Anybody flower with 2 foot 4 bulb t5?

I know its not ideal but has anybody used a 2 foot 4 bulb 96 watt t5 for flower? Ive spent the last few months getting together a pretty nice setup piece by piece. I have a 5x5 green qube tent, 8 inch Can max fan pro, 8 inch mountain air filter and the t5 i planned to use for seedlings. I originally planned on using 2 315 cmh for veg and flower but money is going to be tight the next couple of months so I wont be able to get those lights for a while. I was thinking i could use the t5 to veg and flower 1 plant which i plan to scrog. Do you guys think this would even be worth my time? If not ill probably just get a cheap 600 watt magnetic ballast in a month but wanted to get some opinions. Even if i could get an ounce with the t5 that would be worth it to me so any input is appreciated.

I was planning on vegging for around 4 weeks also.

chronnie49 said:

I was planning on vegging for around 4 weeks also.

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chronnie49 said:

I know its not ideal but has anybody used a 2 foot 4 bulb 96 watt t5 for flower? Ive spent the last few months getting together a pretty nice setup piece by piece. I have a 5x5 green qube tent, 8 inch Can max fan pro, 8 inch mountain air filter and the t5 i planned to use for seedlings. I originally planned on using 2 315 cmh for veg and flower but money is going to be tight the next couple of months so I wont be able to get those lights for a while. I was thinking i could use the t5 to veg and flower 1 plant which i plan to scrog. Do you guys think this would even be worth my time? If not ill probably just get a cheap 600 watt magnetic ballast in a month but wanted to get some opinions. Even if i could get an ounce with the t5 that would be worth it to me so any input is appreciated.

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Hey, I'm not particularly experienced but a piece of advice. Lighting is probably one of the top whack most important things to your grow. I understand you may not have the money, but it may be better off holding off to buy a fixture that you will hold onto for the next couple of grows. Better light = better yield = better productivity levels (more crop per time spent)

As for flowering under a T5, I am sure you will be able to, but my understanding is that the light penetration of T5's is not particularly great and it would be beneficial if you trained the plant to grow a nice wide horizontal canopy so that you can get decent light onto and through the plant. You are going to want to keep the light as low as you can without burning the plants to get a good light penetration. You will also want to swap to a 'bloom' T5 bulb for flowering, which is going to be a T5 with a bit more red light output in. There may be some more threads on this on here, and someone else might have more information for you...

It may be beneficial to veg for an extra week just to boost growth and yield. Don't rush if the plant looks a little light.

Thanks for the input. I plan on scrogging and keeping the light a few inches away for the best possible penetration. Ive never used anything smaller than a 250 watt hps so fluorescent lighting is all new to me. I would pay at least 300 euro for an ounce of shitty weed in ireland, and my tolerance has gone down quite bit since moving from California so even an ounce harvest of quality bud would be worth it to me.

You can do it, i have, but don't let them get very tall in veg.

The problem with that lamp is that with fluorescents there is no real spread beyond the reflector. The plants must be all the way under the lamp for proper coverage.

I would be more confident with an 8 bulb 2 footer. At least it covers 2’ x 2’ or so.


Of course anything can be done with a bit of creativity and work.

Sure you can! Keep that scrog pinned down tight. Keep the light close. A lot more work . . . You will definitely have something to smoke.

I grow under a 6, 4’ T5 HO and have had great success with my lst plants. Organic soil of course!!

I veg under 4' t8s sometimes when circumstances call for it. They don't even stretch too bad. Keep them close and you'll do fine. Gotta be better than the regs. Cead mile failte

chronnie49 said:

I know its not ideal but has anybody used a 2 foot 4 bulb 96 watt t5 for flower? Ive spent the last few months getting together a pretty nice setup piece by piece. I have a 5x5 green qube tent, 8 inch Can max fan pro, 8 inch mountain air filter and the t5 i planned to use for seedlings. I originally planned on using 2 315 cmh for veg and flower but money is going to be tight the next couple of months so I wont be able to get those lights for a while. I was thinking i could use the t5 to veg and flower 1 plant which i plan to scrog. Do you guys think this would even be worth my time? If not ill probably just get a cheap 600 watt magnetic ballast in a month but wanted to get some opinions. Even if i could get an ounce with the t5 that would be worth it to me so any input is appreciated.

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You go with what is within your budget. Yes T5s are great a low cost low heat to deal with vs the 315 cmh. Im currently going to be running the same size fixture its 98 watts. Very cost effect it's all about how you use them too. I saw some fat colas on threads here an other forums. With T5s, scrog is the way to go.

MichiganMedGrower said:

The problem with that lamp is that with fluorescents there is no real spread beyond the reflector. The plants must be all the way under the lamp for proper coverage.

I would be more confident with an 8 bulb 2 footer. At least it covers 2’ x 2’ or so.


Of course anything can be done with a bit of creativity and work.

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I fully agree. I've never flowered under 2ft 4 bulbs but I have ran a few 1x plant scrog grows under a single 2ft 8 bulb T5 with good success. They were vegged for 8 weeks though. Ended up with almost 3oz but as mentioned your light foot print will be small. Just keep your T5 as close as possible and watch out for heat stress.

Thanks for the input guys. I ended up waiting and just got a 600 watt ballast with reflector and bulb, voltage stepping fan controller and a contactor so Im all set to go. I will be starting 2 dinafem blue kush and 2 dinafem gorilla seeds this weekend.