t5 or t8? Need help

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ISmokeAlot13

Active Member
I bought a (2)32 watt t8 shop light fixture to vegg my plants but i was wondering if i should keep it or exhange it for (1)24 watt t5 grow light fixture? the t8 is to big for my grow room and it dont fit so i have it going on the side of my plants while i have 24watt cfls over my plants what should i do??
 
sonar

sonar

Well-Known Member
OK, so the T8 shop light is 4' if I'm not mistaken and the T5 is 2'. I would take that T8 back and go with T5. 2' T5's come in singles, 2, 4, 6, and 8 bulb models I believe. I have a 2' 4 bulb model and it works well enough, but they are kind of expensive considering you can pick up a 400w lumatek digital ballast that can burn both mh and hps and is dimmable to 250w for under $200. A 2' 4 bulb t5 will cost you around $120.
 
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ISmokeAlot13

Active Member
Thank you sonar in reply, But the only place by me is home depot where i live and they sell the t5's with 1 bulb 4 bulb and 6 bulb the only one i can afford is the 1bulb (trying to go cheap). and my t8 is 6'' fixture. So if i trade it for a t5 1 bulb 24 watt grow light would that help my plants get bigger? Oh and i also have (3) 24 watt cfls over my plant.

-Thanks,
 
VTMi'kmaq

VTMi'kmaq

Well-Known Member
I have a single 24 watt hydrofarm t-5. It will keep them alive but i would recomend buying more par 6000k t-5's as soon as your wallet allows. Its a good investment. They'll grow veggies and fruit all winterlong too! They are a lil warm but not hot and the 24watt never gets that warm. If you can source GOOD t-5's like say hydrofarm or another good company that backs its products i would sincerely make that investment. For example i have 8 4 foot hydrofarm t-5's at 54 watts a piece, they WERE NOT CHEAP! 50 bucks a piece, but i can tell you this............that was 5 years ago all i do is change the bulbs after oh say 1000 hours and then were gtg again! fabulous bulbs t-5's are. I cant speak on t-8's once i found t-5's i NEVER looked back!
 
bugz420

bugz420

Member
I would definetly go for the t-5. I have used both and the t-5 gives a noticable difference. I would recommend a 2ft 2 lamp fixture if you plan on growing one plant.
 
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ISmokeAlot13

Active Member
Would a 6500k be good? And are you saying im going to need a (2)bulb t5 etc...? because I'm also growing it with (3) 24 watt cfls as well. Also, I'm just growing 1 plant for now.
 
sonar

sonar

Well-Known Member
Herb Man said:
Save your money and go for the T5 Twin tube.
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I strongly insist on this too. You will be able to fit a few more plants under the 4', but it wont necessarily give much more light to a given plant underneath than a 2'. Save up until you can afford the largest fixture you can fit in your space. Might as well. Even if that means using cfl's for the time being. Ditch the shop light. It isn't doing you much good on the side like that. Yes, the 6500K bulbs are what you want for the vegetative period. That holds true for cfl's also. They are the "daylight" spectrum and slightly more expensive than your standard cfl. A lot of places are carrying the higher wattage cfl's now. If you are going to be flowering with cfl you'll want a few of them also. You're going to have to spend a few bucks if you want a decent grow. Sorry, but there is no way around it.

These are packs of 4. My walmart has them single. A 4 pack of either of these would be plenty of light to flower a single plant and are both under $50.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/GE-Energy-Smart-42W-Compact-Fluorescent-Bulb/16911798
http://www.walmart.com/ip/GE-78965-Energy-Smart-55W-Bulb/16911751?findingMethod=rr

This is similar to mine but I got a hydrofarm about 3 years ago and it was twice the price. Looks like these has gone down some in price the last couple years.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VG-24-2-ft-T5-Grow-Light-Hydroponics-4-Lamps-6500K-Veg-Bulbs-Sun-96W-HO-Used-/271176624255?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f2362e87f
 
Herb Man

Herb Man

Well-Known Member
Jimdamick

Jimdamick

Well-Known Member
I would recomend a 2 bulb 4' VHO t5 fixture. Sunblaze makes 1 for about $ 150 with 6500k lamps. You can change to 3000k for flowering, which I do. The differance between VHO (very high output) vs HO (high output) is huge. You can grow 3 large plants in 3 gallon pots from seedling to flower with impressive results. These fixtures are meant for growing serious plants, and I love them. Low heat and reasonable power consumption, plus the high lumens these fixtures give off are great. Go on the web and compare lumens of the VHO t5 lamp, you will be surpised. Peace
 
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ISmokeAlot13

Active Member
Thank you guys, I took that into consideration buying the 2 bulb t5 the only problem where i live theres not alot of store around me where i live and the only place that sell electrical appliances is home depot that is close nd all they have are the 4 bulb and up for like $150+ Also I only grow once in a blue moon and had decent results with (4) 24 watt cfls on my last grow by the way this is my second grow im growing sour disel. But i really wouldnt wanna spend $150+ when i only grow 1 plant once in a blue moon. My grow spot can only grow up to 2-3 plants because its in my closet haha. For flower I'm using a 600 watt hps. I think what i should do is exhange my (2) 32 watt t8 for a (1) 24 watt t5 but i will definetly upgrade my veg lights in the future im alreadly (almost) halfway through veg.
 
B166ER420

B166ER420

Well-Known Member
ISmokeAlot13 said:
Thank you guys, I took that into consideration buying the 2 bulb t5 the only problem where i live theres not alot of store around me where i live and the only place that sell electrical appliances is home depot that is close.....
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Where's wal-mart?They have single bulb 23" t5 fixtures for $10 and you can plug them together if you buy more than one.Go with the T5's:)
 
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