A few questions on flouresant tubes

[CovertCarpenter]

... yes, they're the 'Y' adapter beasties, but they're being supported by these 'All-weather sockets' that I found @ WM, for 3.75 ea. They're basically a standard socket that has a white and a black tail out the end, and is coated in some rubbery compound to help keep moisture out. I believe that they are used in things like garage lighting, and I basically took an old extension cord (2 wire) that would support the 400ish watts I wanted to pull thru it, twisted the leads of the sockets around a metal KV shelf bracket, and spliced them to the cord (making sure to get the hot and neutral correct).

The outer two sockets support a tree of three 'Y's, and four 26w bulbs, each. The inner two sockets support a single 'Y' each, and two 45w bulbs. I am not using the 65w bulbs mostly because I can't find 'em off-the-shelf 'round here commonly, while the 45w 4100k 'shop light' can be found at WM, Revy, Hdepot, etc... and the 26 watters are everywhere! I had to go to R to get the Y adapters, but they are only 3.50ea...

So, including the $1 extension cord, the $6 timer... and the $1 of picture wire that is hanging it from two huge wooden beams I rescued from the trash, the total cost of my livingroom lighting is $140 on the bean (not including tax), and I'm getting 24,800 lumens for it, with not too much heat, and I didn't have to buy all the bulbs, etc, at once.

Lumens/watt: 63.92 Lumens/buck: 177.14

(in comparison, even tho my main garden gets 150 lumens/watt, factoring in all of the extra costs of cooling (which I still need to add to!), its lumens/buck ratio is around 171.42

CovertCarpenter Reviewed by CovertCarpenter on 06-02-2010. A few questions on flouresant tubes I'm planning on growing in a closet soon and just needed some clarification.. My question is: Why are T5's better then say T8's or T12's? T8's and T12's have higher wattage/lumens, so is the smaller diameter giving the T5's a more intense light? Also, I understand you can pack T5's closer together, and by looking at some of the posts with T5 grows they do quite well. But if you where to buy the x2 or even single fixture T8's or T12's without hoods, then mount the fixtures, and make your Rating: 5

[CovertCarpenter]

...if you look closely, you can see the differences in the colours, although the camera doesn't do it justice.

LOOKING at it with naked eyeballs, I can tell 'em apart easily

[Salvein211]

Yeah I can defiently tell the difference. Ya I finally decided how im gonna start.

For veg ill prob run x8 of those 23w/100w cfl's that do 1600l at 6500k.

For flower I'll prob run about 6 of those cfls(same watts as above) at 2700k and run 4 of the 6500k

But spread over about 40" for 2-3 plants

A lot of people use mylar and other things to reflect their walls, what is cheap and very useful at the local hardware store? I can see the problems with foil

Also, are you going to make some kind of hood for those lights in the pictures?