Help me make a choice in lighting please:)

I recently got my card so im not gonna waste anytime to get this grow up and running.
So my plan is to run one 4 foot 8 tube T5 system and 4 65 watt 5000K cfl's for supplemental lighting/canopy plus i have 5500 lumens of a T8 system for backup(6500K)
i plan on growing 4 auto strains while vegging the rest of my photoperiod plants until summer and moving them outdoors, harvesting them in fall, its an homage of mine to the FDD2BLK (sorry if i typo'd its been awile since ive been on here) 2010 outdoor grow thread
but yes my real question is, how many of the 4 foot T5 bulbs be 2700K vs 6500K i know im predominately vegging so im thinking 6 blue 2 red but i am flowering those autos so im thinking 4 and 4. Will any of you please give me your 2 cents

please, anyone? i see alot of looky loo's. im sure one of you has an opinion

How often are you going to grow the autos during the winter? Just this one time? every year??
How long are you going to have to veg your outdoor plants?
Do you have any of the T5 bulbs already? You may just want to use your existing stock up...

I like the idea of vegging during winter then planting outdoors. I would not customize your setup too much for a one-time auto grow.
Where possible, you may want to have the T5 set up for veg (6500k) then supplement for flowering autos with some new 2700k CFLs. Otherwise, assuming you got plenty of time to veg your outdoor plants, you may go 4x4 in the T5 and use your existing CFLs for flowering.

mrwood said:

How often are you going to grow the autos during the winter? Just this one time? every year??
How long are you going to have to veg your outdoor plants?
Do you have any of the T5 bulbs already? You may just want to use your existing stock up...

I like the idea of vegging during winter then planting outdoors. I would not customize your setup too much for a one-time auto grow.
Where possible, you may want to have the T5 set up for veg (6500k) then supplement for flowering autos with some new 2700k CFLs. Otherwise, assuming you got plenty of time to veg your outdoor plants, you may go 4x4 in the T5 and use your existing CFLs for flowering.

Click to expand...

well i was just gonna check out these two autoflowering strains and if it goes well i will nearly have autos year round, i have 3 Dutch Passion Think different Fem Autos, and 1 World of seeds Northern lights X Big Bud auto fem on their way with several free feminized seeds, including head band and OG kush #18.
i personally only have two T8's and a 2 light fixture and that isnt enough for what i need but would be helpful in the grand scheme of things. Luckily Amazon has bestowed upon me a great bargain. i buy an 8 bulb 4 foot system it will include the bulbs only 6400k and proably not the highest lumens it should have per watt but for the time being it will do fine.
Also i think you mistook me or i just failed to explain in depth what i intend to do with my set up. because i have a california Cannabis card i am allowed to have 6 flowering plants and 12 vegatative plants, so i figured since an auto starts to flower in two weeks i could then technically have 12 photo period plants remained in the vegatative state, side by side with the autos in the same 18/6 light cycles all under the same lights (i dont actually plan on having 18 plants right off the back but thats my future goal).
as for how long i will veg them, if possible i may take some clones from some and after they root ill throw the mothers in an early spring flower cycle but ONLY if the daylight cycle is lined up when im ready otherwise i am gonna let my trees grow until about june or so and then show them the beautiful outdoors.
and Actually i honestly thought of just getting all 2700k cfls earlier today, i figured that would be the most effective way to flower the autos and since the cfls are individual it can specifically target those in need lol
O and i dont own any CFLs i actually dont have much of any of my equipment but ive done research for over 5 years so i know what i want to get, although i wish i still had my old CFLs but the damn cops took everything!! now i have to start over all out of pocket again, but hey at least its legit now

This now sounds like a bigger operation.
You should decide what you want to do versus what you could 'technically' do under your card.
12 veg + 6 flower plants would benefit from more equipment than we have discussed.

I am leaning away from autos these days. A good thread going on the forum right now - consensus is 'in general, lower potency & lower yield'.

Since you are legal & have little equipment, you could aim towards a setup for perpetual grow. A germination/clone/veg area (based on T5, T8, and/or CFL) and a flower area (w/HID lighting). You might not be able to furnish this setup right away, but this could be the design that you aim for over time. Especially if you are looking at years of growing.

You could start with one of your T8 setup for vegging, the other T8 setup fo flowering. You might be able to manage 4 plants under each. Add some CFL to help the T8 flower.
Later, get a HID for your flower area.

Pumert said:

I recently got my card so im not gonna waste anytime to get this grow up and running.
So my plan is to run one 4 foot 8 tube T5 system and 4 65 watt 5000K cfl's for supplemental lighting/canopy plus i have 5500 lumens of a T8 system for backup(6500K)
i plan on growing 4 auto strains while vegging the rest of my photoperiod plants until summer and moving them outdoors, harvesting them in fall, its an homage of mine to the FDD2BLK (sorry if i typo'd its been awile since ive been on here) 2010 outdoor grow thread
but yes my real question is, how many of the 4 foot T5 bulbs be 2700K vs 6500K i know im predominately vegging so im thinking 6 blue 2 red but i am flowering those autos so im thinking 4 and 4. Will any of you please give me your 2 cents

Click to expand...

Here's what I am trying for flowering, I vegged with 98w of 5000k/ 2700k CFL's, and now I have a little over 300w.
Plant was very happy vegging, and seems happy now, I know better is easily possible, but I only have about $100 into this, in a 2x2x4 closet grow.
If you want to check out something I myself think is cool, look at Grorite's avatar, he has a real nice CFL setup.