I liked T12's
Vi Tech(T10)
6700K
3240 Lumens
Philips Natural Sun
5000K
2950 Lumens
Also had 5500K and 6500K in GE or ? mixed in.
I like covering from 5000K to 6700K for Fluoros in as high a Lumen as I can find.
I didn't like T8's.
Homey Depote sold only
Philips
3300 Lumens
3000K
2850 Lumens
4100K
2325 Lumens
6500 K
T8 ballasts seem to be a lot hotter than T12.
I like some of these guys bulbs.
http://www.fullspect...ulbs_33_ctg.htm
OTT bulbs are pieces of crap.Dim and burn out FAST.
A giant waste of $.
GE makes some bright ones that I used too.
But most of the stuff I used was $8.00 - $14.00 a bulb.
In general I had best results using 5000K - 6500K in as high a Lumen as I could find.
But I don't pay my electric bill.
So all it cost me is the price of the bulbs...
Don't listen to the high red bulb thing for forcing budding in Peppers.
Red doesn't trigger bud set in peppers.
Though from what I've read and experienced with peppers,Blue and red do trigger different genes in plants as far as growth goes.
Blue for tall plants and red for short plants with lots of early branching.
You have to consider how bright each color is etc. in your situation.
For Example:
If you have less blue bulbs in higher Lumens you might still be blue dominant even though you think you have more red because there are more red dominant bulbs.
Even with LEDS,It's hard to balance the Blue and red wave lengths if you only use a few of each red or blue,plant usable wave lengths.
I think with whatever light source you use,try and cover every wave length plants use in general.(Blue , 430nm - 475nm and red in 620nm - 680nm )
So I read that,in general fluoros in the 5000K - 6500K covered most of the plant usable wave lengths I used whatever was in 2000+ Lumens in that range of K.
It worked for me...
I used a mix of as many K as I can get between 5000K and 6700K.
I went to LEDS after seeing the limited K and Lumens I could find in T8'S.
I don't like T8's.
The ballasts are a lot hotter than T12 Ballasts and the choice of Lumen and K around here sucks.
T10's were the best but really hard to find.Had to buy a case at $10.00 a bulb.
They worked great for 3 years running year round before they started getting dim etc.
A lot of the bulbs I used were for farm use to keep chickens laying eggs or whatever.
I guess they wanted the birds to think it was summer year round.
Farm supply places seemed cheaper in general.
Better bulb selection in higher Lumens.
Your Milage may vary.
Haven't bought Fluoros in a while...
I see you are keeping your temps around 80 Degrees.
Great for sprouting but I back the temps down once they hook.
At 80 I got too many problems with mold and watering.
I think the plant doesn't have roots enough to suck up water yet and I end up,at times with it being too humid,not wet , environment for my sprouts.
After hooks I drop the temp. to 70-75 until the roots are big enough to support the plant.
I got a lot less stuck shells with older seeds and no fungus gnat problems or whatever.
I don't use a grow box that traps heat and moisture in.
I use wire grow shelves that are open.
I have more problems with heat here than cold.
I don't think you need a grow box in Florida,if you are doing that type of thing.
Temps should be maybe more Humid but about the same as here.
I can see a grow box back east in a basement as a possible must but not in the temps. we have.
My kitchen is a constant 80 degrees+.
No windows or Air.
Lights and the cinder Block building keep the temps even.
80 is too hot a lot of the time for best growth and bud set in general.
Just something to think about.Ballast heat(# of bulbs-I had 20 going most of the time.It got too hot in the room.
Halides would have been insane to even think about...
