Should I purchase these T5 CFL's?

BuzzDaddy

Well-Known Member
Quick question friends.
I have an opportunity to purchase a hood light today which consist of (4) 24 inch T5's, which is 24 watt each. I'm not sure how many Kelvin that is. So my question is, would I be able to use this light in both veg and flowering or would I need to add more cfl lighting? The power bill is killing me using my hps lighting.
Peace Out

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I'm using 4, single bulb, 24" T5's myself, along with another 400 watts of CFLs. The T5s worked very well through veg and I'm flowering a plant now with the tubes as side lighting. Two T5 strips stacked together seems almost as bright as this cfl fixture.
IMAG12209.jpg
2 bulbs are 3000k and the other two are 6500k. They really helped minimize stretch during veg, ill be removing the net to get them even closer.
 
Hey there ChefKimbo,
Thanks for the response. Turns out, I wasn't able to buy those T5's. Some guy on Craigslist bring fake as beeeeeeeeep. I'm trying to figure out what or how many cfl's I need to both veg and flower. I read somewhere that 26 watt cfl's can be used to veg and flower. Any input? I'm running hps lighting now, 600watt but it is killing me in electricity. Plz help me if you can. Your welcome to post here or private message me.

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Well I'm the farthest from an expert, as this is my first plant to make it to flower. All I can do is tell you what I learned here on this site.

I'm using 12 26watt CFL bulbs. Right now 8 of those bulbs are the 2700k kelvin bulbs, and the other 4 are 6500k bulbs. Research shows this is a good mix for flowering. For vegging I used all 6500k bulbs and my plants seemed to be doing well and on track.

Now as far as heat is concerned, The notion that CFLs don't produce much heat is a myth. Almost fried my plant just yesterday after forgetting to turn the exhaust fan back on. Only took 15 mins for 500 watts of fluorescent light to wilt her pretty bad, but shes bouncing back already. I guess the point is, don't slack too much on the ventilation/conditioning in the flower cycle because you will need to add more and more lights and CFLs do push out some heat. I don't have much experience I don't have experience with HID lights but I had to install a window AC and run ducting from the ac vent to my intake, was the only to get my temps under 90+ and I run my lights at night.
 
Thanks a bunch ChefKimbo. That's the answer I've been looking for. I have read and researched so much I'm sick of reading. I think I'm going to diy make shift my very own CFL fixture and switch the lighting. I can't handle the juice bill. I already have exhaust fans installed beings I'm using hps lighting now. Thanks so much for your help. I too have had heat issues this grow. With heat getting up in the 90s has mad my bud a little dense and airy but I'm living and learning. Btw, how did you rig up your ac unit to your grow area to keep your temperature at a even pace? I don't think I'll have a heat issue now beings we are going into fall and my location is somewhat cool but if you say your CFL gives off heat then that means I should invest and rig up an ac unit. Any info you can help me with is greatly appreciated. Do u have any pics of your grow? I'd love to see your progress.

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Same here with the researching, tons of misinformation and lies from vendors.
My AC setup is nothing to be proud of, I run flex duct from one side of the ac vent to the intake of my box. Not connected to the box, but just enough to get the cold air near the intake. Problem is condensation. You are in the Southeast as I am, and Matthew is about to cause major problems with my grow SMH. Anyway ,the ducting sweats like crazy due to the humidity. Replacing this ducting with the insulated type just doesn't seem practical. So I'm looking for ways to solve that issue. As far as temps go, I can get them down to the mid 70s, but it seems to have minimal effect on humidity. I run my lights at night to avoid the peak hour charges, but I keep my ac on during the day because I haven't quite narrowed how to control the temp flux. I'll be experimenting with a timer and the delay option ac to get things steady.

Now even though I have 0 experience with HID lights but I have read multiple times that a watt is a watt whether CFL or HID. I just don't know if cooling 600 watts of fluorescent light is the same as cooling 600 watts of HID lighting. But I am aware that the intensity of the HID is much stronger. Maybe you could lower the wattage and adjust the light height. If not an AC is gonna be the best choice I think. Then with your HID you have the advantage of higher output and you will be able to control humidity better. I could be wrong, maybe someone could chime in on that. With CFLs you will lose these advantages. I've already decided to get a 600 watt/air cooled HID setup and some T5s for side lighting for my next grow. The CFLs will go in a smaller veg tent. Then I can dial in my AC to cool the lights at night. It just seems like the smart thing to do while the prices are coming down. I not going the LED route, the tech is too young atm.

