Hey im sort of new to growing and I had some questions about the light I just bought. I have a t5-HO 4 lamp 24watt ea... I bought the light for cloning and it worked pretty well, the one time I have cloned. But I just put some new Skunk#1 seeds under it about 2 weeks ago. They are already on their 5th node, but they are only about 2'' tall. I think it might be because of the bulbs not having any red spectrum at all... so they wont stretch as much..? Does this make sense to anyone else? Any input would be much appreciated. Good enough? Get new veg lights? Add a couple red bulbs? idk help me please!
Are my T5 HO lights good enough for veg?
- Thread starter newbgro
- Start date
WA.medigrow
Member
I have a 6 bulb 4' t5-HO and it works great for veg.
darkdestruction420
Well-Known Member
height isnt everything, i prefer short bushy plants, but anyway, the mh is kept further from the plants in addition to being stronger than the t5's, so mh plants grow upwards towards the light more than the t5 which is kept closer to the plant, if you really want raising the lights a few inches will probally give you your desired results.
Silky Shagsalot
Well-Known Member
some folks go start to finish under t5's.
darkdestruction420
Well-Known Member
thats true, but we are just talking about veg lighting at the moment, im sure he's got hid for flowering or else he would of asked if it was good to go from start to finish with them and not if they were good enough to veg under.
WA.medigrow
Member
What is your light schedule. By changing my T-5's from 20/4 to 18/6 I was able to get a little more space between nodes.
Silky Shagsalot
Well-Known Member
if they're good enough to finish with, you can start with em. although, if you're gonna finish with hid, i'd start with hid too. you want to develop a nice root system.
They are on 18/6 right now. so... i have 24wx 4 bulbs so its 96 watts total... idk if that would be strong enough to flower with. but as far as the hid... does it really develop a stronger or nicer root system? if thats the case then i should buy another ballast and reflector, because i have a 400w metal halide bulb sitting in my drawer. I used it to start my first batch, then switched to a hps bulb when i swtiched to 12/12. now i have a flowering room with hps and a veg tent with the t5 HO. so maybe i should just throw the t5's in my flowering room (verticle) and get another ballast and reflector and put my veg tent... all i want is nice strong plants, that produce nice buds..... constantly... so w/e would work best for those results... lol
squirrel436
Active Member
Im new to indoor growing too (getting to old and slow for outdoor growing). I have two seperate tents #1 tent i have a 4foot 4bulb T5 in that i just use to veg with. Tent #2 i have 2 600w HPS lamps for my bud tent. I love my T5 for vegging and saves on electric bill too. Will start a grow thread soon of my setup. I love my BUD!
darkdestruction420
Well-Known Member
Sound like a good idea to me,
Iamabongman
Active Member
i have 4' 4 bulb but each bulb is 54 watts. i think your 96 watts are fine for rooting clones and smaller vegging plants but they will probably need more watts for faster growth.