Will Fluorescent Lights do the job

I`v got a small cabinet thats about 2 ft x 1 ft. All I`m going to be using it for is starting off some plants for the first month then moving them outdoors for a guerilla grow.

Now my question is will 2, 24` T12 Fluorescent tube lights work?

They are 20W, 6500K and supposedly only give off 1200 lumens per tube.

Oya, and i plan to have about 8 plants in the room.

any help would be greatly appreciated

no they wont work .. you need HO high output T5's. or cfl's check the lumen and kelvin output , T5's are the highest, 5000 lumens and 6500 kelvin in a T5, 2700 lumens on a T12. T2's are coming out this year, 70w 10 000 lumens.

thanks man, thats exactly what i needed

No that's not what you needed. If you're only going to be starting the plants in there t12's will be fine. They don't need a bunch of light to grow. T5's would be better but t12's would do the job just fine.

maloner said:

thanks man, thats exactly what i needed

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Resident Kush said:

no they wont work .. you need HO high output T5's. or cfl's check the lumen and kelvin output , T5's are the highest, 5000 lumens and 6500 kelvin in a T5, 2700 lumens on a T12. T2's are coming out this year, 70w 10 000 lumens.

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Actually, T-12s will work and just fine, T-8s work even better. The vegging time may take longer but it WILL work. I know, I have done it. I did upwards of 16 starter plants up to 8" high under 4 T-12 4' fluorescent. I have HO T-5 now and they do work much faster as the lumen output is greater. FYI, there was a time when most indoor bud was grown on screens under T-12 flouros. Shelf upon shelf of shop lights...LOL.

you guys are on glue .. t12 and t8s will leave the plant stretched and pale green, with little to no secondary growth. So when he goes to plant outside, under the sun they will get burned, not to mention wont have developed any roots and die of transplant shock .. good advice guys

i think they will work just fine (no offense Resident kush). it just depends on what type of T12's you purchase. im using two 4ft GE Plant/Aquatic T12's right now and my babies are doing fine. the only issue you run into with fluoros is during flowering but if you are moving them outside, you should be fine.

but yea, back to the lights, it is very dependent on what type of lights you buy. cool white works fine but anything that offers the full spectrum of light would work best. i picked mine up at the closest Lowes but im sure any hardware store would have the lights you need.

ok .. you need 2-1 t12 over t5 at the same price .. do the math. Why you would have this guy start with the wrong lights is crazy .. I have hps mh white and orange fluoros .. and the t5 fluoros are better than the HID .. but yeah T12 at 2700 lumens is better ...

pffft!

some of you people are soo stupid. anyone using a fluoro thats not HO should retire ..

Along with Resident Kush, I agree that T5's and CFLs are best.

However you can use T8s to germinate. You will see some stretching but nothing as severe as resident kush speas of. I would just stay away from T12s, they are way too inefficeint. If you are going to be spending the money, T5s cost literally ~$3 more and they are alot better. There is a comparison chart that shows exactly but I think it is something like 12 T8s = 1 T5 on efficiency of lumens, output, etc.

If you use T8 you will be fine, T5s are best, shy away from t12s.

good luck

BlessAmerica

You are misled. I recommend you at least try it. Ive had plenty good root systems using T-12 for veg. Here are a few pics I could find from my old posts. I didn't put them under my hps till they were over 8" high each. Any plant that is grown indoors will need to be hardened off before going outside anyway, so it is a mute point to say they will not harden off well just because of using flouros. To tell someone that T-12 or T-8 will not work is just a flat out lie.


Vegged under T-12 Flouro:




The end result of one of the females: Flowered with 400w hps

Resident Kush said:

ok .. you need 2-1 t12 over t5 at the same price .. do the math. Why you would have this guy start with the wrong lights is crazy .. I have hps mh white and orange fluoros .. and the t5 fluoros are better than the HID .. but yeah T12 at 2700 lumens is better ...

pffft!

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Resident Kush said:

some of you people are soo stupid. anyone using a fluoro thats not HO should retire ..

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He simply asked if they would work. They will. Will they work as well as HO T-5? HELL NO. I am not arguing that. However, if he already has those fixtures why not use them until you can afford better? The T-12 I was using Cost 0 dollars, hard to beat when you have 0 money. I have upgraded to HO t-5, the results are faster that's about it. I wish I had space to run a MH veg, as that is really where its at.

thanks for all the help everyone. Greatly appreciated