Lighting T5 Veggin question

[Torched]

I may be getting a good deal on a T5HO 2ft x 2 bulbs 48 watts total. I would be using it to sprout and early veg some plants up to about 6 inches or sex for autos. What would coverage be on that? 1ftx2ft? Is that strong enough lighting for say 8 1 gallon pots or maybe a dozen party cups?

 

[Truu]

8 party cups would be best IMO. Fixture should be 1x2.

 

[Torched]

Thanks, I'm just not familiar with T5's and wasn't finding coverage info.

 

[AndyBotwin]

Torch, this pic shows my 2' 4 bulb fixture with 4 1 gallon pots under it. I went over a month with this setup and the plants did great. But with only two bulbs, I think you're going to do best with party cups like Truu said. With T5 you really need the plants right under the lights. There isn't much side coverage like you get with HID lighting.

 

[agito]

For veg you need 2500 lumens per sq ft so depending on fixture 2x1ft is your max in theory but working it out directly under the bulb like andy says it the same thing

 

[AutoMan]

I start all my seeds and seedling under t5HO 2ft 4 bulb...5000k..24/0...on a heated mat....I get a bunch of party cups under there....when they sex, I transplant the fems into my typical 4" pots and move to hps...

 

[Torched]

@Agito I haven't quite worked out what I'm getting but they might be individual strips which may allow me a more beneficial spread, but with 2 bulbs I'll be a little short on lumens I think.. This would only be for the early sprouting and veg, then they would go under HPS or outside.

@Automan when you say a bunch of party cups about how many is that? With half the bulbs I should be able to do about half that.

As always thanks for the help and info!!

 

[dirtryder]

I have 4 bulb 2ft t5ho and the first thing that i will tell you is that it depends on the plant. I had a MK ultra that absolutely would not grow unless it was within 5 inches of the light. Now i mentioned that because the closer that you have to keep the light to the plants the less coverage you have, if that makes sense. I can fit (6) 2.75 litre pots under it and have enough light for a few weeks. after the 1 weeks though it starts to get crowded. I have grown auto under it from start to finish and in the end it really didn't pay to have more then three 1 gallon pots. But that just my

 

[poppycock]

I use a 2x2 for veg and its only good for 3 plants in 2 gal smart pots.
A tip is to look at the size of the fixture and add about 10% 20% at max but thats pushing it, and that will aprox the grow space you will have. Then u can decide what to do with that space. More plants = smaller size.

 

[poppycock]

A typical 2'x2 bulb light is about 24x5 inches givin u about a square foot of coverage.