T5 Flourescent lighting...

I am setting up a room with limited ceiling height, 6 ft, which declines from center of the room, since it is a room in the attic. With the limited height, I was considering t5 fluoro's, 4' x 4 bulb (maybe even 6 bulb).

I know there are different lights available for these so would this type of light be good for an 8 foot by 5 foot grow area? I am concerned about the spacing from the light to the plants, especially after the lights are hung from the ceiling and the plants are in place. Since the t5 lights are lower profile than say MH or HPS lights, are t5's good for such a room and will I get a good yield using t5's for both veg and flowering, provided I switch bulbs appropriately for the stages?

Thanks

T5's are awesome for veg. I highly recommend them, I have never used them for flowering (wrong spectrum, I'm told).

For an 8 x 5 room you would be foolish not to go with HPS, for flowering anyway. It would cost you less in installation. Although, power costs may be a factor.

Good luck.

The spectrum depends on what type of bulbs you put in it... You can get red or blue bulbs for T5s just like any other.

Really? I didn't know that. Do you know what they're called?

I have a 4 foot 8 bulb T5, using for both veg and flower. I bought both types of bulbs and really like this light. I too am growing in a small space with a low ceiling and can put this light right on top of the plants. I would probably prefer to use a HPS (everyone says thats the way to go) but temp and height are an issue so I dont have much choice.

I did however find a great place to get T5 bulbs for a great price...I bought 4 bulbs for $47.00 with shipping, they are $16.95 a piece at my local hydro shop.... High Tech Garden Supply also have a store on eBay....lots of other stuff and pretty good prices...good luck with your setup

i am using the t-5 8 bulb with both spectrum bulbs in the light all the time. it is the best setup i have used in the last 9 years. in the next 30 minutes i will have two more on order. pics are less than 1 week apart!!

victor vicjous is flowering with them in a 4x4 flood and drain,you might want to pm him.

PlasmaRadio said:

Really? I didn't know that. Do you know what they're called?

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They are not called anything in particular... just T5 bulbs.

What you want to look at is the sprectrum...6500K is blue spectrum (for vegging) and 3000K is red spectrum (for flowering.) You can use one or the other or a combination of them both if you like.

Most people would use blue when growing them and red when flowering.

Hope that helps.

I use a t5 for veg and I love it. the cool thing about the t5 is you can hang it any way you want. where the wall slants down just hang the light there. I know a guy who hangs his on all 4 of his walls and then puts a mh over the top. " I think thats a bit over the top if you ask me. you can also piggy back them (plug one into another, like x-mas lights). The thing that sold me was you get a one year warranty on the bulbs.

TYPE-X said:

i am using the t-5 8 bulb with both spectrum bulbs in the light all the time. it is the best setup i have used in the last 9 years. in the next 30 minutes i will have two more on order. pics are less than 1 week apart!!

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What brand of light fixture are you utilizing? It looks like a Sunleaves Pioneer VIII but I am not certain.

That's correct. They are on sale for 309.00 now from worms way.

$340.00 with bulbs 1/2 red, 1/2 blue 4' 8 tube. No seperete ballast, most of the hardware for hanging already installed. 440 watts equivalent to a 600 watt in useable light, less heat issues. Even grow. Whats not to like. VV

Anyone grown 'Ice' Budz? Just got my starters from Hollandand looking forward to the journey, start to finish? Any suggestions on training them in a small space?

SuperBud said:

Anyone grown 'Ice' Budz? Just got my starters from Hollandand looking forward to the journey, start to finish? Any suggestions on training them in a small space?

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ice really likes to flop out with big floppy leaves,is your space smal heighth wise or lxw.if it is limited by height top it flower early,if its lxw go with a few colas.

TYPE-X said:

That's correct. They are on sale for 309.00 now from worms way.

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Type-X I notice that those fixtures come with the VitaLUME T5 bulbs but now they have VitaLUME Plus T5 bulbs. Do you happen to know what the difference is? According to their website, 'VitaLUME PLUS T5 tubes have a raised color temperature of 6,500 Kelvins for improved performance more comparable to that of metal halides.' It would seem that the original bulbs are not 6500 bulbs...do you know what temp the original bulbs are since the fixtures on that site include their original bulbs?

Space in limited in height but about 20'' wide. I am going to try the training technique. You know 'spiral' hoping it works let you know by Xmas. haha Thanks for the info