A few months back I bought a slew of T5 HO lighting, bought one 2' eight tube T5HO fixture and one of those 2' VitaLUME TT55 fixtures
For the veg cycle I used all eight 6500k T5HO tubes and 6500k TT55 tubes with no other lighting, produced nice results with very compact internodal spacing. I was very happy with the T5's verses my MH and HPS for vegging. Venting was few and far between and I was about two or three degrees over ambient temperature. Can't tell you how pleased I was by the T5HO's. Flouro lighting has come a long way since my first Flouro setup (the legendary Phototron) To tell you the truth, I wish I still had my Phototron, I'd retrofit it with T5HO bulbs and XLAMP LED's. I miss that system with the one way plexiglass. While it was never an awesome or efficient grow system, it was neat. Been keeping my eye on Ebay for one that I can buy then retrofit. It won't be used for herbage, maybe flowers or something, as I want to keep it in my living room.
My cat is pretty pissed off at me as
she doesn't like the T5's, she likes the HIDs as she believes the grow room is hers when the HIDs are running and she loves the heat associated with it, the only time she leaves the room is when the lights are off, or to eat and use the litter-box. When the T5's we're the only lighting used, she wasn't a happy camper....
For the 1st week of 12/12 I mixed the 6500k and 3000k equally in both fixtures. That's about all I can comment on because I decided to do some experimenting with some crazy lighting combinations. I broke out the HPS ceramic metal halide, those goofy 225 LED units for side lighting, my custom made CREE XLAMP 40 LED (all blue) side panel for the other side, put the eight tube T5HO on the front as side lighting, and the T55 was a spillover light. I'll be the first to admit this is a bit overkill, but I'm just observing the growth patterns from the Flouros, common 5mm 225 LED and high intensity CREE XLAMP LEDs. Once I see what side does best, I'll start using just that in combination with the HPS for blooming. BUT, for vegging, these T5HO's will be an integral part of every grow. Juries still out on the CREE XLAMP/Flouro combo for vegging, as I'm still awaiting my mixed XLAMP blue/red and single red panel. My poor metal halide fixture is in the corner gathering dust since the T5HO's came into my house
If I was in your boat, I'd simply recommend you stick with tried and true bulb combinations, like all 6500k for veg and maybe a 50/50 mix from there on out, or even all 3000k T5's for blooming, personally I'm in the camps that believes that if you can create lighting conditions found in nature, you won't go wrong. This is why I recommend a 50/50 grow and bloom for blooming. Others will say all 3000k, there's no right or wrong.... Just try and see what works best for you, certain strains prefer different combinations. We're all learning new things all the time, my eyes are affixed to the future, when CREE and others makes more powerful LED emitters. In the past year or so, the XLAMPS in red and blue have increased performance by somthing like 70%
So maybe if Moore's Law is applicable to these types of lights, we will see high output LEDs as the the product to own, Procyon and that UFO are cutting edge, as a engineer, I wasn't about to plop down $600 for an LED light I could make or have made for me for much less, but until high output LED emitters are the norm, T5HO's are a pretty decent product, especially if heat build up was a problem for growers; growing with limited space and ventilation, but then again they're also good even if you don't have heat or space constraints.
I'm fairly new to T5's and I'm sure they're are others here with far more experience with them that may weigh in their opinions as well on the topic. I only commented as I didn't see many responses in your thread, so I'm just passing along my limited experience with them ..
Envirolites are not like cfls They ARE cfls they are just specially designed for growing because they are pretty bright and very energy efficient.REEFA
is that the maximum size she'll grow to and how long is Her Total life cycle ?
