lighting Opinions On Lighting

S

Skeptic68W

Hey guys,
 
So I have just had a few sprouts pop out of the ground and I currently have one small(about 1.5ft) florescent fixture with a "grow bulb" in it that I bought on sale last year from lowes. I also have a little desk lamp with a 60w CFL in it that overlooks the plants as well. When I turn on the fan, I switch out the CFL for a heating bulb(like for reptile pets) to aid in the warming and drying. So far so good.
 
However, I am about to start my tomatoes and some herbs and need to expand my lighting. If you watch my first episode of my GLOG here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdaWUfVVq1Y  you can see my current setup. The new lighting will also hang and will just expand towards where the jacket is in the video.
 
What I have:
1 3ft fluorescent fixture single bulb with no reflector
2 4ft fluorescent fixtures each dual bulb with reflectors
No bulbs haha
 
2 clamp on screw type fixtures with large reflectors
Lots of 100w incandescent bulbs
 
My question is, should I throw up those clamp on fixtures with the 100w incandescents? If would keep me from buying anything else and would also provide more heat which wouldn't hurt. The issue I see would be getting them close enough that the plants don't get stemmy but far enough away to avoid burning them.
 
The alternative is to hang one of the other fixtures and buy a bulb or bulbs for it. If this is the case, what is the best option for bulbs? I don't want to spend too much $. I like the 3ft fixture because it's easier to hang and I would only need 1 bulb but the fixture has no reflector and would just throw light everywhere.
 
 
 
Skeptic68W said:
My question is, should I throw up those clamp on fixtures with the 100w incandescents? If would keep me from buying anything else and would also provide more heat which wouldn't hurt. The issue I see would be getting them close enough that the plants don't get stemmy but far enough away to avoid burning them.
 
 
 
 
Click to expand...
 
No to incandescents. Barely any usable light and tons of heat. Use some CFLs in them. Probably some of thebigger wattage CFLs.
 
Try Hydrofarm T5 Fixtures WIth Bulbs From Amazon. They are absolutely amazing at growing, energy consumption is low compared to incandescence hps or metal hallide and they don't put out much heat.
 
Depending on your budget and space the 4ft 4tube is great, but the 4ft 6 tube has switches to run either 2 or 4 or 6 bulbs.
 
They run from $85 For The 2ft 2tube to $165 for the 4ft 6 Tube.
 
I run the hydrofarm FLP44  & the FLP46. Plants are loving it!
 
Good lights are worth the investment.
 
MAOuT2c.jpg
 
Skeptic68W said:
Hey guys,
 
So I have just had a few sprouts pop out of the ground and I currently have one small(about 1.5ft) florescent fixture with a "grow bulb" in it that I bought on sale last year from lowes. I also have a little desk lamp with a 60w CFL in it that overlooks the plants as well. When I turn on the fan, I switch out the CFL for a heating bulb(like for reptile pets) to aid in the warming and drying. So far so good.
 
What I have:
1 3ft fluorescent fixture single bulb with no reflector
2 4ft fluorescent fixtures each dual bulb with reflectors
No bulbs haha
 
2 clamp on screw type fixtures with large reflectors
Lots of 100w incandescent bulbs
 
My question is, should I throw up those clamp on fixtures with the 100w incandescents? If would keep me from buying anything else and would also provide more heat which wouldn't hurt. The issue I see would be getting them close enough that the plants don't get stemmy but far enough away to avoid burning them.
 
The alternative is to hang one of the other fixtures and buy a bulb or bulbs for it. If this is the case, what is the best option for bulbs? I don't want to spend too much $. I like the 3ft fixture because it's easier to hang and I would only need 1 bulb but the fixture has no reflector and would just throw light everywhere.
 
Click to expand...
 
Regarding the clamp/reflectors, I agree that the incandescent bulbs are borderline useless. They make lots of red light, and will make the plants grow to a limited degree, but their emission is far from ideal.  You can't put them very close w/o zorching your baby plants, which further limits the plant-usable energy they can deliver.  Hit the local Goodwill, dollar store, etc. in search of cheap CFL bulbs.  Call your electricity provider as well, they may have an energy conserving coupon or rebate program in place.  5000K or higher temperatures are preferred since they produce a bit more light in  plant-specific wavelengths, but IMO 2700K bulbs will do in a pinch. 
 
Maybe keep one incandescent for heat, at least until things warm up a little.
 
Will you be relocating the plants outside come spring?  If so, 3x CFL + your 18" fluorescent tube should be enough get your juvenile plants off to a good start.  If you're gonna grow inside, and plan on having more than a handful of plants, start reading up on 'real' lighting systems. (If all 24? of your tomatoes and peppers make it, you'll need much more light.)
 
I ended up going to menards and picking up a 48" T8 plug in fixture for under 20 bucks(came with hanging chains and all) and spent a little extra on some sylvania grow bulbs. I was going to go with T5s but they didn't have any plug in fixtures(only wire in) and with this being the closet of a rental house I don't want to mess with all that.
 
This picture isn't super clear, but I've got the 48" fixture doing the grunt work and the smaller 18" fixture hanging out in the back just throwing on some extra light at an angle.

 
I ditched all the lamps and clamp lights, it's much cleaner looking now.
 
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