T-5 Question

Just bought a 4' 8 Bulb T-5 light fixture and would like to know best bulbs. I can have 6400K grow bulbs or 2700K bloom bulbs or any combination of both as long as its only 8....LOL. what do you flouresnt growers think is a good combo to grow and flower for best results....

Tony

id say use 7 veg bulbs in veg and then one bloom just for the extra specs and same for bloom but in reverse obv.... but if u can afford a HID for flowering do it fluro tubes are pathetic compared to hid's cfls are good but only the 250w or higher bulbs for flowering ..

http://www.htgsupply.com/Category-T5-Fluorescent.asp
I like to do 50/50 grow/bloom alternating.In veg all grow bulbs will give you an edge but I still keep it 50/50.
There are triphospher bulbs and coral aquarium bulbs people grow with but I do not see any benefit in my research yet,but more money per bulb(if that's a benefit?).

i say 5 UVL aquasun 10000k and 3 3000k bloom tubes.

Can i flower with the T-5's or will i get crap for bud.....

I was just over at JJ's first grow, he flowered with an 8 bulb T-5, with pretty decent results. He was running hydro though, so his buds probably filled out more than they would have in soil. If you need to keep your heat down and don't have the money to invest in an HID w/ exhaustible hood, 400 watts of mixed spectrum, high output flouros seem like a safe bet to me. I'd say scrog to get a nice, even canopy, keep the flouros about 5" from the tops of the buds and you'll be happy with the end product.

If you are growing plants taller than 12 inches than the more benefit for hid.T5's are great for vegging,scrog,sog 12/12 from rooted clone.

Use cheap bulb as there is very little difference between then and the expensive grow bulbs and you'd be much better off with the cheap ones and changing them often than 5x more expensive ones and changing them infrequently. 3:1 of 6500K:2300k for veg and the opposite for flower. Don't use the super super crazy expensive aquarium bulbs as they offer less total PAR and will never ever calculate out. If you have any doubt just look at the figures - https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-fluorescent-lighting/497875-actinic-linear-flourescents.html

i bought lite from hydroponics shop locally so i hope they wouldnt be aquarium bulbs. heat and electric use are a big factor for me, thats why i chose flouresents. hope it wasnt a mistake.

micadesgns said:

i bought lite from hydroponics shop locally so i hope they wouldnt be aquarium bulbs. heat and electric use are a big factor for me, thats why i chose flouresents. hope it wasnt a mistake.

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when growing with T5 you just have to grow and train your plant right keep them all at the same height so you can get an even layer of height and you will have good quality bud

Gastanker said:

Use cheap bulb as there is very little difference between then and the expensive grow bulbs and you'd be much better off with the cheap ones and changing them often than 5x more expensive ones and changing them infrequently. 3:1 of 6500K:2300k for veg and the opposite for flower. Don't use the super super crazy expensive aquarium bulbs as they offer less total PAR and will never ever calculate out. If you have any doubt just look at the figures - https://www.rollitup.org/cfl-fluorescent-lighting/497875-actinic-linear-flourescents.html

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I saw your spreadsheet, it's over a year old. Nobody uses Fiji Purples (No legit. SPD for them.). You listed no data on the bulbs in general, so PAR folks can't verify you're even using the right bulbs. All your numbers are based on data you gathered from third party sources ( Which you do not list.). It's cool enough, but it's all speculation. Nothing personal. You also keep mentioning actinics, those are primarily a veg bulb. If you are flowering with alot of blue light, your yields will not be as good. So I think you my be slightly misguided. Also, please prove this bit about less total PAR? How do you figure? I see no SPD comparisons listed.

If you want alot of good info on T5 growing, and the how's and why's of why we use PAR, check this out. It's pretty lengthy, but theres alot of people willing to help there if you'll put in some effort on your end. https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/358190-led-without-leds-my-first.html