If I might make a suggestion, I'd use that t5 fixture for side lighting IMO your girls will def benefit from that.
and @astral You can pick of a 30-100x loupe off amazon ebay ect. for ~3 bucks.
You most certainly may.
I had the thought of side lighting prior to the grow then completely forgot about it until you just mentioned it.
I couldn’t/wouldn't use my T5 for side lighting in this tent for a couple of reasons.
1) Its surprisingly heavy maybe easily 50lb or more and it doesn’t have attachments to hang that way so the risk of it slipping and falling on some of the ladies is too great.
2) In my current tent the tubes would be too close to the leaves.
I would need a bigger tent, but there are size restrictions I have to work with .
Getting a four foot twin tube set up is a thought, but the tubes getting too close to the leaves might still be an issue.
Another perhaps more workable option might be if I could somehow concoct an arrangement whereby I would have a thin 4 foot metal rod, upon which I could have around 4 or 6 CFL's and I could slide an position the small CFL's (mid level) either side of the plants along the back wall of the tent.
Does anyone know of such an arrangement/item.
And yes, those Jewelers loupes are cheap as Chips on ebay.