rossbonlay
Well-Known Member
Just read an artical bout these T5s being better then a HID,anyone know any more bout this??and are the T5s just flouros or wat??
T5s over MH???
- Thread starter rossbonlay
- Start date
jawbrodt
Well-Known Member
What a strange coincidence, I just got done hanging my new T5's an hour ago. 
I'll tell you what, I used to use T8's and they worked awesome,(6 bulb fixtures, one next to another) the plants were nice and short and bushy, and beautiful looking. Then i switched to a 400 watt MH, and it was a piece of shit. They stretched waaay too much for my liking, especially after switching from the T8s. Yeah sure, it'll work if you only plan to cover a 2' x 2' area. WTF? Then I switched to 400 watt HPS, and it wasn't much better, covered another 6" around the perimeter.
So, tonight I switched to T5's, just to try them out. I went with four 46" units, and that covers 20 small plants in 7" pot(one gallon), perfectly. A 600 watt MH would barely cover that much area, and they'd probably still stretch more than the fluoros. I took my light meter and checked the T5's, and I'm getting almost 5000 lumens at the tops, and around 3000 at 3-4 inches from the bulbs. Some might argue about light penetration, and I agree to an extent, but disagree when it comes to plants that are 12" or less. The fluoros are simply a better option for the first 3 weeks of veg, maybe a little more. In order to get 5000 lumens from a 400 watt HID, you have to have it pretty close, and that limits the area of coverage quite a bit. I can't afford to run 1000 watts of HID to cover a 4' x 4' area.
Also, I'm testing the T5's against the T8's, and I'm still not sold on the T5's. I haven't had time to go check my old T8 units with the light meter, I'll do that tomorrow. Those T8's are 20" wide and have 6 bulbs on a high-output ballast, and they worked great. I can take 3 of them and cover a 5' x 4' area perfectly, with zero gaps between the lights. It's a little under 600 watts, and I know there no freakin way a 600 watt MH could beat that setup. Those things would be stretching like crazy if you tried to cover that area. I doubt the T5's can cover that much area that well either, with 600 watts. We'll see if more lumens concentrated in a smaller spot, will match the T8's perfect coverage and higher lumens per watt. Hmm....
These are the units i used......http://cgi.ebay.com/T-BAY-6-LIGHT-T8-FLUORESCENT-FIXTURE_W0QQitemZ300384657437QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item45f052201d
I used the 5,000K bulbs(natural sunlight spectrum) and they worked excellent. If I decide to switch back, I'll go with the 6,500K bulbs. They should kick ass.
I'll tell you what, I used to use T8's and they worked awesome,(6 bulb fixtures, one next to another) the plants were nice and short and bushy, and beautiful looking. Then i switched to a 400 watt MH, and it was a piece of shit. They stretched waaay too much for my liking, especially after switching from the T8s. Yeah sure, it'll work if you only plan to cover a 2' x 2' area. WTF? Then I switched to 400 watt HPS, and it wasn't much better, covered another 6" around the perimeter. So, tonight I switched to T5's, just to try them out. I went with four 46" units, and that covers 20 small plants in 7" pot(one gallon), perfectly. A 600 watt MH would barely cover that much area, and they'd probably still stretch more than the fluoros. I took my light meter and checked the T5's, and I'm getting almost 5000 lumens at the tops, and around 3000 at 3-4 inches from the bulbs. Some might argue about light penetration, and I agree to an extent, but disagree when it comes to plants that are 12" or less. The fluoros are simply a better option for the first 3 weeks of veg, maybe a little more. In order to get 5000 lumens from a 400 watt HID, you have to have it pretty close, and that limits the area of coverage quite a bit. I can't afford to run 1000 watts of HID to cover a 4' x 4' area.
Also, I'm testing the T5's against the T8's, and I'm still not sold on the T5's. I haven't had time to go check my old T8 units with the light meter, I'll do that tomorrow. Those T8's are 20" wide and have 6 bulbs on a high-output ballast, and they worked great. I can take 3 of them and cover a 5' x 4' area perfectly, with zero gaps between the lights. It's a little under 600 watts, and I know there no freakin way a 600 watt MH could beat that setup. Those things would be stretching like crazy if you tried to cover that area. I doubt the T5's can cover that much area that well either, with 600 watts. We'll see if more lumens concentrated in a smaller spot, will match the T8's perfect coverage and higher lumens per watt. Hmm....
These are the units i used......http://cgi.ebay.com/T-BAY-6-LIGHT-T8-FLUORESCENT-FIXTURE_W0QQitemZ300384657437QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item45f052201d
I used the 5,000K bulbs(natural sunlight spectrum) and they worked excellent. If I decide to switch back, I'll go with the 6,500K bulbs. They should kick ass.
I
Illegal Smile
Guest
I use a combination of T5 and cfls for both veg and flower. The T5s are more intense but the cfls are easier to position. All without the heat.
rossbonlay
Well-Known Member
Jawbrodt,can we get some pics??