?s on a T5 setup

[USMCtanker]

hello fellow farmers. anyway, i was at the closest indoor garden shop (witch isnt that close lol) and me and my friend where looken around. we are planing on seting up is own medical garden in a extra room he has. now he is wanting to spend the extra money and get a T5 setup. they had many to choose from. some i saw i couldnt even find on the internet to show so ill discribe it. it was like 8 long bulbs and they had switched every other one to a tube that was a more red color for flowering. i wish i would have asked more when there. but have any of you used the expensive T5s and how did they work. the guy there said there the best if you got the money to spend bc of the lower heat they put of and now with the more red spectium bulbs they added its great for veg and flower. anyway i just wanted to ask you farmer and get some info from you guys before my friend drops 600 to 1000 on one light setup. any info or tips or pics are welcome.
Tanker:anim_30:

 

[highroller]

I use a small 4 tube 2 foot long T5 in a small box I use for cuttings and it works very well. If there were one downfall IMO the bulb life is somewhat short. It seems I'm always replacing burned out bulbs. I've upgraded to a more expensive bulb however (agromax), so perhaps I've remedied that issue as it's been awhile since rebulbing. They are very efficient in terms of light output per wattage consumed and can be placed very close to the plants without burning them.
There are two bulbs available for the fixtures: one for vegging (blue, 6500k) and one for flowering (red, 3000k). That's probably what you were seeing at the hydro shop.
600 to 1,000 seems awfully expensive for one fixture??? Am I reading that right? Is that USD or Yen?? The 2 foot 4 bulb light I have was around 120 bucks.
Edited also to say, an 8 foot light fixture is somewhat unwieldy and you may prefer to opt for two 4 foot lights to give you more flexibility for placement in the growroom.

 

[USMCtanker]

I use a small 4 tube 2 foot long T5 in a small box I use for cuttings and it works very well. If there were one downfall IMO the bulb life is somewhat short. It seems I'm always replacing burned out bulbs. I've upgraded to a more expensive bulb however (agromax), so perhaps I've remedied that issue as it's been awhile since rebulbing. They are very efficient in terms of light output per wattage consumed and can be placed very close to the plants without burning them.
There are two bulbs available for the fixtures: one for vegging (blue, 6500k) and one for flowering (red, 3000k). That's probably what you were seeing at the hydro shop.
600 to 1,000 seems awfully expensive for one fixture??? Am I reading that right? Is that USD or Yen?? The 2 foot 4 bulb light I have was around 120 bucks.
Edited also to say, an 8 foot light fixture is somewhat unwieldy and you may prefer to opt for two 4 foot lights to give you more flexibility for placement in the growroom.

thanks ya. good idea on istead of one big get a cpl smaller ones. ya the one that was 600 to 1000 are really big, they make them at the shop and they have 8+ tubes on them. there huge and bright. i think ill tell him to get a cpl of the 4 bulb ones instead of one big one.

 

[Zoolander]

I use to run 2 of the 8 bulb 4 foot in veg and these were the ticket for sure and he would still have money to buy a 600 or a 1000 watt hps and maybe a few small things he will need .

 

[s4m]

Hi USMCT, HR, and Zoo,

I do use a 400w T5 Lght wave £130.00. Two swiitches.

I find its great for cloneing and early veg. Not flowering!.

Anything longer than 4', would be!.


Very difficult to manage?. And NOT practical?.


my 2cent


s4m

 

[spinkus]

Like Zoo said these are the ticket for veg. I run a New Wave 4 foot 8 bulb 400w with veg bulbs, and the growth is way better than my old 400w mh. I can keep 8 mothers in 5 gallon pots under it with ease. Keeps the plants very compact as well. There is still a little heat from the overall unit, just not much heat at all coming off the bulbs.

Heres a pic of one with some young mothers, what whores they are...

 

[SenorMota]

T5 High Output Fluorescent Systems

 

[highroller]

Like Zoo said these are the ticket for veg. I run a New Wave 4 foot 8 bulb 400w with veg bulbs, and the growth is way better than my old 400w mh. I can keep 8 mothers in 5 gallon pots under it with ease. Keeps the plants very compact as well. There is still a little heat from the overall unit, just not much heat at all coming off the bulbs.

Heres a pic of one with some young mothers, what whores they are...

Hey spinkus. Yer ladies look very happy under there...The T5s do induce very lush and compact growth don't they? Internode spacing is very tight with them.

 

[Whippleschnitz]

One thing to look for in a fixture is that each bulb has its own parabolic reflector. If not you will lose a significant % of light. If your friend is even a little bit handy he can build a fixture for less money. All parts you need can be easily found from online reef/saltwater aquarium supply shop. Just look for T5 retrofit kits. If you need a longer setup I would stick with 48" and skip the 80" bulbs. The 80" setups can get a bit unwieldy raising/lowering or setting up or moving.

 

[ograskal]

I also use the 4 foot T5's for veg and they Kick ass!...~ogr

 

[julsbagell]

I have two 8 bulb t5s for veg they have been on for 2 years 24 7 still havent burned out a bulb I use to run 400s hps the t5s have a better footprint imo.

 

[USMCtanker]

wow thanks for all the great info, ill def pass it along. its maken me wanna save up and get on for my veg room

 

[ProGroWannabe]

You can veg AND FLOWER with em. Ya just have to do alot of LST in flower to keep the colas close to the light. But trust me, they WILL get 'er done! For what it's worth though, I moved my flower space from the cabinet with the T5's in it, to a bigger space so I could run more volume. But they CAN be used successfully for flowering as well. I ran Hazes under mine last time I flowered with it and they all did really well. Just alot more work involved since ya have to LST or run short plants.

 

[hbstoner]

i just switched to the newwave T5 4 bulb 24" for veg and clone and those things freaking rock. 10x better node spacing and growth rates then just normal cfls.

 

[USMCtanker]

thanks everyone. i think im gonna save up for one for my veg room for sure

 

[astro]

I have four of the 4bulb two footers and I use them for vegging. Three are perfect for a 2x4 e&f table or I put 2 five gal. bubbler pails under each one. I believe I was told at the shop where I bought them that if the bulbs blew they would be replaced up to a year for free. Excellent light source.