Rethinking my t5 setup

HelloI am New to the world of growing and am still in the process of piecing everything together. I made the mistake of buying a light before I knew the limits of my grow space. I am going to be picking up a tent(either the GL60 or 80) and I purchased a htg 2x2 4 bulb t5 setup. I'm contemplating returning the light and picking up a hps because I originally thought heat would be an issue that's why I went that route. I would like to find out what the pros here think I should do. it's going to be a 1 plant grow starting out because that's all my wife let me get away with at first. if keeping the t5 I was planning on running it ludicrously close to the tops to maximize light proximity to the canopy. I'm also going to be trying nugs' main lining technique if it's helpful. the grow is going to be organic using subs super soil methodThank You

hey man someone told me to watch these and they helped me a lot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz8JdL99tts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxBHCyXruXM

Well, you'll get all sorts of answers depending on the person's preference, but HPS can be quite warm unless you plan on going with a sealed reflector or cool tube so you can draw the heat from the lamp out with the exhaust. Some say the heat build-up with HPS is also not so bad with a vertical set-up but I doubt you're ready for that yet.

Typically, people use high color temp (5000-6500k) t5s for the veg stage and then switch to HPS for the bloom. You can mix and match bulb color temps with t5 if you want to stick with that, but t5's in bloom are best with even canopies, so you'd need to go with a screen of green (Scrog) or sea of green (Sog). The first requires a screen place over the plant to train the tops to be all one height, and is probably your best bet for one plant and t5s. I have not done either, I top and sometimes super crop for an even canopy because I use a combination of LED and PLL lamps. The PLLs are very similar to t5s, just shorter so I can grow two plants under one set of PLLs.

So really it all depends on what you are willing to invest.

Return the 4 lamp t5 fixture as the only thing it is good for is seedlings (you can keep it for that). Get a 400w mh/hps dual lamp fixture with a carbon filter exhaust fan and that would be your best bet for your tent. Oh, and by the way, my wife said the same thing about 1 plant, and I explained that if you are going to do it, then do it because it costs the same and has the same penalties as one. Stick a couple of more in there, what's the differance, really?

Jimdamick said:

Return the 4 lamp t5 fixture as the only thing it is good for is seedlings (you can keep it for that). Get a 400w mh/hps dual lamp fixture with a carbon filter exhaust fan and that would be your best bet for your tent. Oh, and by the way, my wife said the same thing about 1 plant, and I explained that if you are going to do it, then do it because it costs the same and has the same penalties as one. Stick a couple of more in there, what's the differance, really?

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I myself am new to T5s'... but I have seen some AWESOME grows done with nothing BUT a T5! check out sincerely420, he has a good one in his signature. He inspired me to try an AUTO grow, exclusively with autos and my 4 foot 8 bulb T5! Different people have different methods of growing. What's best for me might not be best for you.. and your conditions/circumstances. I DO agree with growing A few MORE PLANTS though.. THE MORE THE BETTER...under 100! cheers Temps are easy to control with a T5 as well!

As someone who has many HOT5 grows under his belt, you can easily grow one very fine plant under that T5, assuming it is HO. My next choice is LEDs, something like the new Area 51. If you are handy you can DIY your own using household led globes. Click on my sig for grow threads

lovemymj said:

I myself am new to T5s'... but I have seen some AWESOME grows done with nothing BUT a T5! check out sincerely420, he has a good one in his signature. He inspired me to try an AUTO grow, exclusively with autos and my 4 foot 8 bulb T5! Different people have different methods of growing. What's best for me might not be best for you.. and your conditions/circumstances. I DO agree with growing A few MORE PLANTS though.. THE MORE THE BETTER...under 100! cheers Temps are easy to control with a T5 as well!

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I use a t5, 8 lamp VHO which is awesome, and a t5 HO lamp is also very good. I was just saying that the 2' bulb x 4 is not much good for plant growth from begining to end. A 4 lamp, 4 foot t5 will cut it, but not much below that in my experiance. Peace

Thank you all for the patience and answers, unfortunately I am stuck with this light because all the original packing is gone but I'm going to try and learn from this mistake and eventually upgrade to a t5 that's better or go hps. I've already invested do much between lights , tent, fan filters, amendments, seeds and a billion other small things that eat away at my grow budget. I'm going to wait for the main lining and just standard scrog it and maybe 1 or 2 grows in I can get some better lighting. The t5 system Ihave by the way is the high output tek 4 from htg at an advertised 20k lumens.Thanks again for the help, I'm going to watch those vids now that I have coverage.

Hoest said:

Thank you all for the patience and answers, unfortunately I am stuck with this light because all the original packing is gone but I'm going to try and learn from this mistake and eventually upgrade to a t5 that's better or go hps. I've already invested do much between lights , tent, fan filters, amendments, seeds and a billion other small things that eat away at my grow budget. I'm going to wait for the main lining and just standard scrog it and maybe 1 or 2 grows in I can get some better lighting. The t5 system Ihave by the way is the high output tek 4 from htg at an advertised 20k lumens.Thanks again for the help, I'm going to watch those vids now that I have coverage.

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Hoest, You can still use that fixture, just supplement it with some CFL's. The extra lumens that they provide will do the trick for you. It'll be fine. Peace

Sweet thanks Jim, will do.