I'm looking to set up a second grow area and have a 5 x 5 closet. I want to use fluorescent tubes but I'm having trouble finding the answers to my questions so I'm hoping for a little advice. I currently have a grow box in which I use CFLs and I understand my light spectrums but I don't understand the difference between the T5 and so on. Any advice or links is much appreciated. Oh yea, I'll be using 4ft tubes but I'm not sure how many yet. Thanks in advance!
T5, T8, T12, They're all just different sizes of bulbs. Skinny, Medium, Fat, I Believe T8 are use mostly because they're the most "efficient" Don't quote me on that tho. That's just what I thought I read. I use CFL's, it's less expensive... Google is the shit bro! Use it! haha
the poster above is partially right... t5 t8 and t12 are all different types of ballasts/bulbs and refer to the thickness of the bulbs t5 are the thinnest and have the highghest lumen per watt ratio t8 have the second best lumen/watt ratio and t12 have the worst.. go with t5's.. but i personally have a set up with (2) 4-bulb t8 fixtures (256watts total) with amazing results.. and they were free and only use t5's in a t5 balast and t8's in a t8 and so on and so forth.. 2700k color temp for flowering 6000k color temp for veg always use the highesg CRI bulbs you can find (color rendering index)
JFYI, the number behind the T (5, 8, 12) denotes the diameter of the bulb in 1/8th inches. A T5 is 5/8 diameter, a T8 8/8 or 1", a T12 12/8 or 1-1/2"