T5 recommendations?

whitebb2727 said:

Lol.

I already linked that one. The bulbs are double stacked so its the size of other 4 bulb units. That's what I use and it grew this.

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Curious how much light is lost trapped behind the lamp with that close stacked setup?

OneHitDone said:

Curious how much light is lost trapped behind the lamp with that close stacked setup?

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No more than wider spaced lights. I'm running more bulbs since they are double stacked. There may be a little loss but don't think its much.

potato au gratin said:

Those sure look super nice. I'm not sure I can spend $500-$1,000 on lights though. I was hoping to keep things more in the $200 range starting out. Like I said, I'm not looking to take over the world or anything, just trying to be more self sufficient when it comes to my plants, garden variety and possibly otherwise.

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I grow with over driven T8. Shop lights from Wal-Mart, take two, tear them apart and make them dual balast (one plug powers one bulb instead of both, increasing the light output). There's videos on it, the light output isn't quite as bright as T5s but it's pretty damn close. And if you do the math, 4 fixtures 10 bucks a piece. 2 packs of bulbs, about 12 bucks each, you're at $64 excluding tax for essentially a 4ft 4 bulb fixture that is comparably bright to a T5, with some assembly required. You may be able to find a good priced fixture on Amazon if you don't want to do a ll this but it works for me

potato au gratin said:

Greetings,

Brand new here. I'm looking for some options for T5 lighting. My primary purpose is for starting seedlings for my garden, but I may have other uses as well.

It's my understanding I need 2 different light spectrum, so I'm looking for something that can do both. I assume this is as simple as swapping bulbs, but I'm fairly new to the idea of grow lights.

I'm not looking to take over the world or anything here, just looking for something functional

Thanks for your time

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If just seedlings you may be able to use cheaper T8s. They work. If you are in the USA, you can get a two (4ft) bulb T8 set up from Wal Mart for $10.97. If you want a better fixture - go to Lowes and spend about $18. The GE 6500K 2 pack of bulbs is $7.88. Someone on another thread said they prefer Phillips which I think Lowes sells. About $9.00. For about $20 you have a decent light for seedlings and veg. It uses 64 watts and gives you almost 6,000 lumens.

Place the T8 right above the seedlings.

Something I used was 2 T8s for babies and teens that were spaced about a foot apart and dropped two of these cheap 14 watt LEDs in between. The plants liked the red and blue LEDs and the 6500 K from the T8s.
http://www.ebay.com/p/Indoor-225-LED-Grow-Light-Lamp-14w-Blue-Red-White-Hydroponic-Plant-Panel/1724877546?_trksid=p2047675.l2644

You can also overdrive those T8s as the poster said above.