Purchased a t5

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mslady_1983

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Just purchased a 4' 4 bulb t5 and would like to what square footage it would cover??
 
You don't get much more than the dimensions of the light with t-5 lighting...... maybe 6 inches or so outside the dimensions.
 
If they are HO T5 bulbs they shld be something like 5000 lumens a bulb. I use my 4 foot 4 bulb in a 2x4 veg space. It comes up like 4000 lumens short of 3000 per sqr foot but the plants don't seem to know or care. Still vegs great. Jmo
 
great but should of gotten the 4x4, 8 bulb ;) hey maybe in the future.

its good at covering a 3.5x3.5 i would say depending how much of a "hood" is on it.. inches above the plants in veg. 8b bulb would cover same sqft but have 4 bulbs more to it :) only reason i say 3.5 is that around the edges of the fixure plants will stretch, and only using it for veg.
 
PuffinNugs said:
great but should of gotten the 4x4, 8 bulb ;) hey maybe in the future.

I have one...... can run it as a 4 bulb or 8 bulb....... puts out some heat though........ great for veging.
 
Grower13 said:
I have one...... can run it as a 4 bulb or 8 bulb....... puts out some heat though........ great for veging.

same but my is 2x2, 8 bulb, makes a big differnce when you run all 8 compared to 4 though huh
 
Yeah with just the 4 bulbs you are only getting 20,000 lumens so basically only as long as the fixture, being 4' and at the most 2' wide or just wide enough for the fixture to fit in it. I would take a small table or DIY bench and hang the light over it then get some of the reflective styrofoam insulation board from Lowes or home depot and form a box of walls around it to enclose the plants in reflectivity. Make sure it is wide enough for heat to escape from around the fixture itself and matybe hook up a small fan blowing into the booth to force the hotter air out. :)
 
My 4 bulb gives out 20,000 lumens will cover 6.5 sqft in veg when using 3000 lumen/sqft. That is a 2 x 3 area but if you place your plants right below the light it will work ok for veg.

Congrats on your purchase, you will not be disappointed.
 
PuffinNugs said:
same but my is 2x2, 8 bulb, makes a big differnce when you run all 8 compared to 4 though huh

mine came with two types of blubs...... you were to use four of them for veg...... then use all 8 to flower...... I've never swapped all the blubs over to all veg bulbs...... but I do use all 8 to veg and use it only to veg..... except for some heat issues from time to time the plants love it.
 
Hamster Lewis said:
If they are HO T5 bulbs they shld be something like 5000 lumens a bulb. I use my 4 foot 4 bulb in a 2x4 veg space. It comes up like 4000 lumens short of 3000 per sqr foot but the plants don't seem to know or care. Still vegs great. Jmo

:yeahthat: My veg space is the same size and I am quite happy with my 4' 4 bulb T5 in there. Every so often I kick around getting a 2 bulb fixture to augment the other light, but I am really happy with the growth I get.
 
Hello H.G. I now have a 6 bulb 4' T5HO fixture with factory reflectors, Hushpuppy said the reflectors may be "german aluminum" if I recall correctly. However the reflection is identical to mirrors but they are of course not mirrors. Mirrors are not good because light travels through the glass and is reflected back through again and the light or rather, the lumens get trapped in glass, is that correct? Anyways I have two of these fixtures, right now only four of them come on the two that dont are next to eachother on the side so luckily the 4 that are working are side by side. It is gonna take a good day off to take apart and troubleshoot the ballast that is not in commission if it has seperate ballast. I'm getting 20'000 lumens in the 4'x2' area directly underneath right? thats 5k lumens per sqft. right? I liked your idea about moving the plants down instead of moving the light up, much easie,r and I have adopted your system. I am keeping the top of my plants about 4-6 inches away from the lights. At this area my temp is 90-92 degrees, I'm thinking this is too hot and a simple fan is not gonna change the actual temp to much. Please let me know if I need to make a custom airtight hood with a chimney going up and reaching outside with an inline high rpm fan say 4". This is the only way to really make a difference, I have and excellent ventilation system in place but because of the design of the fixture and the reflectors an airtight hood with the inline fan will be about the only way to move and replace the air directly underneath with cool air comming from vents in the floor which will be 80 degrees tops over summer. One more question, give me your opinion on using the other fixture with different bulbs at the correct spectrum for flowering. I also have 6-4' t8's to use if needed, maybe to illuminate the lower regions of the plants.
 
Yes, 4 bulbs will give you 20,000 lumens, but no, you do not have 5000 lumens per sq ft. You have 8 sq ft, so you are getting 2500 lumens per sq ft. You would need a 2 x 2 space to be getting 5000 lumens per sq ft.

I keep the top of my plants within a couple of inches of my plants. I need more info on your ventilation system. Is this fixture designed differently than other T5s?

What other fixture for flowering? Another T5? I really don't think the T8 will add much to your grow.
 

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