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lighting fluorescent lighting help

I went to Walmart and picked up a 4 foot t8 shop light to start my plants under. What I'm wondering is if I'm just worrying too much about everything or if they will do good. I've never grown from seed before and found a lot of good info on here. Any way i had 2 bulbs my dad gave me but i didn't know if they would be good enough cause they aren't the 6700k daylight bulbs. So i went to menards tonight and grabbed 2 gro-lux bulbs. They didn't have any info on the packaging so i googled them in the store and they are 85 cri but only 3000 lumens and when i plugged them in they don't seem to be as bright as the other bulbs. Has anyone ever used these? If so are they ok or crap? I'm Prolly worrying too much about all of this so i figured I'd turn to you guys for help. Any info would be great guys. Thanks

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I always use 6300-6500K for growth so I have no other advice other than to go with true daylight. Spending extra for grow bulbs doesn't make sense when you can purchase growth temperatures as regular bulbs now that the industry is moving towards natural day light and away from the warmer yellowish 3000K lights of the incandescent past.
 
I always use 6300-6500K for growth so I have no other advice other than to go with true daylight. Spending extra for grow bulbs doesn't make sense when you can purchase growth temperatures as regular bulbs now that the industry is moving towards natural day light and away from the warmer yellowish 3000K lights of the incandescent past.

Agreed .... with this proviso ....Some of the best growth of a flowering plant is induced with early morning light which is stronger in the red spectrum then midday and afternoon light which is in the 6400k range.
For that reason I believe it is also well worth having the odd bulb in the warmer (or more red spectrum) if possible to encourage a good amount of early flowers/buds ready for plant out and if hoping to grow successfully entirely under lights it isn't just a good idea but a must.
 
I would go to the box store and pick up 6300k-6500k bulbs for their growth. The lower k wont hurt the plants, but in the veg state the higher output the better growth (at least that has been my experience). I will tell you this though, you are going to spend the next few months worrying about every little thing and even though I (and everyone will tell you not to) you probably will. :)

There is a ton of great info here, just search and ask. Good luck!
 
I have always used a mix of 6500k and 2700k in my t8 fixtures, either 2 bulbs each or 3 6500's and 1 2700 per fixture. Seems to work well, never really compared scientifically against any other method though.
 
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