which 2 foot T5 would you guys/gals recommend?

DO3SHA

Well-Known Member
Look at the lumen difference in them tho the 2 bul s is equal to a 4 bulb you could do two two bulbs and hang them at an angle to make them fit
 

aCiDjEsUs

Well-Known Member
I got one 2' 4 tube T5 on top of my plants soon to be, and I got two 125w cfls with hoods on each side of the t5 panel. DSC04881.jpg DSC04880.jpghope this helps ;)
 

Bluntcuts

Active Member
so if i want to run two out of eight i can? i know with my hydrofarm i canr run either four or eight bulbs and it is made to daisy chain if needed to be
Yes, you can run however many you want. I have my 4 bulb and I can run anywhere from 1 - all 4 bulbs. Just simply turn it off, take the # of bulbs out and turn back on.
 

brotherjericho

Well-Known Member
http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-HTG-Supply-2-Foot-2-Lamp-PL-55-Tek-Lamp.asp
at 10,000lumens
or
http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-HTG-Supply-2-Foot-4-Lamp-PL-55-Tek-Lamp.asp

at 20,000 lumens

i wish i would of went with one of each instead of my 8 bulb, because that is 30,000 lumens out of 6 bulbs
If anyone decides to use these, do NOT get seedlings within more than 6" of the bulb, you will bleach/solarize them. I do not have this lamp setup but I use the bulbs, they have much more penetration than t5s, believe it or not. And yes, 4 of them will put off quite a bit of heat in a small space so you will need good ventilation.
 

brotherjericho

Well-Known Member
More heat than an 8 bulb 2 ft t5??
Don't know, don't have experience with t5s. But I do have experience with the 55w PLLs. I killed many seedlings from having them closer than 3-4", and with only three running in my small cab, I was running in mid to upper 80s. I've since made a custom fixture that is sealed in glass (plexiglass actually) and air cooled, now my temps rarely get higher than 80.
 

Bluntcuts

Active Member
Those are Compact T5's. Still T5's. And no they do not produce as much heat as a 8 bulb t5. Prob not even as much as a 2ft 4 bulb..
 

DO3SHA

Well-Known Member
Interesting you guys, those fixtures are better if they output more lumens than t5s and require less bulbs, only downfall is they are proprietary bulbs I think I'm gunna pick up the 4 bulb fixture and get 4 extra bulbs for it
 

HSA

Well-Known Member
Freeshit: what I've learned about growing with T'5's is that they should completely cover your grow. The operative words here are 'completely cover' and the fixture size should match dimensions of your growing environment. Your problem is going to be even number size fixtures in length and the odd numbered size length of your grow space, or you're going to have something left over. Here's something to think about I wish I'd known before.

I have a 2' deep by 4' wide by 6 1/2' tall tent. Fixtures come in standard lengths of 2' and 4' and I figured a fixture four tubes wide 4' long would work. Wrong! The first fixture I bought was four tubes/13" wide and 4' long. The length was good but not the width. I figured it would light up my tent nicely, and it did, but wrong again. It only covered half of the depth of my tent. I centered it in my tent and my first couple of grows under the fixture 4' long and 4 tubes/13" wide, lit up the plants directly under it but the ones on the fringes grew scraggly trying to stretch up to the light. T-5's don't spread the light as efficiently as HID or HPS.

The solution to my problem was a second 4 tube fixture 4' long and 13" wide. Now I have a relatively clean installation with the two fixtures, hanging side by side, one plugged into the other, both hanging from the upper frame. It's withing the frame weight limits and it's wall to wall light. I'll tell you how well it works in a few weeks when I get my next medical grow going because the two fixtures cover literally every square inch of my 2' by 4' grow space.

Now you're probably doing the math and and you've calculated that two 4' long fixtures, each one 13" wide, equal a total of 26" and that wouldn't normally fit in a 2' deep tent. In fact most tents are a couple of inches smaller inside than their advertised dimensions, but I had the good luck to purchase a Delux Hydro Hut and they're actually about 4" deeper and 4" wider than the advertised dimensions. Now I wish I had bought a single eight tube or even a ten tube fixture because that would have done it all with one unit and it would have been cheaper in the long run. Like my old coach used to say, "We often learn the hard lessons in life by losing." Some thing to think about. I hope this helps. HSA
 

DO3SHA

Well-Known Member
Hsa you make no sense if your tent is wall to wall light you have no space around the light for air circulation and that will give you problems sir
 

freeshit

Active Member
Freeshit: what I've learned about growing with T'5's is that they should completely cover your grow. The operative words here are 'completely cover' and the fixture size should match dimensions of your growing environment. Your problem is going to be even number size fixtures in length and the odd numbered size length of your grow space, or you're going to have something left over. Here's something to think about I wish I'd known before.

I have a 2' deep by 4' wide by 6 1/2' tall tent. Fixtures come in standard lengths of 2' and 4' and I figured a fixture four tubes wide 4' long would work. Wrong! The first fixture I bought was four tubes/13" wide and 4' long. The length was good but not the width. I figured it would light up my tent nicely, and it did, but wrong again. It only covered half of the depth of my tent. I centered it in my tent and my first couple of grows under the fixture 4' long and 4 tubes/13" wide, lit up the plants directly under it but the ones on the fringes grew scraggly trying to stretch up to the light. T-5's don't spread the light as efficiently as HID or HPS.

The solution to my problem was a second 4 tube fixture 4' long and 13" wide. Now I have a relatively clean installation with the two fixtures, hanging side by side, one plugged into the other, both hanging from the upper frame. It's withing the frame weight limits and it's wall to wall light. I'll tell you how well it works in a few weeks when I get my next medical grow going because the two fixtures cover literally every square inch of my 2' by 4' grow space.

Now you're probably doing the math and and you've calculated that two 4' long fixtures, each one 13" wide, equal a total of 26" and that wouldn't normally fit in a 2' deep tent. In fact most tents are a couple of inches smaller inside than their advertised dimensions, but I had the good luck to purchase a Delux Hydro Hut and they're actually about 4" deeper and 4" wider than the advertised dimensions. Now I wish I had bought a single eight tube or even a ten tube fixture because that would have done it all with one unit and it would have been cheaper in the long run. Like my old coach used to say, "We often learn the hard lessons in life by losing." Some thing to think about. I hope this helps. HSA

This will be for the bottom of cabinet. I have a 400 watt MH/HPS for the flowering section(top) The bottom section will be approx. 1ft to 1.5ft tall. I believe the 2ft 4 bulb should do the job and allow adequate airflow. I can return it and get the 8 bulb Sunblaze T28. The guy at the store said it was a waste of money since I was going to be flowering with the HPS at the top anyway.
 

DO3SHA

Well-Known Member
This will be for the bottom of cabinet. I have a 400 watt MH/HPS for the flowering section(top) The bottom section will be approx. 1ft to 1.5ft tall. I believe the 2ft 4 bulb should do the job and allow adequate airflow. I can return it and get the 8 bulb Sunblaze T28. The guy at the store said it was a waste of money since I was going to be flowering with the HPS at the top anyway.
in that case i can agree with HSA since it is on thebottom part of a cab and will be only at one height if thats how you do it with adequate airflow on the sides, you should be fine. im waiting to see sir
 

freeshit

Active Member
in that case i can agree with HSA since it is on thebottom part of a cab and will be only at one height if thats how you do it with adequate airflow on the sides, you should be fine. im waiting to see sir

Do you think the 8 bulb is still the way to go? The 8 bulb will a little less than an inch on the front and back. The sides will have 4 or so inches on each side.
 
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