Grow lights are great for recreating natural conditions in an indoors setting, because they create well-controlled, yet close-to-authentic outdoors environment for your plants to grow in. And since T5 grow lights are one of the most efficient as well as popular type of grow lights out there, here is a list of Pros and Cons, that will help you determine, if and why you should invest in some new T5 fixtures for your indoors garden.
Pros:
- T5 fluorescent grow lights are extremely energy efficient, since they have low wattage and high lumen output
- T5 bulbs generate a ton of photosynthetic active radiation (PAR), that is useful to any growing plants
- T5 fixtures won’t be that big of an investments due to their reasonably low upfront price
- T5’s are high quality, inexpensive option for beginner indoor gardeners
- for maximum coverage, T5 fixtures can be easily combined with other light fixtures
- T5 lamps are available in many colors and sizes
- these lights provide uniform light output
- T5’s generate less heat and more light than, for example, HID lights, resulting in no burns on the plants
- T5 lights can be used throughout the entire growth of the plants
- T5 bulbs will be the most efficient, when used for to plants that grow flat and short and for seeding, cloning and growing young plants
- these lamps are environmentally friendly with low mercury content and long life span.
Cons:
- on occasion plants grown under T5 lights can have smaller yields, especially if T5’s are used in the flowering stages of plant growth
- because the light that is emitted by T5 bulbs isn’t that far-reaching, you will have to put the T5’s pretty close to your plants
- since T5 bulbs have 360-degree full light emission angle, the T5 lamps need high quality reflectors that can direct all of the light towards your plants
- T5 fixtures do emit some heat, so you might need to install a ventilation system, especially if you use the lighting in a very small grow room.
Just remember, that every type of grow lights, including LED, HID and other lighting, has their pros and cons. So you need to analyze both your needs and the advantages and disadvantages of the lights that you are considering, because, this way you will be able to determine which grow light will work the best for your indoor gardening set-up.
2 Comments
Liberty
I read your site but I did not see the information I need. Before ordering, can you tell me a calculation of how many watts per square foot (green space) do we need for growing crops like lettuce, and others with T5 lights?
Thank you
Ben Thorton
Since lettuce is a plant that doesn’t require intense lighting, about 20 to 30 watts per square foot will work just fine. For plants that do need more light (tomatoes for example), you can put down 40 up to 70 watts per square foot.