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Not Extremely Impressed with T5 Bulbs

C

cmpman1974

For the first time, I have been growing some plants under a T5 8 bulb fixture - 4 ft model. Honestly, I only use 4 of the 8 bulbs at a time to save energy. It's still pretty bright. I use solely the 6,500K wavelength.

I've always used T12s in the past. I can't say the plants look much better under the T5 than T12. Actually, I like the way my T12 lighted plants look better! Maybe if I cranked the entire 432 watts on, it would be a different story. From a cost standpoint, the T12 wins hands down. I could buy 10 dual bulb T12 fixtures for under $100. Add the T12 bulbs for another $25-$30. Buy a solid grow shelf at Lowe's for another $80. All in all you get FOUR TIMES the growing space than suspending a T5 fixture over a 4 ft wide x 2 ft long table. Who the hell wouldn't rather have FOUR 48" x 24" shelves lighted than one?

While bright, I'm not so sure a T5 could produce fruit on plants either. Don't get me wrong...my plants are pretty healthy under it, but not super stocky. I've been a bit lazy this year about potting up too. I'm still happy with my seedlings though for the most part.

Anyone else have opinions who have tried both?

Chris
 
I haven't used T12 bulbs but my 6 bulb T5 works OK. My 400 watt metal halide grows much nicer plants and will cover a larger area. I'll continue to use both but any new purchase will be metal halide.
 
OK, you got me. :) I was referring to 4100k Cool White Plus bulbs. You can get 20 of them for $24 at Lowe's. :) They work fine. Maybe not as nice as 6,500k daylights, but still good. I can get 20 daylight bulbs for $40 probably.

Chris

wordwiz said:
You can buy 20 Daylight, T12 bulbs for $30??? Where??? I need to shop there!

Mike
Click to expand...
 
I see a LOT of people on Craigslist dumping T5 fixtures after 12 hours or less of use. I'm guessing they go to Metal Halide. Pepper Ridge Farm said his produces great plants. The coverage area is important as well. HOWEVER, being able to control how many bulbs are running at once is useful AND being able to interchange warm and daylight spectrum bulbs in a single fixture. With a MH, you don't get that luxury.

Tonly said:
I haven't used T12 bulbs but my 6 bulb T5 works OK. My 400 watt metal halide grows much nicer plants and will cover a larger area. I'll continue to use both but any new purchase will be metal halide.
Click to expand...
 
Well Chris I started mine at the end of February and they're all about 15 (in) to 20 (in) tall with very thick stems and dark green in color. I used two T5s a shelf @ 6.5k lux for a total of eight shelves. I had about 70 plants per shelf and now they're on tables next to south facing windows. I will be planting 550 plus superhots as soon as I get beyond the frost nights.


BTY, I expanded my growing area to 4.6k ft^2 and I'll be having my 40 yd^3 of cow manure delivered next week some time which I call it black gold to mix into my sandy soil. I'll still go with 100 (5-gal) pots as well.


I may not have the best setup, but dam it works!!
My pepper coffers will be full, no doubt about it.


Good luck with your Satan's can't wait to hear how they produce for ya!!
 
My problem with anything other than T 12's is the selection of k and lumens.
I like using several K per grow shelf.
I never used 1 specific K for a shelf.
My plants do better with 2 or 3 different K rated bulbs per shelf(6 bulbs per shelf).
I replaced some T12's last year with T 8's.
They suck,very hot compared to t12's,lower lumens and less variety of K like or near what T12's put out.

I'm going to stick with my homemade LEDs.
Labor intensive to assemble but Tons more Lumens in wave lengths my plants like.

Best fluoro I ever used was a T10 , Vtec bulb in a T12 fixture.
Plants loved it almost as much as the LEDs.
They don't make them anymore.

If you have seen Chris's pics of his grow outs you know he doesn't talk garbage.

His growing conditions might be different than others so nothing is set in stone.
In my experiance I found that all that matters is what works for you in the conditions you are dealing with.

So far when I've checked out new Fluoros I've found the new stuff (t8,t5) is very limited in Lumen and K.
Most are a lot lower lumens and only in a couple k.

I get best plant growth from 5000k-6500k mixed together per shelf.
Nice tight plants with early branching.
 
