Is a T5 setup ok for veg?

Hey everybody this is my 1st post on these boards. I have had a G-O for the past 2 years with pretty good success. Unfortunately some issues come up, and it had to be abandoned, and I am starting over again from scratch except for my ATF mother.

I used a home made cfl board with 18 30 watt cfl's in veg. Then moved to 2 1,000 watt water cooled HPS lights in flower. I was able to get roughly 20-24 oz per 5 weeks on that setup. I use straight Aeroponics. 18 plants per bay. I plan on building the same Aeroponics setup.

I have never used a MH light before, and never used air cooled lighting. I want to keep this a closed system. So I can't funnel air into another room, nor outside. So I believe a MH light is out of the question? Anyone ever used both MH and a T5 setup? What are the differences, and do you think the T5 will be good enough for veg? I feel it should be on par with the cfl's if not better. If I go the T5 route I will probably go with a 48 system, which supposedly produces 40,000 lumens with 6500k lighting. I have heard some decent things about veg with T5.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.

yea t5's work great... less penetration than an hid and hence why people keep them closer to plant tops. if you dont vent or a/c cool yer gonna have problems no matter if you use a mh or t5 system. I like em both just fine. t5 is nicer on the power bill. I think mh is better for larger plants because of the deeper penetration (haha "deep penetration!"), but if yer runnin shortys t5 gets it done in a nice way

Thanks for the reply. Central HVAC will be ran, I just can't cut holes through walls or the ceiling to vent. I obviously don't know much about air cooled lighting, but have always assumed you would have to vent it outside the room to cool. If this isn't true then maybe I could go with a MH setup. Although T5's seem to have a lot of praise since they can be so close to the tops. That is why I like the water cooled HPS. I can have 1,000 watts like 3 inches from the tops. Ofcourse never having any experience with air cooled makes me wonder how they are normally vented and cooled.

T5's are gangster enjoy.

I have heard they are gangster. Has anyone quit using MH lighting in veg, and used T5's instead?

How was the change? Would you recommend it? Thanks.

i had been wondering the same thing myself… currently only running a 400w HPS… for veg/flowering. When the bill came from the 3 weeks that I was vegging… it was a little more than double! I decided that since I was in the same debate… MH or T5s… that electric bill pushed me to go with a T5 veg setup. Good thing I hadn't bought anything yet!

hope my 2 cents helps, good luck!

Depends on how long you veg for.

My setup is...

1-2 weeks under T5s while cloning.
4 weeks veg under 400watt HID

I found the T5s stretching my plants too much if I went over 2 weeks of veg time.

Thanks guys. I vegged for 4 weeks with the cfl's, so maybe 3 weeks with a T5 system. I'm not really worried about stretching all that much, but I will be changing things around a bit from how I have been growing for the past 2 years. So some things may come up that weren't a problem before. How do I find Prof's thread?

Anyone else with T5 experience?

T5s do fantastic. i've worked in gardens using t5s and they are fine. im actually using a t8 ballast for veg. home depots new 6 light ballast. seems to be fine and it is way brighter in the room than that 400 watt. drawing way less power as well. thankfully.

I have been reading Professors thread, and T5's do seem awesome. From research I have been doing people are getting good results even from flowering. I may have to change my entire thinking on grow lights. I may set up an entire T5 system in veg, and flower now. Not sure, but still seeking more opinions on this.

I have been doing a lot of comparing when I look at bulbs lately.
wally world has GE cfl 26w/100w 6500k 1610 lumens bulbs 2 for 6$
then the larger lights they carry are 42w and 65w outside floodlights, they look just like the cfl but DONT have the built in ballast, they produce 2000 and 7000 lumens @ 6500k for around 13$, but the fixture to power them is 30 or 40 bucks (but does come with one bulb).and realistically, one is not gonna cut it. so if you think you need 4 of those. maybe a 400MH would be better. IDK im no lighting expert for sure.

After looking at the T5 fixtures they have out there, for the cost it seems like I can produce the same light for less money just using more smaller cfl's, and you can get better penetration, because you can afford to toss a couple under the canopy for more direct light concentration.

or at least it seems this way in theory.

I am a Pr0f devotee.

My T5 compliment includes Quantum Grow bulbs (pretty decent, but I wouldn't buy them if I was starting from scratch)

Whenever possible get bulbs with built in reflectors

Grow

Quantum Grow
UVL Aqua Suns
Wave Technologies Coral Waves
ATI Special Actinics

(I would replace Quantums with 454 &/or 75.25 for grow)

Flower

UVL Red Lifes
Wave Technologies Coral Waves
ATI Special Actinics

Since this was/is an experiment I did not buy enough bulbs for Flower, I am infilling with UVL Aqua Suns and Quantum grows on the outsides of my 8 bulb Bad Boy.

Week 3 of flower

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PetFlora thank you for your original suggestion to check out that thread. It has opened my eyes to new possibilities. To be able to get away from the expensive water cooled lighting would be great. I was originally thinking about using T5's for veg, but now flower seems probable.

So are the bulbs mentioned in your last post what you are currently using? Would you recommend the bad boy or something else? Does it have a built in ballast? I have about a week until my clones are ready for veg, so I have to really get on the ball and figure out exactly what I need to purchase. Thanks for your help. Your plants look like the are coming along nicely.