• Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
    Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
    Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.

Growing with a single fluorescent light?

trevonator

trevonator

Hey, guys. I would really like to start growing peppers indoors and would like to keep the costs minimal, while getting good results. I have a single florescent light with a ballast and was wondering if that would be enough? Or would I need more?
 
Defently not enough to grow peppers indoors but you might be able to just get by with starting some seeds with that setup then growing the plants outside in Arizona. Im guessing its just a regular florescent tube it would be best if you had a full specrtrum 6400K T5.
 
trevonator said:
North Phoenix.
Click to expand...
I would start them inside under the fluorescent light and then move them outdoors when it gets warmer. I'm in the east valley and my experience is established plants are fine outside pretty much year round. Once it gets close to or below freezing at night they'll need to at least be covered or have some kind of supplemental warmth. If they're in pots you can bring them inside. That said, I wouldn't put seedlings outside until it starts to warm up more, maybe mid-March. I mean you can put them outside during the day now if you want, but to me it's a hassle to bring them inside every day. They might "survive" right now, but the cold will stifle the growth.
 
I can fill the space below a 4' 6 tube t5 and keep them producing through the winter.
Single light?
They will likely get "leggy" and fall over unless it is just used as supplemental in front of a big window for sunlight most of the day.
 
A fluoro light will grow them just fine, Have been doing it for years but is not the best way to do it if you want them to produce fruit.  Keep the light about an inch from the plant.
 
If you are on a budget I would look into getting a cheap 2ft 4 tube system.  Amazon has them ranging from $50 to $90.  I had a 2ft system that grew tomato seedlings very well and just recently switched to a 4ft system for peppers and hydroponics.  A good friend purchased the hydrofarm single 4ft tube and had to use lots of supplemental lighting to keep them from irregular growing and legginess.
 
Hydrofarm 2 FT Fluoro System
 
Budget 2 FT Fluoro System
 
Thanks!
 
     I guess you could get by with one. But check this out… 
 
http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/10376/diy-pvc-grow-light-stand#comments
 
     I just built this thing today. It's pretty cheap and super easy to put together. (I managed to pull it off without any PVC cement or even a tape measure!) I modified mine to hold four 4' T8 ballasts (8 tubes, total) and fit on a 4' x 2" card table. 
     If you want, tomorrow I can post some pics of the finished product - showing my modifications.
 
Ignite said:
A good friend purchased the hydrofarm single 4ft tube and had to use lots of supplemental lighting to keep them from irregular growing and legginess.
Click to expand...
     I believe it. One fluorescent tube will help a seedling along, but just barely. Pepper seedlings like to be BATHED in light. And the heat produced by a solid bank of fluorescent grow lights will only help them feel even more at home.  ;)
 
I have been using 2 bulb 4' tubes for many years to grow seedlings and have had no problem with leggy plants, you just need to keep the bulbs right on top of the plants . How long are you going to have them under lights anyway, you live in AZ.  
 

 
 
 
Ignite said:
 A good friend purchased the hydrofarm single 4ft tube and had to use lots of supplemental lighting to keep them from irregular growing and legginess.
Click to expand...
 
I have used the 4-foot single-tube Hydrofarm Jumpstart setup for the past 2 years with no real problems (as long as you've only got about 1 or 2 rows of seedlings).  As a matter of fact, last year I kept a plant under it in a solo cup a bit too long.  I had no intention of potting it up and putting it outside, but hey, once you start seeing a plant producing peppers in a solo cup, you can't just throw it away.  Loved this light so much, I decided to get 2 of the Envirogro 2 ft/2 tube lamps and an Envirogro 4 ft/4 tube lamp as well  :
 
313rsqr.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top