Best Fluorescent T5 Grow Lights Of 2025

Whether you want them for cloning and propagation, or to save some money during early veg, you need the best fluorescent T5 grow lights.

And luckily enough for you, we happen to have them all here at Hydrobuilder.

Better yet, though, we have the knowledge to help you find the right one for you and your grow.

We are going to simplify the buying process for you and ensure you end up with the perfect fixture.

We’re also going to teach you how to grow with it to the best of your ability, and explain why you should consider growing with fluorescents in the first place. We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s not waste anymore time!

Why Grow With Fluorescent T5 Grow Lights?

Fluorescent grow lights are a great way to save money while keeping temperatures low in your grow room. They’re super efficient, and don’t generate much heat at all.

Plus, they are typically low profile, so you can place them closer to your plants and stretch the space in your grow room even further!

Due to the lower light intensity these fixtures put out, they aren’t usually great for taking a flowering plant from seed to harvest.

They just won’t produce dense, resinous flowers that other technology will. If this is what you need your grow light to do, we recommend you check out the following lighting technologies:

• LED grow lights
• CMH grow lights
• MH/HPS grow lights

However, there are a few instances where a T5 fluorescent grow light is the best fixture for your grow room. Here are a few reasons you should grow with one.

Use For Cloning or Starting Seeds (propagation)

Because these lights put out a lower intensity, they are great for starting seeds or taking clones from a mother plant. These young plants don’t need bright, red light shining on them when they’re focusing on producing their first set of leaves!

However, they do need some lighting. And a T5 fixture provides the perfect intensity for them. Better yet, it does it at low temperatures, so you won’t burn the delicate little plants at an already stressful time in their life.

If you look at most propagation rooms across the US, they are powered by fluorescent tubes. This is because not only do they provide the perfect light, but they do so incredibly efficiently!

You can save money on electricity by putting the LED away for a month or two and simply using a T5 fixture.

Use As Supplemental Lighting To Your Existing Fixtures

Another reason you may be in the market for the best fluorescent grow lights is because they make great additions to an existing lighting regimen.

If you grow large, bushy plants, they won’t get much light on the sides of them when growing indoors – because your lights are hung overhead, and remain stagnant throughout the day. This isn’t an issue when growing outdoors, because the sun hits your plants at different angles as it moves.

You can hang these fluorescent fixtures along the sides of your plants, using them as supplemental side lighting. 

Or, if you have ultra red light from your HPS bulbs, you can optimize your spectrum with different light colors by adding in fluorescents.

What Are The Different Types Of Fluorescent Grow Lights?

T5 grow lights are one of the best for propagation and supplemental side lighting, but they aren’t the only fluorescent technology out there. There are a few other types of fluorescent grow lights out there, including:

• T8 Grow Lights
• T12 Grow Lights
• Compact Fluorescent Grow Lights (CFL’s)

These all have applications of their own, and the differences across these lights just have to do with the width of the tube. For example, a T5 tube is ⅝” in diameter, whereas a T8 tube is 8/8” (1”) in diameter. A T12 tube is 12/8” in diameter.

While the focus of the remainder of this article will be on the best fluorescent T5 grow lights, we’ll also include some T8’s, T12’s, and CFL’s if that’s what you’re interested in.

What Makes The Best Fluorescent T5 Grow Light Fixture?

Similar to how we outlined the criteria for selecting our best LED grow lights of the year, we want to share how we chose our best T5 grow lights this year.

There are so many fluorescents out there, that it’s important to weed out some of the cheap, imitation fixtures and only present the best the horticulture industry has to offer.

Obviously, we only carry reputable brands in the first place here at Hydrobuilder. Some of the industry leaders when it comes to fluorescent lighting are Agrorbite, Sun System, Covert, and Sun Blaze. 

These guys manufacture their fixtures using only premium components to withstand the rigors of an indoor growing environment, and they will stand the test of time.

Another important factor is the lumens produced by your fixture’s tubes. This tells you how much light is getting sent to your canopy, an incredibly important factor. Along with this, we considered how efficiently each lamp does this – energy savings is another crucial factor.

Because every grow is different, you need a fixture than can meet your specific needs. Many of the fixtures you’ll find on this list come in a multitude of options – from 2’ 2 bulb fixtures to 4’ 12 bulb fixtures.

What Are The Best T5 Grow Lights?

We are going to start off our list with what we believe to be the best T5 grow light of the year, and we’ll follow up with some additional choices that are just as great.

After we get through all the T5’s, we’ll share some other awesome fluorescent fixtures you may want to consider adding to the grow room.

Covert Fluorescent T5 Grow Lights

Covert Fluorescent T5 grow lights are an affordable fixture, perfect for growers looking for a compact, low energy use/low heat output grow light for use in grow rooms, grow tents, and nurseries. The Covert 2ft/4bulb fixture can cover up to a 3′ x 2′ growing space and the Covert 4ft/4bulb and 4ft/8bulb fixtures cover up to a 5′ x 3′ and a 5′ x 4′ at the recommended hanging height of 6″ – 24″.

The Covert T5 Grow Lights are passively cooled with absolutely no moving components. This means they are not only less noisy, but more reliable than lights with fans. The built-in lamp reflectors direct light back to the plant efficiently, ensuring no light is wasted. The included bulbs produce up to 8,000 lumens, as much as a 150 watt MH lamp with little to no heat generated, which helps cut down on any additional and expensive HVAC costs while keeping your plants happy & healthy.

The included full daylight spectrum 6,500 Kelvin Covert T5 grow bulbs are perfect for the vegetative period of plant growth. Each producing 2,000 Lumens while only using 24 Watts, these high output fluorescent lamps are also a great energy-saving alternative to metal halide lamps for growth in veg when the light intensity needs are lower.

SunBlaster NanoTech T5 HO Lamp

Perhaps the best option for putting a light source over a seedling tray, some clones, or even small plants is the SunBlaster NanoTech T5. It’s available in sizes ranging from 2′-4′ long, is just a single lamp.

The unique thing about this T5 grow light is the included reflector – most single fluorescent tubes like this won’t have a reflector, but this one does.

That means no light is being wasted illuminating your ceiling or walls of your tent/room. And, this reflector can increase lumen availability by as much as 300%!

This is a great option for supplemental lighting, too. It can be hung as strip lighting or horizontally/vertically, filling out the middle of your plants for more uniform growth.

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Final Thoughts On The Best T5 Grow Lights

Now that you know the best fluorescent T5 grow lights of the year, it’s just a matter of picking which one best fits your specific grow.

Whether you need a fluorescent light just for propagation, or you are hoping to use one as a supplemental side light – we listed options for you in this review of the best T5 grow lights!

If you want us to make a recommendation and help you pick the best one, reach out to our experts and we’ll figure it out together!