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I have seen lots of people using cfl's but wouldn't the t5 flourescent tubes put out more light? I will be building a grow box about 50" wide, 36" deep and 5.5 ft tall. I was planning on using two 2 light t5 fixtures, but would several cfl fixtures work better? Thanks for any information.
cfls are cheaper and can be squeezed into some tight spots, if you got the dough and the space go with the t5, or use a combination of both:thumbsup: :D
buy an hid man you will love the difference!!! i used to use cfls then i switched!! never looked back! still got 4 65watt florescent flood lamps if you are interested tho let me know!:thumbsup:
I guess it's a good idea to start with CFL's or T5's...
of course CFL's are cheaper. I'm still using them, cuz my cabinet growroom is not high enough... its 3 feet tall. I don't think I could use HID. maybe I could use low wattage, but I wanna buy either 400W or 600W HID...
my sugestion would be to get some CFL's. do one grow and see how it goes.
get some basic knowledge in growing and then get an HID.
CFL's are perfect for beginners
The T5's will be perfect in an area like that. Use about 12 T5 4ft bulbs and you will have more lumens than a 400W hps with better light coverage.
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Thanks for the input. I worked on the cabinet this weekend and finished size is 52" wide by 41" deep, height is angled from about 4 ft. to over 6 ft. For my first grow I will use the flourescent tubes. What would be the best way to arrange the lights in the cabinet? If I use 12 lights should they all be hung above the plants or should some be on the side. I would think the ones on the side would be too far away to do much good, that is until the plants are big and bushy :)
Just hang them from the top. If you go with clones you could probably put about 30 to 40 clones in there, but if using seed I would probably go with about 25 because you will need to grow them out longer than clones in most cases and they will strech more than clones so you may have to do some LSTing and that will take up some space. With those demintions I would try to fit a 8 bulb and a 6 bulb if I remember the measurements of the lamps., but T5's cost a nice little penny. A cheeper way is to use T8 lamp fixtures with T6 bulbs those fixtures are only like $50 a peace compared to the $200 and up T5's. You will not get as many lumens, but you just shuv as many as you can in there, plus you can get those fixtures all over the place with out having to order.
A fellow had a cab on Over Grow with simular measurements and he was pulling almost a LB from it using T8 bulbs, but he was very experienced and had been using strains that he was really familiar with. Well good luck.
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