I've had pretty good luck with the t8's. I have 8 6500k tubes per shelf and don't have any issues with heat. I forget the lumens, but they are 32 watts per tube. I do have 2 small computer fans running 24/7, and I've had the leaves touching the tubes many times without burns. I do plan on trying some different K tubes next year mixed with the 6500. All of my plants are loaded with branches and leaves, and flowering faster than I can pinch them. I'm sure there are better lighting options, but these work just fine for me and the price was right.
 
I must be calculating my power usage incorrectly. I run 6 t8 bulbs at 32w each.

At $.06 per kwhour I'm calculating about $.20 per day to run all six lights for 18 hours per day. If I grow seedlings under lights for 60 days it's only about 12 bucks. Electricity seems really cheep to me. It eems like a wast to spend big money on fixtures tobsave only a coue of bucks
 
Svcook, your power price of 6 cents a kilowatt hour seems quite low. Is that for a residential address? Mine is around 11 cents per kilowatt hour.
 
svcook said:
I must be calculating my power usage incorrectly. I run 6 t8 bulbs at 32w each.

At $.06 per kwhour I'm calculating about $.20 per day to run all six lights for 18 hours per day. If I grow seedlings under lights for 60 days it's only about 12 bucks. Electricity seems really cheep to me. It eems like a wast to spend big money on fixtures tobsave only a coue of bucks
Click to expand...

6x32w=192w

192w/1000=.192kw

.192kwx18hours=3.456kwh

3.456x$.06=$.20736

So yea, approximately $.20 a day but there is going to be fluctuations. I pay $.12 kwh so you are pretty lucky.
 
Smokemaster, I still see some T10 bulbs online with very high lumen ratings compared to any others. Like 3,500 lumens per bulb. Unfortunately, the bulbs aren't cheap, but if you're buying in large case quantity, not super bad. I was tempted I admit. :)`

Chris

smokemaster said:
My problem with anything other than T 12's is the selection of k and lumens.
I like using several K per grow shelf.
I never used 1 specific K for a shelf.
My plants do better with 2 or 3 different K rated bulbs per shelf(6 bulbs per shelf).
I replaced some T12's last year with T 8's.
They suck,very hot compared to t12's,lower lumens and less variety of K like or near what T12's put out.

I'm going to stick with my homemade LEDs.
Labor intensive to assemble but Tons more Lumens in wave lengths my plants like.

Best fluoro I ever used was a T10 , Vtec bulb in a T12 fixture.
Plants loved it almost as much as the LEDs.
They don't make them anymore.

If you have seen Chris's pics of his grow outs you know he doesn't talk garbage.

His growing conditions might be different than others so nothing is set in stone.
In my experiance I found that all that matters is what works for you in the conditions you are dealing with.

So far when I've checked out new Fluoros I've found the new stuff (t8,t5) is very limited in Lumen and K.
Most are a lot lower lumens and only in a couple k.

I get best plant growth from 5000k-6500k mixed together per shelf.
Nice tight plants with early branching.
Click to expand...
 
The Vtec T10 bulbs were $10. each and I had to buy a case of them.So far they've lasted 3 or more years but are starting to flake out.
I think I started using them in 2007.
They did fry a couple ballasts in the first year which I replaced with $10. ones from online or ones I scavanged from elsewhere that don't seem to fry.
Found out my DAD has a ton of new ballasts for the fluoros from their house in Tahachapi.They are solor-totally and everything got swapped out for 12 volts...24 or whatever.

I really liked those T10 bulbs.
When I last checked the company had stopped making them...Maybe they started making them again.
I could put 6 of them on a shelf and keep them 18-20 inches away from my plants and never have to move the sprouts up or down.

I really liked them but now I bank at LED suppliers on payday..... :)
Scrapping all my Fluoros next year(or finding a place I can set up more shelves).
LEDs are what I'll use from now on if I ever get them all assembled...
 
cmpman1974 said:
HOWEVER, being able to control how many bulbs are running at once is useful AND being able to interchange warm and daylight spectrum bulbs in a single fixture. With a MH, you don't get that luxury.
Click to expand...

You can buy a ballast that with push a HPS AND MH. You can also buy Dual Arc bulbs that will provide both MH and HPS light spectrums in 1 bulb. So you can get 1 hood, 1 bulb, and 1 ballast for all your needs and you can do it by giving your plants 100,000 + lumens.

You would need several setups to do that will a T-5 or T-12 fixture.

If I could throw in the fact that I got the exact setup above for less than $100 along with a nice fan from my local feds garage sale lol
 
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