.

is there a difference?

I currently have a T5 (2' , 4 tube) fixture in my VEG side.
Now that I've switched to all LED in flower, I have an "extra", up to 200w or is it 250w, CFL fixture.

will I see a difference if I were to swap fixtures?

I'm noticing MUCH (MUCH) tighter node spacing under the LED.
Not sure if its because its now 12/12 or the light (this is my virgin run so: NO clue, looking for patterns to learn)

I started wondering if the 200w CFL would keep the plants shorter in VEG than the T5.

Its a smaller fixture which might help air flow and higher wattage than 4x 2' T5 tubes... seems "win win" to me but...



as always thanks for any input MC fam!!

t5 > cfl...to put it simply less heat generated by the t5

EDIT: i believe their less efficient lumen per watt as well

T5's for the win. More efficient and run cooler.

T5!

T5 everytime.
I have flowered with T5s. 2x4 8tube HOT5s,40,000 lums. Course nothing beats HPS for Flower.

.

T5 it is and T5 it shall stay...


I just want to put out there that this is not a question of cost or efficiency or heat,
(though I can't say that heat without some hesitation as I have not tried it yet)
simply from a what's best for the plant point of view.

100w (4x 24w) of T5 beats 200w of CFL

I'm not trying to 2nd guess any of you or start arguments (LED>HPS :P) just trying to grow the BEST plants I can in the limited space I have.



thank you all for the input

What ever works is always the best.

obviously your 200 watt cfl will put out more light then the 100watt t5...it's 100 more watts of power. watt for watt t5 is better, while also producing less heat

.

right-on, that's what I was thinking:

100w T5 > 100w CFL
-but-
200w CFL > 100w T5 ...though NOT "twice" as good

the question then becomes: is (GUESS!) 40% more light "worth" using twice the electricity and dealing with more than twice the heat

I would stick with the T5, that stretch you are noticing is from switching to 12/12. You would still get the stretch using the cfl's. You can put the T5's real close to minimize stretch.

the stretch I was referring to came @ the very end of VEG.
roughly 8 weeks of growth; 17"-20" tall plants.

I keep the bulbs no more than 4" off the leafs and only raise the fixture when they are < .5" or touching

Right, as soon as you flip the lights to 12/12 they can but not always double in size. I re-read your post and I don't even think you asked this question . Stoned again.

I use all T5s for veg, and I use a cfl fixture for "parking" plants that I need to grow a bit slower or for rooting cuts.

I use full spectrum in my T5s also, not just blue. I found running alternating blue/red bulbs in the T5 fixture reduced my stretch when the girls hit the 1k in flower.

I use an 8 bulb 4ft t5 for all my veging.......... I veg all my plant in 28 inches of height....... helps keep all my plants reasonably short after stretch.

i did a cfl grow last year.was my first indoor grow, the bad thing i saw with cfl is the heat and low lumen output.and stretch was an issue. i did manage to complete the grow,one plant only. and did get some nice bud on it.but it seemed like it took forever. i dont know about the t5,but from what i understand its perfect for veg, high lumen,low heat, i ordered a t5 24" 6 bulb 6500k fixture yesterday, i am going to start vegging with that.knowing what i have read about the t5 and from me using the cfl. i would say t5 all the way,but at the moment i am veg with a 400watt mh

when I first started growin I too used cfl's and at the time thought I was getting great results. after all the time invested up wit trainin and topping and tyrin to maintain thinsg all rigged up wit cfls hangin all over the darn place I decided to get a T% and never ever will I ever go back to CFL's. tho cfls work great in them metal bowl type clamp light reflectors when rooting clones.
but ever since stopped growin wit CFL's i replaced all bulbs in home wit cfls too and i cant believe hwo much crap these things are. don't understand why hwo when i had dang near 30 cfl;s hangin under one homemade reflector of sorts that was roughtly 2x2 they never melted plastic own on my girls. them cfl's don't hardly last but 6 months for me in the home for some reason. got em in simple old school basic ceramic ceiling fixtures in rooms in the house and at bout 6 months they all stat to melt and warp the plastic til the glass spiral tube literally comes lose form the ballast base and burns out. all i know is some where theres someone who came up with the dang cfl bulb whos hidin under a bed somewhere chuckling hopin no one finds him to strangle him but knowin hes makin a killing forturne off these pig tail bulbs. there aint not one thing in this world you could tell me or show me to convince me that cfl's are better than incandescants or T5's watsoever . even if there one factor better bout them , theres a dozen more that negate it anyway. its a big conspiracy! LOL