My compliments Podpiper,thepodpiper said:I am not sure about the style of lights you are using but if all you are doing is growing seedlings to eventually stick them outside in the garden, save your money and buy the cheapest bulbs you can find they are all you need. As far as how close to the lights mine are right next to the lights and even touching most of the time.
I was only using mine 12/12 but this year I started using mine for 16/8 just to see if there would be a benefit to more light (for growing seedlings only) there has not been any difference in the plants that I have under 12/12 lighting vs 16/8 to this point.
The only thing that I use is some old pull down window shades in the back of my setup, again if all you are doing is growing seedlings to set out in the garden there is no need for reflectors at this stage of the seedlings. There is no canopy to block the light. But I may try more of the reflector thing this year when i get more of my seedlings up and running. I am going to try the reflective blankets that you get in the camping dept. at K-Mart or Meijers. this is my setup and i had over 400 plants last year and they all did super without any high tech fancy stuff and the lights last year were only on 12 hrs. a day. Do not forget the fan when the seedlings get about 4 or 5 inches tall. I run mine for 10 min. twice a day on a timer. (approx.)
very excellent setup.
pablo
