Flowering with t5's?

Lady Ash

Lady Ash

Active Member
I've got a Badboy lighting system, it holds 8 4' t5's. I was wondering if anyone has gone all the way through flowering with just t5's? And if so, how did they affect the yield? Was thinking of switching out 4 of the broad spectrum lights for 4 warm tone lights. Anyone have some helpful input on this? Either I go with the t5's alone or I add some flowering leds in addition to the t5's. I'm not going with hps or mh at all for various reasons, it's just not possible with my conditions.
 
jesus of Cannabis

jesus of Cannabis

:-)
i have the same system and dont flower with them I use my hps, but you can do it but the light from the T5 wont penetrate as much as the MH or HPS.
 
A

abudtokr

Active Member
Im with you here on this one m8. I am going to go all the way with 4 bulb t5's and 4 23w=100w cfl. I was told with a t5 3 bloom and 1 veg. So plz post some pictures and let me know how you are doing.
 
Lady Ash

Lady Ash

Active Member
abudtokr said:
Im with you here on this one m8. I am going to go all the way with 4 bulb t5's and 4 23w=100w cfl. I was told with a t5 3 bloom and 1 veg. So plz post some pictures and let me know how you are doing.
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Sweet, good to know I'm not the only one attempting flowering with t5's! bongsmilie So we go with a ratio of 3:1 for red lights to blue, I still want to add a couple leds to the sides if I can afford it. I'd post some pics but for some reason it's not wanting to upload em today. :weed:
 
sso

sso

Well-Known Member
it takes about a week longer to flower under t´5´s than hps.

but yeah it works and you will get some bud. (well depending on you)
 
Q

q3aserver

Member
I flowered some bag seed in a 2'W x 4'L x 3'H cab using 8 overdriven T8 bulbs running at 54watts and 4 T5HO bulbs in between them. It was my first grow and my largest plant yielded 47oz if i recall correctly. My cab was not full because of the number of males. My 47oz plant was LST'd using chains and hooks. I tied all the growth to an equal level. I switched to 12/12 when the plants were 6-10" tall.

I strongly suggest a screen. Bud sites that were 2 inches lower then the top were about 70% of the size.

Since then I have built a 3'W x 4'L x 3'H cab with three levels. Each level has a screen and 12 T8 bulbs in high bay fixtures.

I got my fixtures at 2$ apiece straight from a warehouse upgrade :) :) :) I like to justify why I use floro tubes.

Sorry for my horrible English skills. I was trying to type as I was remembering facts about my previous grow.

Also to add, I had 3-4 gram tops.
 
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Pjloudpack

Member
How tall are your plants? Im using a t5 4 bulb 4foot fixture for two plants. It puts out 20000 lumen. Do I need more light? One of my plants is 4.5 weeks and its not very tall and the 3.5 weeker is a runt but still pushes on. This is my first grow and don't have a clue y they are so small. Any help? Also where do I find the sockets for cfls because I want to add like two of them jus for a lil more ligjt
 
rzza

rzza

Well-Known Member
i just talked my cousin outta this. he wanted to flower with t5 and have 1/2 bloom and 1/2 veg bulbs.

its not a good idea, i dont even like the growth i get during veg under the t5. mh and hps are way better. that said, i still use the t5 for the convenience and price. its convenient cause i dont need to cool the light etc...
 
ow.douglas

ow.douglas

Well-Known Member
I have and currently am flowering under T5's, it is also a 4 bulb fixture. I use 2 bulbs of each spectrum and keep them short, 12/12 at 6-9 inches. Don't expect HPS yields but, it will work fine. You can add some CFL if you think it's needed, right now I have CFL's working as well. Good luck!
 
Gastanker

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
CFLs and T5s can produce great bud as long as you keep the bulbs super close. I know of a guy running a 10lb op with just T5s (he's a bit of a nutter if you ask me). I would recommend a scrog or LST.
 
Silky Shagsalot

Silky Shagsalot

Well-Known Member
some good info. in the other posts! use a 50/50 bulb ratio for best results. some folks flower with mh/hps. keep the lights close and the plants small, t-5's are weak on the penetration, as stated. watch your ppm, smaller watt lights make less demands on the plants requiring less nutes. i've seen a start to finish t-5 grow. your yield will suffer, but you'll have some fine smoke!!
 
Lady Ash

Lady Ash

Active Member
Silky Shagsalot said:
some good info. in the other posts! use a 50/50 bulb ratio for best results. some folks flower with mh/hps. keep the lights close and the plants small, t-5's are weak on the penetration, as stated. watch your ppm, smaller watt lights make less demands on the plants requiring less nutes. i've seen a start to finish t-5 grow. your yield will suffer, but you'll have some fine smoke!!
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Good to hear they produce good buds, will be ordering my leds today I hope.
 
Silky Shagsalot

Silky Shagsalot

Well-Known Member
don't do that! led's are a soon to be dead technology, though some won't want to hear this, lol. t-5's are better than led's! check out the plasma light, that's the future of lighting, not led's. led's will soon go the way of the beta player.
 
ashleyroachclip

ashleyroachclip

Active Member
Lady Ash,
I know it's not recommended by most, but I have been using my T5HO system for veg and flowering for several grows...it can be done.

I have 2 4x4ft T5 HO units, a total of 432Watts, and ~38,000 lumens. I blend 3k and 65k bulbs equally to maintain higher lumens, and it seems to work fine. It may not have the best light penetration, but I tend to use a variation of LST with my girls due to height limitations so it's not a problem.

Here are some pics of my latest grow in week 10, almost ready to come down.
I have 4 plants that would be 5+ feet tall if I didn't tie them down, and expect somewhere around 1/2 lb of total yield when all is said and done.

So, is it optimal lighting, no. Will it get the job done if you're pressed for space or heat considerations? Yup!

Good luck
 

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Pjloudpack

Member
ow.douglas said:
I have and currently am flowering under T5's, it is also a 4 bulb fixture. I use 2 bulbs of each spectrum and keep them short, 12/12 at 6-9 inches. Don't expect HPS yields but, it will work fine. You can add some CFL if you think it's needed, right now I have CFL's working as well. Good luck!
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Where can I buy the cfl sockets. I want to add a lil bit more light and I think this can be good. I want a 2 2 sockets for four cfls. What store can I shoppers at?
 
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