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lighting Shop Lights With T8

rkempston

rkempston

So this year i plan on growing most of my plants indoors. They'll have plenty of sunlight until october/novemberish when the temperature drops quite significantly in my area and window sills at night would kill the plants. (Old house in Mid/northwest area). So i decided to create a grow room in my basement. I have radiant heat in my house so the basement stay roughly the same temperature as the rest of the house in the winter + - 2 Degrees. I currenty have three shop light (48") with a max wattage of 64w (32 per bulb) The space ill be growing in is roughly 8' X 8' and i mostly have new seedlings with three mature Habenero plants. I was wondering if based on the space if i needed more light. And which bulbs would be the most beneficial to buy for my plants. (They currently all have T8 daylight bulbs). I grew roughly 6 plants last year just using a tall desk lamp and a cfl daylight bulb and the plants seem to grew really well. Im trying to upgrade my system this year and i may be even brave enough to try a Hydroponic system this year. Who knows!
 
For an 8X8 area I think a lot more light is needed. Last winter I used two T8 shop lights (four bulbs) to light an area approximately 4'X2' area. 
 
But, if you grew six plants using a desk lamp and a CFL then you are doing great. Maybe I'll learn some stuff from you.

As for bulbs, I used two warm white and two cool white bulbs.
 
Yeah, i didnt know anything about planting last year and got a wild hair to grow. They did extreme well under the one bulb surprisingly.I planted the outside at the beginning of june when i was sure that there wasnt going to be another frost. (I live in IL). The plants grew like crazy once the went outside, basically doubled in size. They were flowering all winter but i didnt have any luck pollinating them by hand. I doubt the whole 8' X 8' area will be used it just the rooms size. If i had to guess it would probably be more like 6' X 4' by the time i get the tables and everything set up. 

Im also wondering about heat. I want to keep the room at about 74-75 during the winter, and i have a electric heater with a digital thermostat to do so but i was worried that the heat may be too "dry" in there for the plants. Not sure though.

Did you run 1 cool and 1 warm bulb in each lamp you used or 2 x 2?

How close to the plants did you keep the lights?

Did you use any kind of reflector to shine the light back the underside of the leaves?

Did you do any kind of pollination in the winter? (I.E, using like a q-tip to spread pollen?
 
 
cool white 6500k or day light 5000k is better, don't worry about warm there is too much yellow.
 
You will be watering the plants, so will be introducing lots of moisture to the room it won't be too dry.
 
most people run t8 4 bulbs for 4'x2'x2' (aka 4 x 1020 nursery trays)
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/45347-spicy-chickens-cheap-grow-boxes-anyone-can-do-it-;-post-30-forward/page-2#entry966757
http://thehotpepper.com/uploads/gallery/album_133/gallery_7416_133_1729868.jpg
 
you can move the lights as plants get bigger but 18" is good.
 
not necessary
 
Wait are you talking about full maturing plants with fruit in winter? or just starting plants? above advice is for starting plants. If you want to go full maturity get 2 HID lights, like CDM, MH, or HPS.
 
i dont necessarily need to have fruiting plants in the winter, was just wondering how possible it was. My main concern for my older plants is to transplant them from outdoors back inside when the season ends. (probably will transplant them into 5gal buckets or Rubbermade containers. 


hard to tell but these are the six plants that i was talking about

Each plant has quite a lot of fruit,
 
hm, i'd maybe buld a shelf for starting new plants with t8s
Then have separate area(or half of the room) for your overwinters with an HID light.
 
i kept 4 O.W'S in my kitchen bay window ( 5 gal. ) all winter , ceiling fan above them gave me some pods . they been podding like crazy since they went out for good in may .  you only need to keep them by a window . must cut them back , water about every 2 weeks , feed once in the middle of winter , be sure to run a fan on them every so often . n.p.   :onfire:
 
They' ll have natural light till probably november/December. I live in an older drafty house so depending on IL weather (Who knows really) i may have to pull them away from the window. I dont know very much about pruning the pepper plants so if you know any good articles you could direct me to id greatly appreciate it.
 
Yea I wouldn't worry about the temp/humidity. I grew all 86 plants on a bakers rack in the basement from Jan-late may in a ~60f basement. Peppers like it on the dryer side anyhow. Mine is too moist. Even with a dehumidifier running 24/7 my humidity was ~50-60%. I had some plants with some form of BLS that didn't go away until they was planted outdoors. My hydro plants in basement still suffer from the ugly leaf spots. Less moisture the better other than watering. 
 
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