t5's or t8's?

doingfine · Apr 2, 2011

im ready for flowering stage and im using two 600w sodiums and i was gonna use t8's for the bottoms and sides of the plants
as far as cost efficency i have the ballasts and light elements for t8's or t12's
the ballasts would be too big for t5's so i would have to buy all new balasts
i guess my question is can i use t8'sor are they nt to be used for flowering?
the lights say daylight on them the only thing is there 28w instead of 40w like everyone says to use
any help would be great
thanks

wyteberrywidow · Apr 2, 2011

You can use t8s or t 12 since you will just be using it for the bottom.I honestly would say get cfls for that and use the t8s or 12 for veg and cloning

doingfine · Apr 2, 2011

wyteberrywidow said:
You can use t8s or t 12 since you will just be using it for the bottom.I honestly would say get cfls for that and use the t8s or 12 for veg and cloning

i have cfl's for veging but their only for veging stages from the sprctrum of them anyway
so they wont be usefull in flowering stage i believe
any other suggestions or you think im ok with t8's?
what is the diff between t5's and t8's?

wyteberrywidow · Apr 2, 2011

I think t5 give more lumens for the watts.I honestly would throw those cfls in flowering no matter the spectrum give the flower room some blue your plants will love it

doingfine · Apr 2, 2011

wyteberrywidow said:
I think t5 give more lumens for the watts.I honestly would throw those cfls in flowering no matter the spectrum give the flower room some blue your plants will love it

i mean hey man you have a lot more experience so ill listen to you if you think i should do that
dont you think the cfl's would be better for veging than the t8's though?

wyteberrywidow · Apr 2, 2011

doingfine said:
i mean hey man you have a lot more experience so ill listen to you if you think i should do that
dont you think the cfl's would be better for veging than the t8's though?

How many cfls are you using?
How many t8 bulbs you have?
Whats the wattage on the cfls?
whats the wattage on the t8s?

doingfine · Apr 2, 2011

wyteberrywidow said:
How many cfls are you using?
How many t8 bulbs you have?
Whats the wattage on the cfls?
whats the wattage on the t8s?

i have two cfl's
i dont have any t8's yet i just have two double balasts that will only fit t8's or t12's
which is why i wanted to throw a post out there before i buy ant more lights
i already have two 600w sodiums for the tops

wyteberrywidow · Apr 2, 2011

doingfine said:
i have two cfl's
i dont have any t8's yet i just have two double balasts that will only fit t8's or t12's
which is why i wanted to throw a post out there before i buy ant more lights
i already have two 600w sodiums for the tops

How many watts are the cfls?
I would just use t8s or t12 to veg and since you only have two bulbs why not use it in the flowering room

doingfine · Apr 2, 2011

wyteberrywidow said:
How many watts are the cfls?
I would just use t8s or t12 to veg and since you only have two bulbs why not use it in the flowering room

im not to sure of the watts but they give off either 3700 or 4200 lumens a piece
i bought them a couple months ago

Hubert · Apr 2, 2011

T5s and T8s actually produce very similar lumen/watts, and since T8s are cheaper I vote for them...you could buy more T8s with the same money. I bought HOT5s thinking they were the most efficient fluoro tube I could get, turns out they produce about 85 lumens/watt, while much cheaper T8s produce around 82 lumens/watt. The one advantage T5s do have is output per size of bulb, a two foot T5s is 24w while a two foot T8 is only 18...so in a cabinet or anything where size is limited you might be able to get more light using T5s.

doingfine · Apr 2, 2011

Hubert said:
T5s and T8s actually produce very similar lumen/watts, and since T8s are cheaper I vote for them...you could buy more T8s with the same money. I bought HOT5s thinking they were the most efficient fluoro tube I could get, turns out they produce about 85 lumens/watt, while much cheaper T8s produce around 82 lumens/watt. The one advantage T5s do have is output per size of bulb, a two foot T5s is 24w while a two foot T8 is only 18...so in a cabinet or anything where size is limited you might be able to get more light using T5s.

i have plenty of room man not worried about that just wanna see what i could use with what i got

doingfine · Apr 2, 2011

because i have two double 4ft balasts if i used the four t8's standing up wise and used them in the veg room that would give the veg room four t8's standing up . would that work or do the plants need the light from the top of them?

doingfine · Apr 3, 2011

Hubert said:
That will work fine.

now i was told that plants need a light on top to stretch
if i have yjr lights standing up on the wall is it the same as long as the plants dont grow past the height of the lights?

bamfrivet · Apr 3, 2011

When using t5, t8, t12 or cfl you need to keep the lights 2-3 inches away from the plant. If you are using your t8's for vegging then keep it right above them or they will stretch like crazy. I personally am using t8's for my whole grow, but I LST my plants so the t8's work better for me.

doingfine · Apr 4, 2011

bamfrivet said:
When using t5, t8, t12 or cfl you need to keep the lights 2-3 inches away from the plant. If you are using your t8's for vegging then keep it right above them or they will stretch like crazy. I personally am using t8's for my whole grow, but I LST my plants so the t8's work better for me.

so your telling me to hang the t8's above the plants instead of putting the lights straight up against the wall?

Gastanker · Apr 4, 2011

I'm using t8's for side lighting and it seems to be working well. Right now I'm running 8 10.0 UV bulbs along with supplemental 6500K - compliments the HPS

bamfrivet · Apr 4, 2011

doingfine said:
so your telling me to hang the t8's above the plants instead of putting the lights straight up against the wall?

If you are going to use 4' t8's, Then I would recommend putting at least one ballast above the plants. Then if you have one or two more, you can put them on the sides. I personally prefer to use at least 4 bulbs above the plants and use small CFL's to fill in any space that doesn't get much light.

If you plan on using a MH or HPS then you can use the t8's for side lighting.

Gastanker · Apr 5, 2011

I would tuck the T8s into the corners as side lighting. Use smaller CFLs for supplemental and a large CFL/HPS up top.

doingfine · Apr 6, 2011

Gastanker said:
I would tuck the T8s into the corners as side lighting. Use smaller CFLs for supplemental and a large CFL/HPS up top.

what type of wattage and kind of hps for the top? is there a spectrum thing with hps's like the cfl's?

bamfrivet · Apr 6, 2011

the wattage on the HPS really depends on the size of your grow area and ventilation. If you are going to be using t8's to suppliment light you can get away with a 600w or maybe 400w depending on the size of your area and how many plants you have going on. HPS, MH, CFL or even T8's all have a color spectrum (it's the number that ends with a K). 2700k is best for flowering, although you can also use 3000k you just wont get the best results. There higher numbers like 6500k or 5000k are cooler colors used for veg.

t5's or t8's?

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