I was wondering your guys thoughts on growing out a plant under T5 lights. I have heard people swear by them. That they do a great job flowering plant. Is this true? Any of you have pics of your T5 grow? What’s the scoop?
So far my exp is T5s veg the biggest leaves. Phillips CMH makes small leaves and a different color than T5 more of a light green. T5 makes a dark green full sized plant. I love em with the Hortilux bulbs added in there. I think a combination of the two would be outstanding.
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I don’t know much about mixing bulbs. I do know my t5 puts off a blue hue. Have you ever flowered a plant with a t5?
No I have only vegged indoors so far and put the plants outside but I did buy the Hortilux fowering T5 bulb and will add it to the CMH flowering setup when I do get time enought o stay home to babysit a flower room. I will switch bulbs from veg to flower then in both CMH hoods and t% fixtures and use both. I would think T5 alone is not enough to flower out to any density but I do not know.
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One of my relatives uses t5s exclusively and he has good results. I couldn’t tell you grams per watt or anything but his plants look pretty.
I’ve flowered under shitty cfl and the yield was not exciting but they finished and it was good smoke.
I have vegged under t5s with good results until the ballast blew.
All the best.
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Thanks guys. I know very little about this stuff. Everything with mixing bulbs to replacing bulb with led strips. Will a t5 make good seeds… just sounds like you can do a lot with a t5
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My relative’s thinking was he wanted a t5 and not an LED because if something blew up he could get a replacement part at Home Depot and have it fixed same day.
You can grow fine plants under t5s. If I remember correctly (and I might be a little off) my T5 and my blurple LED had a similar efficiency.
So not “the best” but it will certainly do the job and make seeds and nice flowers.
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So besides weight per watt do you think the plant will fully express itself under a t5 as far as looks and taste goes?
I do believe that yes. The only difference between my buds and his buds is that mine are bigger. I gave him a plant so we were running the same genetics for awhile.
His were very nice. I didn’t smoke them but based on looks alone I’d say his t5 grow was a success.
If I were looking to upgrade I’d probably go with LEDs again but they are $$$ and there’s nothing wrong with a fluoro rig.
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Thanks bud! That helped me out a bunch
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My first couple grows, I did with only CFL bulbs. Veg to flower. Not impressive buds, but the plants were healthy.
I have 2 T5 fixtures, and my plants seem to really like them for veg. I bought them last year after a few of my cheap LEDs burned out.
I figure T5 is more reliable than cheap LED.
If a bulb burns out, just put in a new one.
If the ballast dies, I can get a new ballast at home depot for cheap.
Cheap import LEDs seem to only last about 1.5 - 2 years. Then they just go dead. I have a small pile of them in my basement 
I wouldnt be afraid to use a T5 for the whole lifecycle (with a few additional CFLs thrown in for supplemental side light)
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I’ve used a T5 from seed through flower for several years. I also upgraded to T5 LED bulbs a few years back, and like them. I cut my power, added light, and reduced heat.
You can’t grow 5’ tall trees but can get pretty good plants up to about 3’ tall.
All the plants in my Comacus Projects thread, are/were grown under T5 LED.
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I will echo your sentiment. I just switched over to the double ended led bulbs, about a week ago. The plants are really loving them, and my temps are staying a few degrees cooler.
I’m not sure about the power savings yet. I will find out after get a full month of power bill with them.
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Nice! That looks like a good harvest. How dense do they turn out?
I’m just using mine in veg, but they seem to have kicked my growth vigor up a notch for sure. Even some of the slower vegging stuff is rocking.
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When you switched to the double ended leds did you have to disconnect the ballast or anything?
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It isn’t ideal, but will produce flower. I regularly use a t5 tent for breeding runs with fine success.
I still use my 8+ year old fixtures, though I wouldn’t buy a new t5 fixture today. Replacing and disposing of dead t5 bulbs is annoying as fuck, and they dim fast. I would do LED or veg with CMH
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Looks great! Are those led bulbs?
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