Club T5

Undercover Cop

Active Member
Does anyone know if t8 and t5 bulbs are interchangeable? I have a 6 tube 4 ft shop light. Currently with t8s. Will it accept 5s? also are t5 that much of a step up from 8s to make it worth buying new bulbs?
no, and yes. I believe there are conversion kits to allow that but cant be sure., otherwise no you would need a specific ballas for the T5 at the T5's wattage (54w for HO, 40?w for NO) w/o doing a bunch of research for exact numbers, most t832 bulbs put out abt 2200 lumens, and most T5's (spectrum dependent) put out around 5000 lumens. more than twice the output for less than twice the wattage. 5/8" vs 8/8"...Fluoros are designated by a T- then how many 8th of an inch, T5 are 5/8ths, t2 are 2/8 or 1/4", T12 are 12/8 or 1.5" dia. The thinner diameter T5 bulbs produce twice the light output in a smaller tube, concentrating the output more into a more intense point of origin of the light, making better penetration and delivering more usable photon energy to your plants. The thinner tubes also allow more light to hit a reflector and then proceed downward toward your plants rather than bounce right back into your bulbs and be lost as restrike. T2 bulbs are even more efficient but are hard as hell to find over 18"
 

Beta420

Member
Thanks UC. Appreciate the info. Was hoping they would be standardized sockets and ballasts etc. Between them. Ima keep the 8s for now. First grow. if I get more serious will look T5 options. Though for a touch more I could go to the dark side and get hps...
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
Thanks UC. Appreciate the info. Was hoping they would be standardized sockets and ballasts etc. Between them. Ima keep the 8s for now. First grow. if I get more serious will look T5 options. Though for a touch more I could go to the dark side and get hps...
i so want to make a star wars reference
 

Beta420

Member
Kush....kush... I am your father. Smoke me and we will rule the galaxy together. Or maybe we'll just hop in the x-wing and get us some nachos.

:evil::evil::evil::evil:

There's a "Clone" wars reference in here somewhere too Lol.
 

pedro420

Active Member
well everyone i finaly got my orders in for the new tent and light next im buying a few single 4fters for side lighting
just bought
4ft 4 also going to buy a 2ft 6 to keep my 2 mothers under
 

pedro420

Active Member
not rite now im just gonna stick with the reg bulbs but as i get better at growing im going to experament with them to see what differen#e i get

im thinking for my setup i got ill be ok for a wile while i sit back get my hands dirty and get some exp on my hands and save up to grt new equiptment and strains goin on
 

pr0fesseur

Well-Known Member
no, and yes. I believe there are conversion kits to allow that but cant be sure., otherwise no you would need a specific ballas for the T5 at the T5's wattage (54w for HO, 40?w for NO) w/o doing a bunch of research for exact numbers, most t832 bulbs put out abt 2200 lumens, and most T5's (spectrum dependent) put out around 5000 lumens. more than twice the output for less than twice the wattage. 5/8" vs 8/8"...Fluoros are designated by a T- then how many 8th of an inch, T5 are 5/8ths, t2 are 2/8 or 1/4", T12 are 12/8 or 1.5" dia. The thinner diameter T5 bulbs produce twice the light output in a smaller tube, concentrating the output more into a more intense point of origin of the light, making better penetration and delivering more usable photon energy to your plants. The thinner tubes also allow more light to hit a reflector and then proceed downward toward your plants rather than bounce right back into your bulbs and be lost as restrike. T2 bulbs are even more efficient but are hard as hell to find over 18"
You can use t8 there are bulbs available for t8 that you cant get for t5... however t5 are a better coice IMHO and conversion kits are just ballasts and endcaps...
check my journal i have some endcap links and for ballasts there are so many choices. I would get the Fulham workhorse ballast very reliable and very little heat output..
 

