Do t8s work for vegging??
- Thread starter puffntuff
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JimmyT
Well-Known Member
Absolutely! I've come to realize that there is no need to have a mother plant. It would be nice to just have a plant on the side waiting to be picked at for cuttings, but the cost/labor outweighs the benefits. I've used T8s for over a year with no problems whatsoever. While T5s (I'm running them for veg) may put out more light and provide vigorous growth, it does, however, come with more heat compared to T8s
JimmyT
Well-Known Member
6000K or more...
jawbrodt
Well-Known Member
Yep, I've been using T8's for awhile now, and actually sold my T5's,(4 foot, 2 bulb models) because these particular T8's are 6 bulb units, and cover twice the area, at half the wattage. I keep that at 1" distance, and they work great, just as good as T5 placed at 3", IMO. My T8's actually had better light penetration that my T5's,(checked mith my light meter, which is why I sold those. Keep in my that mine have high-output ballasts, and are more powerful than the type sold at hardware stores. I think I know which 4-bulb lights you arte talking about, and as mentioned, they'll work pretty good, if placed really close. Be wary of weird uneven bulb spacing, though, and place your plants accordingly,(directly under the bulbs, avoiding the open spaces. Should you opt to buy one like that. Although I do plant to upgrade to 8-bulb T5's, this is what you can expect with 5-6 weeks veg, under a good T8 setup....
(I have 6,500K bulbs in them, atm. They worked great with 5,000K, as well)
(I have 6,500K bulbs in them, atm. They worked great with 5,000K, as well)
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JimmyT
Well-Known Member
If you're going to use those kinds of bulbs, I'd suggest finding what their lumen output is (it should say on the box). I've never used them but so long as they match, if not surpass T8s then you should be fine.
Where did you get your high-output ballasts for your T8s? I had originally wanted those but couldn't find them anywhere online. I own the 48" 8-bulb T5 setup and it can get rather hot compared to my regular output T8s. I'm willing to bet the HO T8s are the sweet spot and you may have just confirmed that for me
jawbrodt
Well-Known Member
Well, actually, they're not "HO's" , like you are thinking. They have industrial ballasts, which have a BF (ballast factor) of 1.12, which is 12% more than what lights SHOULD be putting out. But, most of those cheaper shoplights you get at your hardware store have BF lower than 1.0, somewhere around .85, so basically, the ballast I'm using, have 20-30% more output. IDK if the difference is quite that large, but I do know that they work well. I blame most of that on the reflector design. It's super-shiny, and symmetrical. Search "T-bay T8" on Ebay, and the same exact light will come up. It's $100 + like $25 to ship. Comes with 5000K bulbs, too, which work great. I'm planning to test them against the 6500K, just to see the difference. That'll be sometime in the future. Might even do 3000K too, because i already have the bulbs. Hmm.....Where did you get your high-output ballasts for your T8s? I had originally wanted those but couldn't find them anywhere online. I own the 48" 8-bulb T5 setup and it can get rather hot compared to my regular output T8s. I'm willing to bet the HO T8s are the sweet spot and you may have just confirmed that for me