What are T5's

I was hoping someone could give me some info on T5's, such as what the T stands for, what the 5 stands for, difference between t5's and t other numbers, can you veg and/or flower with them, what watts are they availiable in, what spectrum they are, how much they cost, you know just everything about them haha. Post a link to somewhere where these questions are answered or just give me some answers. I'm currently vegging with CFL's all are looking fine(just saw my first pre-flower yesterday) I just keep reading about people using them and would like some more info on them. Thanks guys, without this site I wouldn't be where I am today

It is the width of the fluorescent tube.
T5 are small, T8 are larger, T12 are even
larger. They now make T5HO which stands
for High Output, these put out the most light
per watt out of any fluorescent.

T simply means tubular, the shape of the bulb. The number following that denotes the diameter of the bulb in 1/8ths of an inch. You can buy these bulbs and fixtures just about anywhere, check your local hardware store. As for efficiency in regards to growing plants, the best you can get in my opinion is the 32W 4 foot T-8 as their lumen output is quite high and they're more efficient than T-12 types but T-5s will do fine. You can veg and flower using these bulbs but your yield will be greatly affected in comparison to HID lighting like MH and HPS. The spectrum of these bulbs varies, check the package the bulb comes in to try to match what you need for that life stage of your plants.

These lights may be worth getting if you have a large area that needs lighting, but to be perfectly honest I've seen people grow with 42W CFLs at around 2700K during flowering and they did surprisingly well. Also worth mentioning is that, in my own opinion and based on what I've seen from other growers, the acclaimed 100+W CFL bulbs are NOT worth the money. When growing with CFLs you need a lot of smaller bulbs evenly spaced among your plants as fluorescent light doesn't carry very well and loses energy quickly the farther it goes. So, 5 42W CFls would be better than 1 200W and I think you may be better off with CFLs for flowering anyhow. T type bulbs are usually used for lighting large trays of clones and nothing more. Hope this helps,

Regards

Joe Hemp

zigginanzaggin said:

I was hoping someone could give me some info on T5's, such as what the T stands for, what the 5 stands for, difference between t5's and t other numbers, can you veg and/or flower with them, what watts are they availiable in, what spectrum they are, how much they cost, you know just everything about them haha. Post a link to somewhere where these questions are answered or just give me some answers. I'm currently vegging with CFL's all are looking fine(just saw my first pre-flower yesterday) I just keep reading about people using them and would like some more info on them. Thanks guys, without this site I wouldn't be where I am today

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I don't wanna be a dick...but you couldn't you have googled it....and took half the time it took you to type all that? lol

Joe Hemp said:

fluorescent light doesn't carry very well and loses energy quickly the farther it goes.



Joe Hemp

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All radiation acts the same way, it is called the inverse square law.

And it doesn't "lose energy" the farther it goes, it is the same amount
of energy covering a larger area, meaning the average energy per area
goes down.

I did google it. They are slimming pills lol. Thanks for the easy answers guys

Shrubs First said:

All radiation acts the same way, it is called the inverse square law.

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That's not entirely true, in the strictest sense. Th Inverse Square Law (for the propigation of light) describes how light energy, from a "Point Source", behaves as it radiates over distance. A point source of light is like an incandescent filement, for example, where the light is free to radiate in all directions, simultaneousely.

An LED light source (either singular or collective) is, by it's very nature, a "Directional" light source. In other words, it has a prescribed "projection angle" - and is, therefore, exempt from The Inverse Square Law.

I don't mean to be a dick but I could have googled that. Maybe now a new member can search what a T5 is and get some exellent answers from experienced growers. Is that what this site is for?? Thanks guys who answered my question, pretty easy eh?? don't have to skim through google. Keep it coming. Take a lesson in sharing.

zigginanzaggin said:

I don't mean to be a dick but I could have googled that. Maybe now a new member can search what a T5 is and get some exellent answers from experienced growers. Is that what this site is for?? Thanks guys who answered my question, pretty easy eh?? don't have to skim through google. Keep it coming. Take a lesson in sharing.

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um, ok? lol

T5HO are very potent lights and worth the $$.