Beta420

Member
You can use t8 there are bulbs available for t8 that you cant get for t5... however t5 are a better coice IMHO and conversion kits are just ballasts and endcaps...
check my journal i have some endcap links and for ballasts there are so many choices. I would get the Fulham workhorse ballast very reliable and very little heat output..
Thanks pr0f. I'll check it out. BTW have run across a lot of your posts throughout RIU and always appreciated your measured and fact supported comments. This one too! Beta420
 

pedro420

Active Member
hey everyone ive been readin a lot and am thinking about useing par lights but im a little confused on wich ones to use for flower and veg

if im thinking rite
veg
2x fiji purple
2x blue

flower
2x fiji purole
2x red sun

now that would just be for the 4 bulb t5 a 4 footer i was also thinking of just getting the fiji purple bulbs and useing the grow and bloom t5 lights for the diff times but if anyone can help me fin the rite lights that would be great as i have had trouble finding just the ho bulbs and i dont want to use the vho bulbs they are s waste
 

Undercover Cop

Active Member
hey everyone ive been readin a lot and am thinking about useing par lights but im a little confused on wich ones to use for flower and veg

if im thinking rite
veg
2x fiji purple
2x blue

flower
2x fiji purole
2x red sun

now that would just be for the 4 bulb t5 a 4 footer i was also thinking of just getting the fiji purple bulbs and useing the grow and bloom t5 lights for the diff times but if anyone can help me fin the rite lights that would be great as i have had trouble finding just the ho bulbs and i dont want to use the vho bulbs they are s waste

you cant do aquarium specific bulbs only, If you have a 4 bulb fixture you have to have 2 full spectrum bulbs in each, either 6500 or 3000k or another bulb that has 3 spectrum spikes providing necessary spectrum. Veg is heavy blue, but not all blue. Flower is Heavy red, but you cant have all red... Granted almost every Fluorescent will have plenty of blue, it will not be utilized as efficiently if there is no green or lacking red. You need all light during all stages, just more pronounced depending on stage. For veg use one purple and one blue along with 2 other bulbs that provide a more wide spectrum, I would stay stick with two cheap 6500k's (or upgrade to a florasun or aquaflora) with two blue bulbs, then for flower swap out the 6500k's for some 3000 or 2700k's then 1 red sun and 1 fiji purple. The bloom bulbs still have green and blue, only heavier oranges than the 6500k.

They will look really cool under actinic/aquarium bulbs only, but they'll suffer lack of proper spectrum. look at the SPD charts (google image search your bulb +spectrum/SPD) and figure a combo that will cover all wavelengths, just heavier blue for veg/red for flower but still widely spread with a tiny bit of green.

If you have no red in Veg, or no blue in Flower, or zero green at all, your plants will either stretch to find it or be stunted (or will generally not be the best they can be even if they dont look visibly stressed)

2011-11-23 21.25.16.jpg
If you only have a single 4 bulb, and $ is an issue, wavepoint bulbs are about $10ea, top fixture has a reefwave and blue wave covering the blues + two 6500k's giving some red and a bit of green (Ive since upgraded to an 8 bulb for veg so I have more opportunity to vary the spectrum, but I had been considering swapping in the bloom bulbs for veg just to counter the extra boost of blue compared to an all 6500k fixture. I figure they're getting an extra dose of blue so I might need to up the red abit also *yes I know the blooms are mostly orange/yellow rather than useful red but whatev.)
. bottom fixture has a coralwave and redwave w 2 cheap bloom bulbs. All 4 of these bulbs have plenty of blue, but the wavepoints also have specific red spikes and the blooms give some orange and a bit o green. I cannot testify to the flowering setup cuz I use it as sidelighting w HPS above, but I like the spectrum combo and I thnk it works good to supplement (would never try to flower with only 4bulbs, tho... maybe an 8 bulb. But when I went from all 6500k to adding the two blue I definately noticed improved response and VERY tight nodes. I got good veg results from the top fixture... total cost abt 125$ for each fixture with bulbs.
 

