T-5 lighting question

[dbfishing]

Im new to growing and was wandering if you can use t-5 ho from start to finish I have some and want to use them if possible instead of going and buying a bunch of new lighting thanks for any help

 

[Dman1234]

You will get different opinions but for me you can start (veg) with them but you can finnish (flower) much better with other choices. Jmo

 

[JustAnotherAntMarching]

how big is the space and what T5s do you have?

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I am kind of the same mind as Dman. They work great for vegging and are the choice of many people for vegging. However for flowering, there are better choices.

First make sure they are T5s--not many people have T5s strong enough just lying around as T8s and T12s are so much cheaper. Or you may not even have the correct T5s lying around to flower with. Cannabis needs different light spectrums for vegging and for flowering--you cannot use the same light all the way through, unless you start with a mixed spectrum. So, first, check the wattage and spectrum of the lights you have and we will let you know if they will work.

Another thought would be to veg with T5s and save your pennies for an HPS to flower with. Plants generally take 6-8 weeks to go from seed to sexual maturity at which time they are put into 12/12.

Tell us about the space you plan on using...are you building something, are you going to buy a tent? How big? Have you a ventilation plan in place?

This growing thing, especially indoors, does take a certain investment of time, money, knowledge, dedication, and love. Growing cannabis is not like growing a house plant or tomatoes. It has very specific demands. The Beginner's section has some good beginner books "Stickied". The more you know about how to grow this wonderful plant, what its demands are, the better your grow will be. I also encourage you to buy some quality genetics. Many new growers use bagseed, but there are several reasons that this is not a good idea.

Tell us what you are working with and we will give you our best advise.

 

[dbfishing]

Im wanting to get a 24"x48" tent cause i dont have a lot of room thats why I was thinking of the t5s I had a few aquariums in the past with a lot of plants in them so I got the t5s for them and they worked great but I dont think that 2 54 watt bulbs are enough so I was going to use that hood and another thats 2 39 watt t5s but I still dont think thats even going to be enough just wanted to use those sense I already had them but after i did some more research last night I know thats nowhere near enough power to. My ideal goal is to get two tents going one for veg and one for bloom and get a cycle going with two plants in each tent

 

[JustAnotherAntMarching]

I have a 2x4' tent that I run 10 54watt 4' T5 bulbs in to flower...

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

You are still talking about 8 sq ft. Yes, you can use T5s--you will need more, as the 2 54W and the 2 39W are still not going to be nearly enough. You want a minimum of 3000 lumens for vegging and 5000 for flowering....and these are minimums, most of us run a lot more for flowering. While you do not need to go with as many as JAAM is running, you are going to need at least 6 54W 5000 lumen bulbs to veg and 8 to flower. I am helping a friend set up a grow and we are going with a 600W MH/HPS in a 2 x 4 tent.

I love having 2 tents and running a perpetual harvest. However, you mentioned that you had very little room. Do you have time, money, and space for another tent?

 

[Lesso]

You are still talking about 8 sq ft. Yes, you can use T5s--you will need more, as the 2 54W and the 2 39W are still not going to be nearly enough. You want a minimum of 3000 lumens for vegging and 5000 for flowering....and these are minimums, most of us run a lot more for flowering. While you do not need to go with as many as JAAM is running, you are going to need at least 6 54W 5000 lumen bulbs to veg and 8 to flower. I am helping a friend set up a grow and we are going with a 600W MH/HPS in a 2 x 4 tent.

I love having 2 tents and running a perpetual harvest. However, you mentioned that you had very little room. Do you have time, money, and space for another tent?

THG means to say that you need 3000/5000 lumens per square foot. The 2×4 tent you are talking about is 8 sq ft, so 40000 lumens minimum in flower. If you had a 8 bulb 48" t5 ho that is exactly 40000 lumens....that being said you will definitely want to scrog due to the penetration limits of t5 lights.

 

[Wetdog]

I have a 2x4' tent that I run 10 54watt 4' T5 bulbs in to flower...

That's welcome information.

I've been running T-5 HO for 3 or 4 years and love them.

Wet

 

[Hushpuppy]

I saw a grow one time where a guy used T5HO to go from veg to harvest. He had a set of shelves that he had built to go in a room where he didn't have a lot of space. these shelves were about 2.5' deep by 4' long and had 3 levels. The way he grew was to have the plants spread out in a very shallow scrog setup with the plants in RW cubes in small flood trays full of hydroton. If his plants were allowed to grow up, they would have been 3' tall, but he kept them growing out, beneath his screen which was 10" ffrom the surface of the medium.

He was able to keep the plants no taller than 10" with the scrog and the T5s were only another 1' above the screen so that when his buds grew through, they grew right up to the lights. He had his hydro tank reservoir on the floor beneath the lowest shelf so that the trays above just drained back into the tank after flooding. It worked quite well for him. Not the biggest, tightest nugs but solid quality and quantity buds none-the-less.

For someone with tight space to grow in, it did produce nicely, but I would imagine it would have to be only a certain few strains that could be grown this way.

 

[Dman1234]

I saw a grow one time where a guy used T5HO to go from veg to harvest. He had a set of shelves that he had built to go in a room where he didn't have a lot of space. these shelves were about 2.5' deep by 4' long and had 3 levels. The way he grew was to have the plants spread out in a very shallow scrog setup with the plants in RW cubes in small flood trays full of hydroton. If his plants were allowed to grow up, they would have been 3' tall, but he kept them growing out, beneath his screen which was 10" ffrom the surface of the medium.

He was able to keep the plants no taller than 10" with the scrog and the T5s were only another 1' above the screen so that when his buds grew through, they grew right up to the lights. He had his hydro tank reservoir on the floor beneath the lowest shelf so that the trays above just drained back into the tank after flooding. It worked quite well for him. Not the biggest, tightest nugs but solid quality and quantity buds none-the-less.

For someone with tight space to grow in, it did produce nicely, but I would imagine it would have to be only a certain few strains that could be grown this way.

I would think almost any strain can be grown like that, I am running random freebies atm and the screen is maybe 5 inches above dirt level.