• If you need help identifying a pepper, disease, or plant issue, please post in Identification.

shopping If I could buy 1 more light.

I tried one of the Durolux 2' 4 bulb fixtures. One of the ballasts went out less than a year. I replaced it, and the other ballast went out soon after. Could have just been coincidence that both were bad, but it looked pretty cheap.
 
Do they have HD or Lowes in Boston?  Go there and look.  There are several options, and no I won't link them for you.  If I can find it, you can too.
 
And don't discount T12s.  They're not as efficient but considerably cheaper.
 
Whats the difference between T5 8 and 12? I think I want to have some lights over head and then 1 on either side facing eachother kind of getting the side leafs. 
 
T8 are generally the most cost effective and efficient if you have 4' of space. I'd get a 4 x tube, 4' T8 then if it uses too much power, take out a pair of tubes -OR- you might be able to space them better with 2, 2 tube fixtures but you asked about "1 more light".
 
So I guess T(5)(8)(12) stands for wattage? And the more wattage the better? How much wattage is required to keep 10 pepper plants alive? 
 
T(n) stands for the tube diameter, although the typical tube length also grows with tube diameter. The "n" is 8ths of an inch so T5 is 5/8", T8 is 8/8" (1") and T12 is 12/8" or 1.5" diameter.


For example industrial lighting that used T12 was usually 8ft long tubes, T8 usually 4ft, and T5 2ft. Although different lengths of each exist, once you get away from the most common lengths then the cost of the tubes goes up. You can get a 10 pack of 4', T8 tubes for under $20.
 
Speaking from the reef aquarium world, those are crappy t5 fixtures if I am seeing them right.  Really crappy.  The advantage t5s have over other fl fixtures is that they can pack a punch in a small space due to their thin diameter.  This is of course if each bulb has its own reflector to properly concentrate the light from the entire bulb.  The fixtures linked looks to have one wide reflector for the entire fixture.
 
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