason T5's are shaped the way they are- they're designed to have them hanging DIRECTLY over your plants. I have a 4' 8-bulb Sunlight Supply T5 and it never gets more than 1.5-2 inches away from my plants. Plants grown under a T5 grow much shorter, stockier, and denser than any other light source (except CMH, but thats another story.) I've done a side by side with the standard T5 and the HO 6500K T5 and the difference is phenomenal. The plants grown under the standard T5 bulbs looked like they were grown under standard florescent bulbs, nothing really special. The HO bulbs are what makes T5s so awesome. I go from seed or cutting to about 8" tall under T5s then I switch to a 1000W MH for 7-10 days to allow the plants to stretch and grow a little before going into 12/12. There is no point in growing a plant any taller than 8" under a T5 unless you have supplemental lighting for the bottom half of the plant. T5's have little to no penetrating power, which is why they have to be so close to be effective. Trust me, I've been refining growing under t5's for years and closer is better. Just get an oscillating fan to blow air all around under the light and over the canopy.
thanks newguy, that is what i am using(t5 HO) but i notice that when i put my light that close the curl like a taco, but i also dont have a fan yet, should i be able to have it that close and not curl if i do have the fan and how bigg of a fan
how do the tubes compare for the same wattage? I thought standard tubes were more efficient than HO in terms of lumens/watt, but these sound like similar to MH for lumens/watt. I guess technology has moved on. I was thinking of getting MH, but if the efficiency is nearly as good, with the lights much closer and more even light distribution, they might out-perform MH?