Is t5 lighting ok to use through entire growth?

Keep reading up, and you'll learn a great deal.

i would use uncle bens 4 main cola toping method, cram the plants close together like a sea of green, and keep the light as close as you can mainly concentrated on the 4 main colas, once they are ready chop the 4 main colas, drop the light lower and get some light on the rest of the buds for a week then chop them......

madder of fact i think im gonna do that just for fun lol...i can prolly get 12-15 plants under my 4ft 8 bulb t5

The great thing about t5's are that you can keep them right on top of your plant without worrying about burning them.Great for keeping temps down too.

CrazyBudz said:

i would use uncle bens 4 main cola toping method, cram the plants close together like a sea of green, and keep the light as close as you can mainly concentrated on the 4 main colas, once they are ready chop the 4 main colas, drop the light lower and get some light on the rest of the buds for a week then chop them......

madder of fact i think im gonna do that just for fun lol...i can prolly get 12-15 plants under my 4ft 8 bulb t5

Click to expand...

Interesting. I've never heard of this, but I like it.

T5's are great for vegging. They make little heat, are cheap, and generally very user friendly for vegging. I wouldn't using them for fruiting. You're not going to get as dense of bud nor are you going to get as deep of light penetration as you would with HID lights. I think I'm going to get a 4 foot long 8 bulb set up for my vegging/cloning room. There really is no reason to blow mad cash on a HID light for a vegging room. They're just too costly for that purpose.

Okay so i'm new to growing and i have a 6x 32w T8 fluorescent high bay fixture would i be able to use this for all stages ?
Also whats the difference from T5's and T8's?

i think you could get some fairly dence buds from a T5 (i know not as dence an a HPS or HID) i think if you did the uncle bens topping method and flipped the lights when the 4 main cola branches are about 6" long the t5 light would do decent...like i said im gonna do it for fun within the next couple months!!

CrazyBudz said:

i would use uncle bens 4 main cola toping method, cram the plants close together like a sea of green, and keep the light as close as you can mainly concentrated on the 4 main colas, once they are ready chop the 4 main colas, drop the light lower and get some light on the rest of the buds for a week then chop them......

madder of fact i think im gonna do that just for fun lol...i can prolly get 12-15 plants under my 4ft 8 bulb t5

Click to expand...

well the sad part is, i dont understand the uncle ben method very well, i found one or 2 videos explaining it but they do a poor job.. if anyone could give a detailed description of exactly when and where to cut that would help.

and another question is, will i be able to just keep my closet door closed all the time.. or whats the procedure for that?

The thread for Uncle bens topping technique is sticky in the advanced marijuana sub-forum, definitely good read.

T-5's work good for flower, but you have to keep your plants short. Don't lollipop them unless they stretch more than you expected, if the distance from the top of the pot to the lamp is less than 16"-18" lollipopping may only serve to reduce you total yeild. So keep'em short through whatever method of training you're comfortable with and yes t-5's can produce just as nice quaility buds as HID. Of course genetics, enviroment, and the skill of the grower are the biggest factors in the end product. You may only want to veg your plants 'til they're around 6"-8" tall before the flip, in case you have some plants that like to stretch a lot in flower.

Greather420 said:

The great thing about t5's are that you can keep them right on top of your plant without worrying about burning them.Great for keeping temps down too.

Click to expand...

Not true. Unless right on top = 6" - 8", they will burn and bleach. i run T5 HO in my veg cab.

Bonzi Lighthouse said:

Not true. Unless right on top = 6" - 8", they will burn and bleach. i run T5 HO in my veg cab.

Click to expand...

Really, that stinks. I have mine less than 2" from the tallest tops and have had no problems. Now, I have burnt some tops that were less 3/4" away, though

surphin said:

Really, that stinks. I have mine less than 2" from the tallest tops and have had no problems. Now, I have burnt some tops that were less 3/4" away, though

Click to expand...

ive heard 6-8" mostly.. im going to try 4-5ish myself.. more light the better! just have to keep them well ventilated to reduce heat =]

i was given a old school air purifyer.. its just a big blower motor with a hepa filter. this thing generates some wind. i attached a few photos. this wont be a problem as a source of ventilation will it??

apologies for the quality.

keep in mind im waiting on the rest of my grow room in the mail



This is the blower im talking about...

I am going to scrog these 2 plants. (first grow)

Is there anyway better to arrange this setup?

I have mine about 3" max from the lamp. No issues.

i use my t5 to veg and keep it 2-4" away and never had any problems...matter of fact one of my plants grew like half inch from the light once and it didnt bother it at all..!

Auzzie07 said:

You can check out my grow journal if you'd like, I am doing a grow from seed completely under a 4 ft' 6 bulbs T5 with full spectrum bulb set-up (3 blue, 3 red). So far so good. It can be done, you just have to make sure you keep the plants close to the light.

Click to expand...

where do i find this journal? what bulbs are you using? I have the TEK sunlight system i used for my aquarium its 6 54w bulbs i have two atinic, 3 10k and 1 red spectrum bulb. could i use all of these bulbs throughout the whole grow. should i alternate or only use a sertain kind of bulb during flowering and veg?