t5 vs cfl --- veg light

OK I'm looking for a light that I can veg around 6-10 plants with and I cant decide between the 4 tube t5 lightwave and the power plant 250w cfl so any advice on which would be the best for a small vegging tent would be great

vs

i would defintely go with the t5s, i've ran both and the t5s definitely work better mate, you have to run a lot of cfls to match the area covered by that t5

The Growery said:

i would defintely go with the t5s, i've ran both and the t5s definitely work better mate, you have to run a lot of cfls to match the area covered by that t5

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I would prefer the t5 but I just want to make sure it's the best option. on the net its says the t5 is 96 watts but 6'600 lumens i' not sure what the cfl is thou

I found this on the net about the power plant cfl but I'm not sure if its accurate--

id go with the numbers, i use a 160w dual spec enviro cfl in my mother tent 80 x 80 x 160 that does me fine


You're going to want at least 3,000 to 5,000 lumens per square foot during the vegetative period.

4 x T5 HO 24 Watt tubes will give about 7,600 lumens (and use about 100 Watts), which is about 760 lumens/foot².
250 Watt compact will probably give around 19,000 lumens, which is about 1,900 lumens/square foot.

delvite said:

id go with the numbers, i use a 160w dual spec enviro cfl in my mother tent 80 x 80 x 160 that does me fine

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yea I'm thinking that and the cfl is cheaper than the t5 thanks for posting mate

delvite said:

id go with the numbers, i use a 160w dual spec enviro cfl in my mother tent 80 x 80 x 160 that does me fine


You're going to want at least 3,000 to 5,000 lumens per square foot during the vegetative period.

4 x T5 HO 24 Watt tubes will give about 7,600 lumens (and use about 100 Watts), which is about 760 lumens/foot².
250 Watt compact will probably give around 19,000 lumens, which is about 1,900 lumens/square foot.

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....................... a little workout i found

delvite said:

....................... a little workout i found

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nice post mate thanks for you help

As a Journeyman Wireman, I can safely say, that although it may be a cunthair more expensive to run the T5's(which shouldn't even be noticable), you will get a greater coverage than with CFL's, unless you run a few of those 250W equiv's you are talking about, but one can NEVER go wrong with spending probably the same amount of money on say, a 400W MH and veg the living shit outta your 5-6 plant grow, which I surmise is probably in a smaller apace like a closet or something... With a nice coat of flat white paint, and 5-gal buckets over a short drain-pan and grate, with a sm. sub pump for drainage, plumbed into a 5-gallon "office-style" water jug, I run a 400W MH and a 250W MH along with 2-250W HPS in a 4' X 2' closet and can easily illuminate and bathe anywhere from 5-11(right now) nice plants in intense H.I.D. lighting, coupled with a cheap-to-operate little home-made CO2 gen, and some good fans, and I regularly crank out .91 grams per watt on my 1,150W mixed spectrum system... I'd definately always run the numbers, and as long as you can control your heat and ventilation, and it's not going to double your electric bill, then, I'd reccommend doubling, or tripling, in my case the suggested amount of lumens per sq ft, and watch the bounty... But, you haveta be careful and watch your stretch, as it can become overwhelming if you do not prepare accordingly, with lights that are easily raised or lowered at any time, stakes, a trelis system, or ScrOG or SOG type ststem...which is oftentimes very necessary, especially if you FIM, and/or super-crop, as I do...

t-5s are the way to go more lumes per watt..but clones under an MH will grow and root way quicker.

t5 for sure, those cfls are great for growin one plant with one of them, but for a room of 6 deff t5

delvite said:

id go with the numbers, i use a 160w dual spec enviro cfl in my mother tent 80 x 80 x 160 that does me fine


You're going to want at least 3,000 to 5,000 lumens per square foot during the vegetative period.

4 x T5 HO 24 Watt tubes will give about 7,600 lumens (and use about 100 Watts), which is about 760 lumens/foot².
250 Watt compact will probably give around 19,000 lumens, which is about 1,900 lumens/square foot.

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Sorry but this isn't quite accurate. Light diminishes as it travels so the plants directly below the CFL will receive ~3klumen and the plants on the outskirts will receive practically nothing - way below 500. T5 will work much better as it evenly distributes the lights so all plants get their share. This isn't to mention flouros peak efficiency between 50-70w so 150w+ cfls are fairly inefficient.

If cost is an issue go with CFLs but buy the cheap 23watters which can be found for $0.50 a piece. They are more efficient than the large bulbs and many smaller bulbs allow you to evenly distribute your light. I would recommend pairing the 23watters with a cheap bathroom vanity light ($3):



And to not seem biased I grow with HIDs, tube flouros, small CFLs, and also have two of the big 250w CFLs in refelctors. Guess which ones I always have benched?

I will never use these again for veg. Most likely just never again. 500w and the plants on the edges were receiving practically no light.



I do still use small CFLs for veg though and they work wonders! Like others have mentioned MHs work amazingly as well.

can you please tell me where you get cfl's for $0.50 each, and those vanity lights for $3? i would love to know

I can find the CFLs at my dollar store in 2 packs pretty regularly and now and then Home Depot has sales of four packs for $1. I got my vanity lights online. These are 4 bulb fixture for $4.50 which is more than I paid for my 6 bulb fixtures but it's also the first place I found via google. If you search you can find great deals on them. http://www.lightingdirect.com/index.cfm?categoryid=1742&f359=true&page=search:browse&bathroom-lighting-fixtures=c1742&s=price_low

fuck the lumens and all that jazz. lets hypothetically assume the lumens are equal. the cfl might be cheaper but the t5 spreads the light over a larger area and it spreads it evenly. it makes it a lot easier to just train for an even canopy and use all that space and get as much plant as you can under direct light. the cfl distributes the light the way an hid does but without the penetration. you will never get as much plant under the "sweet spot" of that cfl as you will under the whole t5 unit, where everywhere is a sweet spot.

if the cost is not the primary concern i would go with the t5.