You can check out my setup in my journal on my sig and I have some pics uploaded as well:thumb:, more than happy to help!!!
 
@Jointosaur, hey bud. How much more? What size watt, lumens and Kelvin should I purchase to grow from veg to flowering? The million dollar question and I can't get a direct answer. LOL. Don't get me wrong. Everyone on the site has been great but I'd like a direct answer. Exactly how much wattage, lumens and Kelvin do I need to flower? I know there's a lot of added "do's" in order to yield but I have to start with lighting.
Thanks for the comment man.

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If its a gameplan you're looking for, heres one example.

For every seedling - two 23 watt 6500k Kelvin CFL bulbs. Use a Y-splitter and a clamp reflector if you can. Position on the lights no more than 3 inches away from the seedling. Let the seedling grow into the lights and adjust when needed.

Add 1 bulb per seedling every week. Use clamp reflectors and splitters to get light around the plants.

Then you need to consider how long you plan to veg the plant, and how many CFLs you will realistically be able mount in your grow.

Once you decide to flip to flower, change all but 1/3 of your bulbs to 2700k Kelvin CFLs, and continue to add more bulbs as the plant grows.
 
Question guys does any one no on a t5 set up if you can run 2700 and 6400 mixed for auto flower thru the whole process?? Thanks
I currently have 2 24w 2700 in the middle of my lamp and the bulbs on the outside of those is 2 24w 6000. T5's. I'm right there with you wondering the same things. I might take out the 2700 till flower and put back my 6000's.

One Hit Wonder.
 
:rollit:I have been using T5 FL. tubes HO 55 watts each, 48 inch x 6 tubes fixture for three years, growing cannabis. I also have used HPS/MH fixtures 1000 watts plus for many years , going back to the late 1980's. Lumens and par may be the best measure for lighting effectiveness. The 4 ft. ho T5 bulbs put out up to 5,000 lumens per bulb x 6 = 30,000 lumens aprox.= to a 400-500 watt HPS/MH fixture They run considerably cooler than an equivalent HPS/MH. light! ( My brother has one of those set up). They still produce some heat and you must keep the plants from touching the tubes but still close (within 3-6 inches for best growth) and maintain some air circulation. Indeed you should have two sets of bulbs, 2700 K for bloom and 6500 K for veg. I find these will grow a satisfactory crop of auto bloom plants! I believe that the LED (in sufficient wattage/lumens/par) would be an improvement and the HPS/MH will increase the yield a bit on autos. However I grow 3- 4 plants to maturity under my 4 ft. fixture, three to four times per year and average about 2 ounces cured bud per plant, depending on variety/grow. Up to slightly more than 3 1/2 ounces and down to a low of just under an ounce. This keeps me happy! The quality is excellent and the buds nice and fat for the variety(though a little less than from the HPS or I suspect the appropriate LED). The cooler running fixture means I have only a tiny $12 circulation fan and a timer pulling power and makes for a low cost set up and grow. Also, it has a lessoned heat signature for those growing in the police states. I have used some ( 28 watt plant bulbs. x 8)CFL bulbs as well, but found them only adequate for seed starting and inferior for growing out the plants to maturity. They may be useful for increasing coverage, for a small T5 fixture. Coverage is important with the T5's and only the plants pretty well covered by the fixture does real well. For this reason, for full size photo plants, you should restrict growth to one plant max under a 4 foot fixture for optimum growth. They also produce a better yield under a HPS/MH fixture in my experience. I have not used smaller, 24 inch T5 fixtures but would expect it to cover adequately for optimum growth, only a couple of autos at best. This may produce enough to meet your needs and keep you happy! Anyway, happy growing and enjoy the experience of experimentation!:thumb: QUOTE=IrishKing27;3076831]I currently have 2 24w 2700 in the middle of my lamp and the bulbs on the outside of those is 2 24w 6000. T5's. I'm right there with you wondering the same things. I might take out the 2700 till flower and put back my 6000's.

One Hit Wonder.[/QUOTE]
 
:smokin::smokin:Sorry , I neglected to mention, I have used a mixture of 2700 and 6500 k tubes and noticed little if any difference. I took out 4 inside 6500 k tubes, replacing them with 2700K and left the 2 outside tubes 6500 k. I am currently not doing that and changing all the tubes to 2700 k shortly after flowering is well started. Let me hear about your experiences with various set ups! I find that I am constantly hearing about something I find interesting. I do things the easy way with the less labor and materials as possible nowadays, but am always wanting to learn new methods!
 
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