T12's are the normal fat flouros that you see mostly everywhere. The T8's are a better version of the 12's but are still pretty normal looking compared to the 5's.

Great info guys, so these T5HO's seem to be the best ones, where I am 23 watt CFL's are about 2-4 bucks apiece at the home depot so how much do u think the T5HO's are. (oh and sorry Goosegg thats why I try not to drink anymore). Now people say that CFL's produce fluffy buds which is why I opted for many smaller watt CFL's for positioning purpose, but what a pain in the ass moving them sometimes three times a day. Do u think the HO's have enough penetration to produce decent buds? Curious because I will be working on the road and can only check my plants on the weekends and don't want them growing into my lights. My girlfriend will not EVER check them for me, what a meanie lol. (please don't tell me to just just buy an HPS even though I'm really starting to think about)

zigginanzaggin said:

Great info guys, so these T5HO's seem to be the best ones, where I am 23 watt CFL's are about 2-4 bucks apiece at the home depot so how much do u think the T5HO's are. (oh and sorry Goosegg thats why I try not to drink anymore). Now people say that CFL's produce fluffy buds which is why I opted for many smaller watt CFL's for positioning purpose, but what a pain in the ass moving them sometimes three times a day. Do u think the HO's have enough penetration to produce decent buds? Curious because I will be working on the road and can only check my plants on the weekends and don't want them growing into my lights. My girlfriend will not EVER check them for me, what a meanie lol. (please don't tell me to just just buy an HPS even though I'm really starting to think about)

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From what i've read, the t4ho's are good for vegging, not that great for flowering.

i've done a few grows with cfl's, which have been good
but i'm just getting ready to try a scrog for the 1st time and been reading up on the t5's(and t8's)
i'm not experienced with either, but i do see a few experienced growers don't seem to care for t5's for flowering
they were convincing enough to get me to try the t8's for my 1st scrog, we'll see how it goes

Thank you so much guys, awesome info. I'm still up in the air as what to do about my monday to friday plant unchecking but I don't think I'll invest in the T series flourecents (although if I was just starting again I would definitly consider the tubes for vegging due to the fact that moving CFL's numerous times a day is a very time consuming process). My 23 watt cfl are doing great ( 10 bulbs=230 watts I have 20 plants going all look frickin sweet right now and I wish I had a camera so I could start a grow journal ) Anyways I think think this thread has run it's course unless anyone else has suggestions about my monday to friday situation or of course if you have different thoughts about the T series flourecents or new info just keep it coming. I really hope some other members got as much info as I did. Once again thank you RIU.

NO Shit!

Google It!

T-5= 5/8th of an inch
T-8= 1 inch

And so on and so forth!

Thank you down on wax. Now can you answer one of my questions that hasn't already been answered? Like perhaps an option about what I should do about my mon-fri plant un-checking, I know I can google but google dosn't have the knowlege of RIU. This Is what I am looking for; answers from expierienced growers. I'm starting to think I'm kinda screwed cause I can't let them grow into my lights all week. My CFL's burn them within minutes, will the T series do the same? Why oh why won't my girlfriend just check them for me. Anyways on the road in three weeks hope I can get a good answer by then. Is HPS the only choice for me (or even a choice) or should I just abandon my plans and try to find a sketch bag dealer in my area.

when using flours what do you think the best kinda bulb would be?

When I was buying mine about two months ago I decided to go with the 23 watt CFL. 1600 lumens/23watt = 69.5 lumens per watt, the others bulbs were somewhere in the 62-65 Lumen per watt. Now after looking up T5HO's I found a 55 watt (PLL-55W) which puts out 10000 lumens = 181 lumens per watt. If was starting over again I would go for something like this for vegging.

zigginanzaggin said:

When I was buying mine about two months ago I decided to go with the 23 watt CFL. 1600 lumens/23watt = 69.5 lumens per watt, the others bulbs were somewhere in the 62-65 Lumen per watt. Now after looking up T5HO's I found a 55 watt (PLL-55W) which puts out 10000 lumens = 181 lumens per watt. If was starting over again I would go for something like this for vegging.

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that is one impressive number, that blows HPS away(i think) for lumens per watt
guessing those are pretty pricey ballasts/bulbs?