are T5 lights worth it?

that bear smokey

that bear smokey

Well-Known Member
I was just browsing lights. I was curious if T5 lights are worth it? If so what T5 system would someone suggest or what other light system would you suggest other than T5s?
 
Gastanker

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
Worth what? They work great for vegging plants and put off much less heat than MHs...

For considerably cheaper you can use CFLs - they are essentially just bent self ballasted T5s. If you don't mind spending the money grab a T5 otherwise you can find these vanity fixtures for $4 a piece and make your own fixture. With Y splitters and the cheap 23w bulbs I can run 368w of CFL for $20-40 depending on if the bulbs are on sale or not.


 
bostoner

bostoner

Active Member
t5s are great. You can even go with bulbs that are concentrated in the correct spectrum like leds are, making them ultra efficient. From the research I've done the bulbs that are best to use are actinic bulbs for blue and the bit of white (green) that you need. Red suns for red at 640nm which is pretty close to the peak PAR absorption of chlorophyll a. You can also go with dual band purple ones like fuji purple. These are all V-HO which are not to be confused with VHOs. the V-Ho are variable high outputs not very high outputs which mean they can run on both ho t5 systems and VHO t5 systems (which are pretty expensive). Using these bulbs costs a bit more (around 20 dollars a bulb for aquarium shops) but will been very efficient in growing you plants, stay cooler than a hid, not be visibly bright from space like other lights ( since they are made for healthy coral in aquariums not us being able to see well) and not cost you an arm and a leg to cover a big area like LEDS. I currently only have a tek 55 compact for a t5 setup, so I can't get all these nice bulbs yet but I plan on it soon. I use the basic grow bloom combo when I grow in my t5 space. They work wonders if you keep your canopy flat (sog, scrog, LST) and keep the lights close.

Edit: As gastanker said CFLs work great too. Good advice. I mostly use CFLs but also use t5s compact and plan on getting a couple t5 ho 6-8 bulbs to replace it in the near future.
 
that bear smokey

that bear smokey

Well-Known Member
Gastanker said:
Worth what? They work great for vegging plants and put off much less heat than MHs...

For considerably cheaper you can use CFLs - they are essentially just bent self ballasted T5s. If you don't mind spending the money grab a T5 otherwise you can find these vanity fixtures for $4 a piece and make your own fixture. With Y splitters and the cheap 23w bulbs I can run 368w of CFL for $20-40 depending on if the bulbs are on sale or not.


Click to expand...
ok thank you
 
that bear smokey

that bear smokey

Well-Known Member
bostoner said:
t5s are great. You can even go with bulbs that are concentrated in the correct spectrum like leds are, making them ultra efficient. From the research I've done the bulbs that are best to use are actinic bulbs for blue and the bit of white (green) that you need. Red suns for red at 640nm which is pretty close to the peak PAR absorption of chlorophyll a. You can also go with dual band purple ones like fuji purple. These are all V-HO which are not to be confused with VHOs. the V-Ho are variable high outputs not very high outputs which mean they can run on both ho t5 systems and VHO t5 systems (which are pretty expensive). Using these bulbs costs a bit more (around 20 dollars a bulb for aquarium shops) but will been very efficient in growing you plants, stay cooler than a hid, not be visibly bright from space like other lights ( since they are made for healthy coral in aquariums not us being able to see well) and not cost you an arm and a leg to cover a big area like LEDS. I currently only have a tek 55 compact for a t5 setup, so I can't get all these nice bulbs yet but I plan on it soon. I use the basic grow bloom combo when I grow in my t5 space. They work wonders if you keep your canopy flat (sog, scrog, LST) and keep the lights close.

Edit: As gastanker said CFLs work great too. Good advice. I mostly use CFLs but also use t5s compact and plan on getting a couple t5 ho 6-8 bulbs to replace it in the near future.
Click to expand...
ok thank you
 
RawBudzski

RawBudzski

Well-Known Member
4ft 8bulb t5 are good if you clone often or need to keep plants in veg for a while, (mothers,clones) Also plants seem to grow slower but w/ tighter nodes & tougher stems.
 
that bear smokey

that bear smokey

Well-Known Member
well I am using CFLs for now. I wanna use something better. So I was looking at T5s or hps lighting. I wanna keep things simple. I was curious if I do a complete grow with T5s or are they not worth it.
 
missnu

missnu

Well-Known Member
if you can get the MH or HPS do that...it is the best...can you grow with t5s and cfls? yes of course you can...but not as well as if you used a MH/HPS...some people stick by t5s but one of my friends uses them to start their seeds and the growth rate is like half for him what I see...so if my plants grow 2 inches in 2 days it will take his 4 days or longer to grow the same amount...I took some clones about a month ago, and one of those clones is still in veg and it is 3 feet tall...I gave him 3 clones at the same time of the same strains and his are only 1ft tall if that in the same amount of time...and that is enough for me to say eff t5s...lol I mean I planted the clones and it is in my soil...he hasn't changed the pot yet and he is an experienced gardener...more so than I am, so he isn't going to be feeding them wrong or anything...those lights just can't fuel the same amount of growth...
 
Gastanker

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
I dunno about that missnu. I veg with both MHs and CFLs (have also used T5s in the past), and I always have faster vegetative growth with flouros. Might just be outgrowing your friend because you're a better grower ;)

I would however say that MHs are better for vegging large plants - and are often more convenient when vegging a large amount of plants. CFLs/T5s can flower but I too would recommend HID for flower.
 
BeaverHuntr

BeaverHuntr

Well-Known Member
I strictly use T5's to veg with. Running two 1,000 MH bulbs would be expensive on my electric bill, so its T5's for veg then 1000W HPS for flower.
 
doby mick

doby mick

Active Member
I have been using t5s for vegging for a couple of years now, to great affect i must say, my internode gaps are minimal and i get nice short squate plants which in turn helps with better yeilds. I have had only good things with my T5s, i hope this helps in someway, all the best Doby Mick
 
polyarcturus

polyarcturus

Well-Known Member
t5s rock just made the switch myself from 400w mh to a 6 bulb t5 with PAR lighting, been treating me right thus far!
 
RawBudzski

RawBudzski

Well-Known Member
T5 are great if you are using anything less than a 1000watt to bloom. If you grow monster bushes & like to fill space quickly, MH may be the way to go, but if you are not on some deadline & can wait for them to grow, T5 creates some crazy bushes w/ amazing node spacing.
 
Dutchmast3r

Dutchmast3r

Active Member
RawBudzski said:
4ft 8bulb t5 are good if you clone often or need to keep plants in veg for a while, (mothers,clones) Also plants seem to grow slower but w/ tighter nodes & tougher stems.
Click to expand...
idk man i veg with CFLs and my stem is as thick as a dutch by week 3..nutes cud play a part and good conditions
 
RawBudzski

RawBudzski

Well-Known Member
I don't know why cfls wouldn't do the same, the slower growth contributes to tighternodes and stiffer branching. T5 or CFLs I would believe. When under a 600w-1000w MH.. the plants grow much faster but do not have the same structure as ones under T5/cfl, they usually stretch more & are easier to bend/train under high wattage HID.
 
that bear smokey

that bear smokey

Well-Known Member
ok thank you everyone. so can I use a T5 from start to finish if I change from 6500k to 2700k for flower? or is it not strong enough for a scrog grow?
 
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