What T5 system would you recommend?

A

ATFgrower

Member
In my past I have always used water cooled lighting. Now I am starting up fresh at a new location, planning a new setup. Water cooled is great, but expensive, and the huge ressies take up so much room that could be used for growing.

I have done some research and T5's seem like they could actually grow just as well as HID lighting in most cases.

Anyone with T5 experience what system would you recommend the most? I will be using aeroponics again. I have also heard the best way to utilize T5's would be a scrog method, so this may be what I do.
 
Dont Fear The Reefer

Dont Fear The Reefer

New Member
Seems like most are using the cfl bulbs. You get more concentrated light. I started out with 4' T8 strips, didn't take me long to realize I had inadequate light. Now I have T8 3' strips on sides of plants and cfl's overhead about 2" from plant. Good luck...
 
PetFlora

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
First you need high output T5 fixture and bulbs to rock a grow. THEN you need aquarium bulbs, which offer higher output AND LED-like color spectrums.

Check out Pr0fesseur's thread here LED Without LEDs- My First T5 Grow
 
truepunk87

truepunk87

Well-Known Member
I love my hydrofarm 4' 6 bulb t5. I run 6500k bulbs the whole grow. Current grow-sour lemon og @34 days

Last harvest -lemon skunk @81 days
 
A

ATFgrower

Member
I appreciate the replies. I don't like the idea of cfl's to flower. I have used them to veg in the past, but after seeing a T5 on veg there was no contest. I have checked out Profs thread. He was the reason I got interested in the first place. Still not quite sure of the bulb choices, but I have seen just straight 6500k, and 3200k bulbs used with good results.

So we have 2 people saying HTG OR Hydrofarm.

What do people think of Badboy or sunsystems blaze?

Just looking for the best choice from the beginning.
 
N

novice11

Active Member
I use the SunSystems SunBlaze and have had no issues. They even come with bulbs, althogh I have replaced them with the Aquarium bulbs per the pr0fesseur.
 
bigv1976

bigv1976

Well-Known Member
The thing is that a T5 light is a T5 light. Paying alot more for 1 brand over another is just wasted money. HTG lights are every bit as good as quantam bad boys except the are 40% less monmey.
 
AltarNation

AltarNation

Well-Known Member
bigv1976 said:
The thing is that a T5 light is a T5 light. Paying alot more for 1 brand over another is just wasted money. HTG lights are every bit as good as quantam bad boys except the are 40% less monmey.
Click to expand...
Does yours have the gap in the middle for the ballasts? Because that is a significant difference in my opinion. I would gladly trade my HTGSupply unit for a real bad boy without the ballast box lodged between the reflectors.
 
bigv1976

bigv1976

Well-Known Member
AltarNation said:
Does yours have the gap in the middle for the ballasts? Because that is a significant difference in my opinion. I would gladly trade my HTGSupply unit for a real bad boy without the ballast box lodged between the reflectors.
Click to expand...
I dont see where that is a $50 upgrade.
 
pr0fesseur

pr0fesseur

Well-Known Member
https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/358190-led-without-leds-my-first.html
Also its all about the ballasts and how they ignight the bulb, can you hotstart without blowing out a bulb? how much EF do they emit? how hot do they get etc? badboys use great Race horse ballasts.. not to mention the ease i can pack my T5 setup in a small box, is completely collapsable, i can take it apart with ease and replace a ballast without taking out the bulbs.......
thats a 50$ upgrade if you ask me.....
http://youtu.be/tommDI2KjRY
 
pr0fesseur

pr0fesseur

Well-Known Member
bigv1976 said:
The thing is that a T5 light is a T5 light. Paying alot more for 1 brand over another is just wasted money. HTG lights are every bit as good as quantam bad boys except the are 40% less monmey.
Click to expand...
really ???
so this

is equal to this?



um nope....
 
Gastanker

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
Tiny tiny differences have a big impact. I've seen light test of different brand t5 reflectors where some were actually twice as bright as others when measured with a PAR meter. I would definitely do your research and spend the extra for quality.

Here is a chart that was put together on an aquarium forum based on real PAR meter numbers. The amount of light based on the quality of the reflector varies tremendously

 
pr0fesseur

pr0fesseur

Well-Known Member
Gastanker said:
Tiny tiny differences have a big impact. I've seen light test of different brand t5 reflectors where some were actually twice as bright as others when measured with a PAR meter. I would definitely do your research and spend the extra for quality.
Click to expand...
Not to mention the quality of phosphors and ballasts improve the amount and duration of light produced.... you DO get what you pay for...
GASTANKER check my thread youd be impressed by my T5 work.
 
Gastanker

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
pr0fesseur said:
Not to mention the quality of phosphors and ballasts improve the amount and duration of light produced.... you DO get what you pay for...
GASTANKER check my thread youd be impressed by my T5 work.
Click to expand...
Ballast differences are huge! Well stated.

I've been by it :) You do wonders with T5s - personally I would debate the practicality of aquarium bulbs, cost/g compared to cheaper regular T5 bulbs
 
A

ATFgrower

Member
Thanks everyone for the responses. I must say the bad boy looks like the best choice. I love the placement of the ballasts, and the fact that they have 16 lamp units which most brands seem to not be making.

Prof I am interested in maybe exploring aquarium bulbs eventually, but not quite sure about doing it yet. I really like your thread, I have read about half of it.

Since I have no experience with T5 lighting I am trying to find out peoples experience with the quantum grow and bloom lamps. Since they are 2900k and 6500k I believe, do they throw out any green at all?

Also how wide are the reflectors on the bad boy compared to Gastankers images?
 
bigv1976

bigv1976

Well-Known Member
I guess I will stop responding here. All that happens is someone that knows what they are saying answers a question and then people patrol yahoo trying discredit what that person says. To make a long story short out of all the answers only 2 of us put up grow pictures to back what we were saying. lets all show our grows. When I first did that grow everyone was telling me I should switch to hps cuz u cant get good results from a T5 flowering now all of the sudden everyone is a T5 expert. show me some grows. My bet is that you brainiacs will need to patrol the internet to find yourself a T5 grow too. Good luck ATF. Im out.
 
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