Fluorescent tube lighting?

Hey Rollitup,

So the other day i was given Three 24 x 48 fluorescent light trays.
They hold 4 36w tubes each and have built in ballasts.

Im' not sure if they are t5, t8 or t12 and wanted to know if they would do a good job and if i can get correct light spectrums with these tubes.

The tubes have written on them, 36W WHITE FT436W.

Can anyone give me some info on these lights.

I'm new to fluorescent as usually rum hid.

+ reps

Those are T8 bulbs and fixtures, the color range that you are looking for is out there. What do you want to do with them? I think that all the numbers mean ft= fluoro tube, 4 is 4 feet and 36W is just that.

the white tubes are for veg

The "T Number" (T5, T8, T12), tells the diameter of the tube. Each of these numbers represents how many 1/8" units wide the diameter of the tube is.

For example:
A T5 tube is 5/8" diameter.
A T8 tube is 1" diameter.
A T12 tube is 1 1/2" diameter.

These numbers are approximate, for various reasons, but they are pretty close.

Yup those are T8 fixtures. You can get the same type of light spetrum that you get with CFLs. 2700k-6500k. I veg with T8's and they work fine. Not that great for flowering. I really use them as side lighting when I'm flowering as I have my HPS on top.