I have bought a 4’ 8 tube T5 Fluorescent light. Do you think it will be adequate for my tiny grow of 4 plants? Thats all Im allowed here but its a start. Thanks for your help in advance. Oh btw its 432 watts.
Needed to add that it is 6000 to 10000 K and 2’2" wide.
Welcome to the forum.
You can’t grow cannabis with T5 lighting as it contains no red spectrum. Red spectrum is needed for flowering. What you will get with T5 bulb is a spindly plant with airy buds.
Suggest finding an LED light built with Samsung LM301 diodes. It’s what most of the members here run. Mars Hydro, Spider Farmer, and HLG all make good lighting.
You would need ~800 watts of quality lighting from an LED built with LM301 diodes to adequately flower 4 plants.
You may find this helpful:
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I think you will need better light for flowering 
How big is your grow area?
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As i said im new so be patient with all my questions. Lol. I have a whole bedroom to work with. Im still getting a plan together to build a grow room eventually. I was told by what now i find out wasnt a good light dealer. They said the one i ordered would be fine for full cycle. Thanks to yall already ive learned that isnt true.
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May I ask where you got this advice? A hydro shop? Home Depot? A gardening store?
It happens. We see new growers asking about advice given to them at hydro shops and sometimes it’s just bad advice from someone who wants to help, but they just don’t really understand what it takes.
I think it was just bad advice gotten from a meaning well employee of a very good company. I dont want to throw the name out because without a doubt they are very good. I do see that I can buy retrofit bulbs that may take care of flowering phase. What is your opinion ion on going that route until I have a better budget? Thanks MwG for your help.
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Mars Hydro and Spider Farmer make the most budget friendly lights with LM301 diodes. The diodes Mars and Spider uses is the LM301b version. HLG uses the more efficient LM301h diodes. There is only a 10% difference in efficiency between the b and h models. My lights have the b model and they do just fine.
Older generation LEDs used in budget lighting are far less efficient and are not worth buying.
In general, stay away from any light that has a purple color to it, has integrated fans, or veg/bloom switches. These lights are very poor performers.
You might also consider MH/HPS lighting if budget is a concern. They are less expensive to get started, but they put out a lot of heat and use a lot of electricity.
T5 bulbs that are adequate for flowering cannabis don’t exist an any form. Cannabis is an extremely light hungry plant. Light intensity can be measured in DLI (daily light integral.) as an example, most plant can get by with a DLI of 15. Cannabis requires double the DLI to do well and peaks during the grow cycle can be in excess of 45 DLI.
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Mars Hydro has an eBay store and they sell a few of their lights by auction. I bought an FC-3000 for 170.00, which is a 300watt light with LM301b diodes. Normally its $280.00 so it was a great deal. Came right from the factory in California and was not B stock or a factory second. Full 3 year warranty. Right now they have an FC-E6500 which has Bridgelux diodes which are not quite as good as Samsung, but I have grown with them for a couple years and they do great. Just not as efficient power wise as the Samsung. Normally priced at $567.00 you could probably get it for about $200 less. Last one sold for 369.00.
There are better lights, but you wont find a better value than this. If money is a factor then I wouldn’t hesitate to bid on it. I cant fit this in my tent or I would.
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Great suggestion for a 4 plant setup.
The only other way to save money is to grow less plants. One plant requires ~200 watts of quality lighting. At full retail the general cost for quality lighting is ~$1.00 per watt.
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If your budget it really tight, you can’t afford to buy crappy lights. Save your money until you can afford a decent light. You don’t really need the best light, just something that will flower your plants.
Edit: I have $800 invested in lights that I purchased before knowing how crappy they were. They are stacked in a junk pile. That was $800 totally wasted.
Edit #2: I should point out that the crappy lights in my junk pile are much, much better than the fluorescent light that you are wanting to use. @Spiney_norman & @MidwestGuy are trying to steer you in the right direction.
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Sooooooo many of us have those bad lights we bought sitting an a box in the garage. Amazon purple (or as we say Blurple) ones that were over hyped and lied about by the sellers. There are still so many sellers advertising bad lights on Amazon or other places and people falling for the lies about how good they are.
@Inthaholler , please don’t buy a light without at least checking with the growers here before you pull the trigger to see if its a legit grow light. Don’t fall for the sales pitch from those guys.
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Thank you all for the advice and I believe each and everyone of you. This is a very reputable business that im talking about. Im second guessing using them at all for anything now. I have the email to prove it came from them. I dont know. Maybe i can grow some vegetables like leafy greens with it because I believe the kids have already ordered it.
THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE, TERRY
I don’t think anyone is questioning the legitimacy of the company or their product; however, T5 lights are T5 lights and they just aren’t suitable for growing cannabis. What we are questioning is why someone would tell you that you can flower cannabis with a T5 light. You can, but the results will be pathetic. You might get a several grams off a plant grown with T5 lighting and the quality will be very poor.
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I have no idea what this person from that company intended but i dont want to shoot the whole company in the foot. I will find me some good led from this same company and get some of my other special things from them. Idk like i said maybe i can start vegetables with the T5 next growwing season for somebodys garden in the family. MidwestGuy I REALLY appreciate you sticking with me through this situation. I sure hope to see everybody around the forum cause im sure i have plenty of questions. Lol
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That’s what we are here for. There are a half-dozen or so of us growers on the forum who spend a good bit of time helping new growers.
If they make lights built with Samsung LM301 diodes, then go for it. Otherwise find a new company. I know of exactly zero horticulture specialized companies who also make T5 lighting.
The growers who are helping you have decades of cumulative growing experience. I would listen to them.
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Thats great to know. Because i have no one local to really learn from. I did find out that HTG has a store in Roanoke Va. Its only 45 minutes from me so at least i can walk into a brick and mortar place to shop around.
Please don’t confuse HLG (Horticulture Lighting Group) with HTG, which is a distributor of 3rd party manufactured lights. Again, you want a product with LM301 diodes. You are set if HTG carries such a product.
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Ill call Roanoke today and check. I know they have the MH HPS etc but I really do need led because of electric power bill concerns. Ill get back to this thread when I find out if they have the required diodes. Also i want to check out the company you mentioned.
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