Need some ideas for extra lighting

Take a lookie at my mess first (see pic).

So on some pretty good advice I was told to never touch a leaf. However I am finding that my plants are getting crowded out a bit especially the one on the left. So I thought I would hang some vertical T5's in there to supplement. I was going to get these 24" T5's from home depot for 24 bucks until I realized they were soft white bulbs at 3200k. Then I started to look at the 30" ones for 29 bucks, same thing and the 4' long ones are too big for me really. I was tempted for a while to gank my 600 hps and put in a 8 or 12 lamp VHO T5. Once again I must think I am Daddy Worbucks when I'm not. So I wont be totally replacing my perfectly good light system for now, but I would like to add in some sup lighting. I am kind of overwhelmed with the options though. I need something that I can hang vertical as well as it being super cool too touch since I wont have a lot of room on the sides. As you can see, the plants do a pretty good job of filling my space so I figured some T5's would be harmless enough that the plants could lay against them without issues.

What CFL lighting solution is offering the best bang for the buck right now? I don't mind wiring if there are options for me in the DIY route. I started to look at what you get in a T5 kit and it's not much. Some wires, a small ballast and some sockets. Is it possible to just get those sockets and daisy chain them to create my own 12 lamp T5 without needing all those housings and additional ballasts? Maybe there are other options? Share plz

*edit: I was looking at the pic again and it looks sort of distorted with respect to vertical distance. I can not raise the lights any further and had to go as far as to start training my middle bitch to take advantage of some horizontal space. That worked well for the last 2 days but now the one on the right has grown another 2 inches so it's getting out of hand too. You cant even tell there is a plant half the size of the two on the right. Watch and learn kids, this is exactly why they tell you not to start plants at different times. Had I not don't it this way though I would have only had 1 plant left since I had to murder the rest. LOL

Bend the tall ones over and you don't need side lights. If you want side lights I would go with the T5's. Who told you not to touch the leaves ? Touch any part just try not to rub off all the trichomes off the buds.

All in all it looks very good. Try not to worry too much. I have let mine go just like that till they grew up and burned on the light. You know what, only one or two will do that. They like me have learned that light is super hot. The buds right up close to the light that burn alittle are the best.

Just a clarification, What I meant by not "touching the leaves" is whether or not to trim them. The question I posed on another thread was whether or not I should trim back the middle plant to allow the light to reach the one on the far left. The picture doesn't fully show the far left plant and the fact that its nearly half the size of the middle one and right one. I was in a rather lively debate, between those that trim and those that don't, and it left me more confused. Long story short it was suggested that I should not trim or harm the leaves in any way and should instead use supplemental lighting. Given my space, I think T5's hanging in a vertical fashion would work best. Which T5 to use is more the issue.

Are all T5 light's created equal? I know the wattage varies depending on the length, but after that, are all the option available, pretty much the same? Do they all put out the same lummens, use the same wattage and so on? Do you think 1 or 2 lights is all I would need or should I be looking at a 8 or 12 bulb systems? I was thinking a couple of 24" T5's with 2 bulbs each would be all I need. I could hang one on the left side and another on the ride side. Maybe one more on the back wall. Would that be enough or should I think about lining the inside of my grow room with vertical T5's? I could easily wrap dozens of 24" T5's around the space but is that overkill? Would I be better off with CFL's?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Prodaytrader

Just a clarification, What I meant by not "touching the leaves" is whether or not to trim them. The question I posed on another thread was whether or not I should trim back the middle plant to allow the light to reach the one on the far left. The picture doesn't fully show the far left plant and the fact that its nearly half the size of the middle one and right one. I was in a rather lively debate, between those that trim and those that don't, and it left me more confused. Long story short it was suggested that I should not trim or harm the leaves in any way and should instead use supplemental lighting. Given my space, I think T5's hanging in a vertical fashion would work best. Which T5 to use is more the issue.

Are all T5 light's created equal? I know the wattage varies depending on the length, but after that, are all the option available, pretty much the same? Do they all put out the same lummens, use the same wattage and so on? Do you think 1 or 2 lights is all I would need or should I be looking at a 8 or 12 bulb systems? I was thinking a couple of 24" T5's with 2 bulbs each would be all I need. I could hang one on the left side and another on the ride side. Maybe one more on the back wall. Would that be enough or should I think about lining the inside of my grow room with vertical T5's? I could easily wrap dozens of 24" T5's around the space but is that overkill? Would I be better off with CFL's?

---

i bend mine out of the way unless it's covering up alot of the plant.i'll cut a couple here and there to bring in alil more light to the bottom.acouple of fans won't hurt anything.think of this if your plant was out in the wild do you think it keeps all it's leaves through it's whole cycle?do you think that if a few were eaten off by the wildlife that the plant would be doomed?

if you don't need to cut then don't but if it's covering up alot of the other leaves then it would be ok.don't butcher the plant but acouple won't hurt.

Ok I never trim any leaves. That's just me. Leaves are the muscles of the plant world.

Just tuck leaves under branches to get them out of the way or bend plants.

I would make this harvest and see what happens.
Then next time put in the side lights if you feel you need them.
Then compare the two harvest.

This is the method for adding most anything new.

Both great idea. I did start bending a lot more over the last few days since I cant make up my mind on the lights. I hate buying stuff that way anyway. I would rather look for a good deal and find exactly what I want instead of needing to get something in there right away.

So for now, I have been just bending the leaves out of the way some to allow more light on the kolas and lower leaves. Since these plants are really junk anyway, I think maybe it's best to not waste any more money on them. I'll wait for round 2 since those are seed bank quality to do any additional lighting. I may not even need since I don't intend to allow them to grow this tall anyway. The only reason they did was because of my learning gaff's and mistakes.