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Grow light Question

HillBilly Jeff

HillBilly Jeff

Tore out an old bathroom in the basement and it is the perfect shape for a grow room. It won't take much to keep it the right temperature for my plants.

My question is I am putting in a shelving unit that is 4 foot long by 18 inches deep. I want to put a light on each shelf. Planning on putting twin bulb fluorescent fixtures on each. Is this enough light for the plants I will be putting under these lights? I am fairly certain I will be putting just two flats on each shelf, dead center. I don't think I can slide the flats in the other way and get 4 flats per shelf.

T8 or T12? Perhaps other?

Thanks,
Jeff
 
Stay away from any T12's as they are being phased out and will be "extinct" in the not so distant future...Most use T5 and T8, I believe...
 
I have a similar setup...regular t8 shop lights wally world $10 per fixture and $12 per 2 pack of 5600 daylight bulbs...but I used 2 fixtures per shelf and surrounded with $2.50 emergency mylar blankets. Working great for me!

I think if I was going to do anything other than that I would be using CFL's...T5's too pricey for my blood.
 
I am running 2 36" t5 bulbs in my grow box, 1 each on each level and they put out plenty of light. In my backroom where my bigger plants are there are 3 48" twin bulb fixtures each with 6500K lights (6 bulbs total) and these plants are green as can be. You shouldnt have anything to worry about if you go with t5 or t8 lights, just make sure you get the 6500k "daylight" bulbs and your plants will thrive.

For more reflection, you can line the grow room with mylar, it is cheap and effective, i think you can get emergency blankets at Walmart that are mylar lined for fairly cheap. I on the other hand went with the thermo bubble wrap, it is 48" wide and the roll is 50 foot long, but its about $50 bucks a roll, it works extremely well though.
 
Thanks everyone. I put T8 under my grow table and had some trouble locating some acutual grow bulbs. Daylight bulbs should be really easy to find. I was thinking about enclosing the three sides of the unit, but the room will have a heat source so I think I should be okay.

I will look into that mylar kind of stuff and see what I can do. If one light fixture won't get it done, its easy enough to add another light to each shelf.

My wally didn't have light fixtures when I looked last year, but I like the sound of the 10 bucks a fixture.

Appreciate all the help.
 
Bodeen said:
Thanks everyone. I put T8 under my grow table and had some trouble locating some acutual grow bulbs. Daylight bulbs should be really easy to find. I was thinking about enclosing the three sides of the unit, but the room will have a heat source so I think I should be okay.

I will look into that mylar kind of stuff and see what I can do. If one light fixture won't get it done, its easy enough to add another light to each shelf.

My wally didn't have light fixtures when I looked last year, but I like the sound of the 10 bucks a fixture.

Appreciate all the help.
Click to expand...

Mylar blankets are in the camping/hiking section (really thin foil emergency blankets). The lights should be between hardware and paint in wally if not check HD you should still be able to get the one for under $15. The daylight bulbs (6500 temp) bulbs are the way to go. I mixed mine with 4100k bulbs (even cheaper! $7 pair) one of each in each fixture. My plants are doing great so far.
 
Bodeen said:
...I put T8 under my grow table and had some trouble locating some acutual grow bulbs. Daylight bulbs should be really easy to find....
Click to expand...

If you have a Homey Depot in your area, you might look for these 6500K T8. My local HD had 2-packs for $7 avail in store.
T8s at HD clicky.
 
Thanks for the link Siliman.

The fixtures I bought will take 8s or 12s and wally had 12s for under 7 bucks a twinpack. The 8s were 13 something. Also picked up a couple blankets today. Shelving unit should be picked up Friday and the weekend will be getting my new grow unit put together.
 
Nice! I used t12's in mine for a bit. They offer more lumens, but the t8's sit a little further from the housing so the light from the back of the bulb gets reflected better. I think they are both about even as far as usable output.
 
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