t12?

ok well i looked up lights for a veg room and i saw they are all t5 on online stores for grows. i went to homedepot and i saw some that are t12 dose it matter?

T12's are the cheapo 4' 40 watt 3000 lumen shoplight bulb. T5's have a better light spectrum than T12s and are way more efficient, T12's are way cheaper, less efficient, and still do a good job growing plants in veg.

smokinrav said:

T12's are the cheapo 40 watt 3000 lumen shoplight bulb. T5's have a better light spectrum than T12s and are way more efficient, T12's are way cheaper, less efficient, and still do a good job growing plants in veg.

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so im good with the t12 bulbs? or should i got with t5?

T12s are fine.

If you want cheap and effective go with t12's, if you want something more expensive and effective go with T5's. If you get a fixture that uses t12's you can also use t8's in it. You can also get all the cool spectrums you want at lowe's or home depot in t12 or t8 whatever they are carrying now. The cheapest route is to go to home depot and hidden away on the bottom shelf, I mean hidden away, they sell a t8 shop light with electronic ballast for less than $10, then get whatever bulbs you want, cool white, daylight, whatever looks good to you.

Also with t5's most local places don't carry yet so you'll be ordering everything you need. You might see some t5's at lowes but they are the old style, the new ones are different and usually labeled high output on them so don't get fooled into buying something that you think is the right thing when it isn't. T5's are basically the same as the new spiral cfl's just straight instead of spiraled.

The t designations are the diameter of the bulb, t12 are the biggest and t5 is the smallest.

I will say t12 gro lux bulbs work well, if you want get two shop lights and mix cool white and gro lux then go for it.

good call i ^ ....i use the t8..with blue spec bulbs.... in combo w my 400w hps...f'n works great

i got some 4' t12s 40watt ima have 8 on. i think it should work.

buckd316 said:

i got some 4' t12s 40watt ima have 8 on. i think it should work.

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You don't have to think, it will work quite well. I don't think you can do any better than 4' flourescent bulbs during veg unless you go for a high wattage MH or 8' bulbs.

thats all i needed to hear, thanks again.