I am good with a t8 or t5, grown with them for years and really love them, apart from the light penetration. Got to keep them plants small, that jalapeno in the pics is probably just about a foot tall and a foot wide. For my marijuana i top all my plants and let just four branches grow out. I top at them at the 3/4 internode and flower a week or so after, plants don't get taller than 50cm when finished. Your plant looks stretched and weak, either get some stronger light on her or i really don't know what to do, this is where sparkafire would have a vey good idea, where is he!!!!! Help!!! There might be similar threads on this so have a look at what others did. I can maybe suggest topping the very last new bit of growth off and developing the side branches and making it more bushier. You are starting to appreciate that the higher you move the flourescents from the plant the less light penetrates the growth at the bottom and the plant stretches for the light. It is a tough situation you have gotten into and see why the call for light was made!
I hope this has been helpfull in some way and maybe a few ideas to think about. Even start another seed next to this plant and raise it close to the light so you now have two plants incase the first dosen't make it. Sparkafire help us please.
As you can see with my jalepeno the right technique for the right light is so important. Dan i am so happy we have found some common ground with the peppers, i love growing them and they are so much less fussier that marijuana, hard to overwater and love being underwatered, rarely needs nutes and grows better in poorer soils. With this plant the thrip damage was getting too bad due to it being really hot outside so i pulled all of its first set of flowers off to let it recover, just flowering again now. I keep them for two generations and then as you say they get too bush and have too start a new one as there gets a point where 18w of flourescent just dosen't cut it. I have started a new seedling but that is in a peat cube at home in my veg chamber, will transplant to a pot in a few days and place it next to the one in the pic, when this one has given me two sets/generations of peppers the seedling will be just starting to flower hence a slow continuous supply of peppers. If you get too many simply leave them too dry on the side and they will store for a couple of years easily.
Now ive showed you mine dan you show me yours!