pedro420

Active Member
undercover - thank you for the help so if i got this rite your saying if i use the par lights then these should be how i use them

veg
fiji purple
454nm (blue)
2x grow bulbs

flower
fiji purple
red sun
2x bloom bulbs

and as for not useing just 4bulb t5 i have a 150w hps i kno its not a big fancy 400/600/1000 but its all i could buy with all the stuff i orderd at once but if i use the 150 hps and the 4 bulb t5 along the back wall pointed toward the plants as a suplament light do you think that would work good - btw im not looking for amazing resaults im just looking to grow my meds for persinal use

also in the next few weeks im buying a 2ft 6bulb to keep my moms underdo you think this would work
2x fiji purple
2x grow or 6.5k
2x bloom or 3
 

Undercover Cop

Active Member
I would think those bulb combos would work pretty well, I dont have any Fiji Purps yet to say first hand (will soon) but if they live up to they hype they should cover a good bit of both red and blue. those are pretty full spectrum combos, heavy blue for veg and red for flower, and you save $ using your cheap generic veg/bloom bulbs until you want to swap those for a specialty bulb like a florasun or aquapink/aquaflora etc which will serve the same purpose but give you a bit better performance (for more $ of course)


I originally had a 150w HPS and a 4ft T5 so...
2011-11-23 23.43.15.jpg2011-11-23 23.42.55.jpg

now for flower I use my 2 4ft t5's to supplement a 400w HPS so a little more wattage but same principles...
2011-12-20 21.00.28.jpg
 

pedro420

Active Member
again thanks for help with that ive been reading and reading but couldnt find a good answer

i was thinking about getting the aquaflora butt im going to wait untill i get more cash saved up as for rite now tho i only have the grow and bloom bulbs so when the rest of my stuff gets here tomarrow im just going to be useing mixed grow bloom untill i get the fiji purple and redsun and the 454nm

so what kind of resaults did u get with the 150 hps and the t5s i kno you had 2 but what you think i could get useing the 1 and the 150 hps
 

Undercover Cop

Active Member
again thanks for help with that ive been reading and reading but couldnt find a good answer

i was thinking about getting the aquaflora butt im going to wait untill i get more cash saved up as for rite now tho i only have the grow and bloom bulbs so when the rest of my stuff gets here tomarrow im just going to be useing mixed grow bloom untill i get the fiji purple and redsun and the 454nm

so what kind of resaults did u get with the 150 hps and the t5s i kno you had 2 but what you think i could get useing the 1 and the 150 hps
long story, 14of15 hermie/male (all were from mexican brick bagseeds), the one left is a beautiful squatty indica at about day 30, so Ive got a few weeks to go, and she'll be low yield (barely over a foot tall) but 6 nice cola's bulking up now, nice and frosty.


you could cover 3 small/medium sized plants pretty well with those two
 

pedro420

Active Member
ok thats good as im going to have 2 moms i clone from only gonna veg a week or 2 so they arnt going to be thst big but 3 med size plants would be good for me wile im veg and flower more

that sucks to hear bout the loss i had the same problem my first grow she went hermi on me and it was sad but this time around i got good genitics and im hopeing the germ and grow if not its bak to hunting for good bagseed again and ide much rather have good genes then bagseed but then sgainive seen some amazing looking bsgseed
 

C.Indica

Well-Known Member
Blah blah 2 bulb sucks.
But ignoring this,
For two bulb T5 combo, eventually destined fora mother/veg cab,

Should I use
1x 6500k
1x Purple?

Or
1x 6500k
1x Super Actinic?
 

aoyanagi

Member
So I'm reallly really wanting to work some PAR bulbs into my upcoming first solo grow and so I searched for 'em on Yahoo. First website I go to is bulkreefsupply.com Quite helpfully, some folks have recommended and thus flagged all the "right" bulbs for us, it would seem. Helpful helpful people around here I tell ya!
 
Top