Club T5

C.Indica

Well-Known Member
Really glad to see a t5 thread. I have 1, four foot 8 bulb fixture, and 1 four bulb four footer. The 4 bulb I use as a veglight in a very small room, and the 8 bulb I will be using for the bud room. I have been thinking of trying a 600watt bulb but the t5 dose work great.
We'd love to have you contripbute, go ahead and throw pictures up if you like.



Hey so howfar does everyone keep their T5s above canopy?
Just wondering, I'm trying diffrerent heights, but Nothings burned even when it doees touch the bulb.
 
Hasn't anyone ever mounted some units on the sides of their closets? This way you have your light on top as well as a light on each side to help with lower growth. I'm getting 4 8 bulb 4 footers delivered this week and I plan on having 2 on top and one on each sided. Can't wait to see what happens hehe.
 

C.Indica

Well-Known Member
Right now at 1/2" since its cooler... summer time around 2"-3"
I usually keep them as close as possible, but after noticing small 'bleach/burn' freckles on my AK47seedling, as well as slow growth, I rasied thelight to abnout 2-3", and the other two seedlings have seemed to grow faster withouit streching, the AK took a couple daysbut alsopickedup on vigor.
Although In theory with my circulationand temps I could have them almost touching the bulbs.
Maybe it's a dry air near the bulbs?

Hasn't anyone ever mounted some units on the sides of their closets? This way you have your light on top as well as a light on each side to help with lower growth. I'm getting 4 8 bulb 4 footers delivered this week and I plan on having 2 on top and one on each sided. Can't wait to see what happens hehe.
I dont have the means or necessity to doit, but it's a greatside lighting setup.
 

HSA

Well-Known Member
Currently stuck with T8's. Cant find the ballast at homedepot or lowes yet. Its like nowhere seels em but online and for 150the a piece, i could get a 400piece watt hps online for that price
If you buy a 4' shop light fixture at The Home Depot it comes complete with ballast, just no tubes. HSA
 

kiteflyin

Member
Hope you guys aren't opposed to prospective T5 growers!

I had a couple of questions about T5.

How are your yields?

How are your energy bills?

What was the total Cost of your set-up + ballasts?
 

MrRobbyRob

Well-Known Member
I currently veg under a six bulb Badboy, and flower with an eight bulb VHO. At first I was regretting the purchase of the VHO T5, as my first couple of harvests were a little bit light... approx. 7-8 oz, which is OK, but not considering the unit uses about 800 watts... So I was planning on switching it out for a 600w Sunpulse ( i can't stand the yellow HPS light)... But after tweaking a few things, increasing pot size, and training better, this run I am going to hit close to twelve ozs. I find that staggering the harvest (taking the top buds first, letting the rest fill out and mature) is the way to go with T5's. I will try to post some pics in the next couple days!
 

C.Indica

Well-Known Member
Never heard anything like that.
The idea of all flowers/fruit on a plant ripening at the same time is rediculous and near impossible.
This suggests harversting the top cola, where flowers have ripened, and leaving the smaller nugs below to continue flowering for another period of time (Maybe a week or so) to ripen more.
 

Egzoset

Well-Known Member
My 1st grower experiment was behind the window, using whatever available sunlight there was. I've tried a few things: cutting bud tips while leaving their bases behind to grow replacement tips, harvesting whole top buds leaving the lower ones intact, cutting the whole top half after a while... The trauma seemed to slow down growth in all cases at varying levels.
 

MrRobbyRob

Well-Known Member
In my case, I don't care if the growth slows down, because otherwise I would have pulled the whole plant anyways. What I am accomplishing is letting the lower buds fill in a bit more (even if not a lot) and mature, so I don't have to throw it in with the trim... I only have so many plants I can grow anyways, so space is not a premium for me.
 

C.Indica

Well-Known Member
My 1st grower experiment was behind the window, using whatever available sunlight there was. I've tried a few things: cutting bud tips while leaving their bases behind to grow replacement tips, harvesting whole top buds leaving the lower ones intact, cutting the whole top half after a while... The trauma seemed to slow down growth in all cases at varying levels.
In my case, I don't care if the growth slows down, because otherwise I would have pulled the whole plant anyways. What I am accomplishing is letting the lower buds fill in a bit more (even if not a lot) and mature, so I don't have to throw it in with the trim... I only have so many plants I can grow anyways, so space is not a premium for me.
You're botrh right, growth will slow, but since they're stll alive they can rfinish up (Maybe the lower buds didn't have milkyu trichomes yet, and w*ouldn't have got you that high, now you canlet them amber up before harvest)
 

RNmed4200

Member
Currently stuck with T8's. Cant find the ballast at homedepot or lowes yet. Its like nowhere seels em but online and for 150the a piece, i could get a 400piece watt hps online for that price
T5 is better for veg IMO in a small to medium grow. If you look at most 8bulb 4ft they put out 40000 lumens which is about the same as a 400w hps. And the plus is you dont waste any lumens you can place the t5 4-6 inches away with a fan or two all day on 24/7 setup. When your a 12-18 inchs away with a 400w hps your plants will be getting less light then the t5 setup. I personally think t5 is great and they can flower good too with the right know how.
 

RNmed4200

Member
also ebay has refurbished ones for 150 shipped i believe in ither 3k or 6.5k 8bulb 4 feet they are the ones they sell on amazon for 250 something.
 

ohmy

Well-Known Member
I just scored a 12 bulb t5 for 200 off fle bay. Going to use it in my veg tent that i run autos in to take up some spair room. Anyone run the 12bulb light ?
 

budwich

Well-Known Member
I have a pair of 2' 4 bulb t5s and a 2 bulb 4ft t8. use them only for vegging. Great bang for the buck, I picked them up at HTG for $69 with bulbs
 

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swayzeinc

Active Member
Hey everyone, first time grower here with a few questions about my T5. I am using a 4' 8 bulb T5 in a 4x5 grow space. According to everything I've read, I should be able to run the light within 6 inches of the plants without any burning. While I haven't seen any burning, I am running into heat issues and am forced to run the light about 9 inches from the canopy (temp stays around 80-82 during the day at this height.) Currently I have 1 wall mounted osculating that is 2-3 inches above the canopy and another osculating fan on the floor that is about 6 inches from the plants. Should I put the light closer and push the temp or should I leave it where it is? Also I know that I over-fed my babies last week as I have some nuit burn on all of them. I've noticed it has been correcting its self, however the tips on new growth are still coming out slightly yellow. Is this from the heat, or do you think it is the last bit of nutrients working their way out? Plants were clones purchased and transplanted on the 9th in happy frog soil, were fed on the 12th and have been watered once since then. Any help you guys can throw my way is much appreciated!
 

DQ Blizzard

Active Member
I'll be following and adding to this thread, love it!!

I am using a 2ft 2bulb T5 for veg/clone and a 4' 8bulb for veg/flower this is my first run with a T5 flowering, this happened by necessity my 400w HPS would not power on in my home and I was overdue moving them from out of the 2ft light.
 
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