light spectrum for T5 bulbs, growing herbs?

[redfishsc]

I recently took down a reef aquarium and I still have a 4 tube 24" T5HO light that I can use for growing herbs if I wanted to.

The lights in it are decidedly blue in color. VERY blue.

They are 12,000K "white" and then 460nm blue.



Would these suffice for growing basil and similar herbs, or should I use a different combination?


I am thinking 6500K and 3000K bulbs, maybe two of each, would be a better spectrum.


Opinions?

[DesertHydro]

12k to my knowledge is a little on the blue side like you said. I have a SunBlaze T5 system and I use a 50-50 mix of 6500k and 3000k and this works great for both veg and bloom.