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Light question

NorwegianChili

NorwegianChili

Banned
Thinking about adding another shelf with some plants this winter. I dont want to waste more money on grow tents and LED/HPS and thinking leaving them in a spare bedroom as a "oasis". However, I will need light. Temperature they will have at a stable 20-22 degrees C. Ive been reading articles stating that grow lights is a hype and that ordinary fluorescent light will do almost the same. Well, there is so much to choose from. T5, T8, T12 and so on. Then there is watt and color temperature. As it will be in full sight and I will try to make it look ok with a two level shelf, it cant be "blue" aquarium type of light. Any suggestions here? Im thinking two rows with double tubes on each level. Thanks in advance! 
 
6400 k color temp

between 3,000 - 10,000 effective lumens on the plants for maximum health/production.

High Output t5s work pretty well

Lumen rating on bulbs is for  . . . I think 1 ft away, so I think the effective lumen rating gets roughly divided by 9 for every foot away the plant is from the light . . . I could be misremembering this detail . . .
 
6500 aint too blue? I have 6500K Xenon on my cars, and they are pretty bluish/white.... Ok, T5 it is. I see they have electronically ballasts too 
 
So, I'm going to follow up this question with a related question.
 
I've been through these forums (and I *did* read the "Lightining 101" sticky) and I've never seen a definitive answer to the following:
 
What is the best colour temperature bulb for growing chile peppers?
 
To ask a more refined question:
 
What is the best colour temperature bulb for young seedlings?
 
And assuming there is an answer to the above question, then:
 
At what size should a chile pepper be changed to a different colour temperature of bulb (or mix of colour temps) and what should the colours and ratios be?
 
 
In my setup, I have a combination of T5 and T8 - 48" fluorescent tubes and not knowing the answers to the above questions I am using a mixed combination of 6500k, 4100k and 3000k bulbs to provide a broad spectrum of light options.  Am I wasting energy on the 3000k colour temp bulbs?
 
Here is my setup:
2dazm9e.jpg

 
For each shelving tier with dual T8 fixtures there are a total 4 bulbs: 2 are 6500k, 1 is 4100k and 1 is 3000k.  The two T5 fixtures each have a 6500k and a 4100k.
 
I grow with artificial light completely with equal wattage MH and HPS. I have tried different wavelength lights and notice no difference between HPS only and MH /HPS mix.
 
willard3 said:
I grow with artificial light completely with equal wattage MH and HPS. I have tried different wavelength lights and notice no difference between HPS only and MH /HPS mix.
Click to expand...
 
There is one noticeable difference though. When you walk into a room solely lit by HPS, it tends to make you squint and it hurts your eyes. MH, not so much.
 
Jeff H said:
 
There is one noticeable difference though. When you walk into a room solely lit by HPS, it tends to make you squint and it hurts your eyes. MH, not so much.
Click to expand...
 
Put on your Goggles like Doc Brown before entering..
 
doc_brown-full-1.jpg
 
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