Anyone use T-5 flourescents? old friend did and worked

KSsmoker

New Member
I had a friend in Atlanta that used the T5 lights. (flourescents) and although I don't know if he got the same results as a HPS, but it did work all the way through from veg, then switched the lights for bloom. Worked well, although don't know if he got a lesser amount bud or not?

Anyone else use something like this? No heat and half the electric.
Plug n play.
 
I am currently trying this out for myself using T8 fluorescent. My grow is in the Grow journals in progress. Im only at day 7 but I plan on using the fluorescent through the whole process... so we will see.
 
:roorrip:

you have both sets of lights.. One for veg and one for bloom..right?

oh you mean switched to a different kind of light, right? nah im going to try and do the entire grow with fluorescents....
 
Since I now think LED's are like *** on a bull for using alone I just purchased some T-5's and a couple fixtures.

I plan on using the T5's for veggin and then moving plants to a room with a 600 Gavita HPS and perhaps trying to enhance blooms with the red LED panels I have,,, A friend told me a couple T5's are great for a clone nursery as well.

Topdeeni
 
oh you mean switched to a different kind of light, right? nah im going to try and do the entire grow with fluorescents....

What I mean, is..there are 2 types of bulbs to use with the t-5 florescents.
Put one set in for veg..then switch them out with another spectrum for bloom. They are the same 'type' of lights, but a different spectrum.

kssmoker
 
What I mean, is..there are 2 types of bulbs to use with the t-5 florescents.
Put one set in for veg..then switch them out with another spectrum for bloom. They are the same 'type' of lights, but a different spectrum.

kssmoker

Gotcha. you mean cool and warm bulbs. I just have one warm and one cool in one light for my setup.
 
I've used both an 16 buld T5 HO system and a 1000w hps system for flowering. The main difference I've found is the hps will make them mature faster but I haven't seen a big difference in bud size. Maybe a little more dense with the hps.
 
I am using a 6 bulb T5HO (high output) light set. I set it up with 2 X 6400K GROW BULBS and 4 X 3000K BLOOM BULBS. I have had great results with it. My grow journal will show the results as these mature more. Most of the dedicated grows love the HPS lights, but I am in a stealth cabinet grow and can not vent the heat enough to use those. Good luck with whatever you decided to use.
 
I use T-5 s for clones and 1k watt MHD for vegging, and 2k watts HPS for flwrng, the amount of buds the HPS puts out is by far the best outa any lights from what I have seen. For me , the t5 are great for clones as there isnt alot of heat.
 
I use a T5 system with 8 lights in it. I use this from clone to a week or two before I go to bloom. I also use smaller pots and at the last week I transfer to 5 gallon pots and flip on the 1000watters, and they EXPLODE. I wait to go to bloom till my kids have hit ATLEAST 22"-24"s, and that usually takes 3.5 weeks under the T5 and 1.5 weeks under the 1000watters. This may be a little longer than just going with full 1000watts from the begining but it really helps on the electricity bill.
 
Using Floros I would go the direct wiring with a CFL route. CFLs give off more intense light because it is compact. Say you have a shop light ballast for 4' T8 floro tubes... they are 4' long and 4 or 5" wide @ 2 x 2800 lumens. A CFL is 6" long 3" wide @ ? x 1600 lumens. You can fit like 12 CFL's giving in the same place for a total of 19200 lumens @ 324 watts in the place of one shop light with 5600 lumens @ 62 watts. You will use more electricity, but will still be under the energy consumption of a HID setup. With direct wiring you save money by not needing to buy sockets and splitters... it is more difficult to change bulbs though. By not using sockets and splitters you save room too.

Here is the link to the instructions on direct wiring CFLs...
What are Compact Fluorescents and How Can I use them for Growing?
 
Since heat is my problem in my grow "compartment"(4'X4'X4') I've gone to a T5 4 bulb overhead with 3 bloom bulbs and 1 veg bulb, 2 150W mogul base CFL's w/reflectors, three sidewalls have a row of 8 125W regular base mounted outward at 24", entire compartment mylar lined, I have a 6" inlet fan because it still would get pretty hot. Temp stays around 81 degrees. My veg compartment is 4'X4'X3.5' and I use a 4 bulb T5 with Veg bulbs. I've never used anything else the last two years since I've started. Currently, I have 10 cloned PPP plants and 10 pretty decent smoking bagseed plants(started out thinking of a SOG grow until it got out of hand) and I'm two weeks away from an awesome harvest(plants are about 32"). Some look like small christmas trees with buds all the way down to the bottom. Lost a couple of plants and smoked what was there and was impressed with leaf and small buds. This works for me. Baby boomers can be productive. Good luck...experiment.
 
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