Where are good sources for lights? I know the ones we bought at the big box hardware store cost upwards of $10 for 24". $1?? Never heard of them that cheap? Where would one buy the 6400K tubes?

Yote

I bought the tubes at lowes in a case pack of 10. The individual bulbs were 4.98 but the pack of 10 was 19.98. Im not a genius but that seemed like a good deal to me. The tubes you want have an orange wrapper and are called daylight bulbs.
The 6400K is written on one end of the paper wrapper and you will miss it if not looking. They also had a 5000K bulb in a blue wrapper and called it bright white.
I would think any big box hardware store would have them.
ps the bulbs are sylvania

hope this helps
dipchip2000

One could use all 6400k flourescent bulbs in a 4-bulb, 4' fixture
without hurting the seedlings. One could also use 4 standard
cool white bulbs in them, too, and the seedlings would still
develop ok, perhaps not as quickly.

Wikipedia has a decent technical discussion of the details of
flourescent lighting:

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp#Phosphors_and_the_spectrum_of_emitted_light[/url]

I am currently having an argument with my dad, he says that I should get the "grow lights" [COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]specifically [/FONT][/COLOR]marketed for plants (at $10 a light I don't think so). The color temp on those are only 2500 or so. I bought the same 6400 T-12 10 pack lights as others above. So the question is is it worth it to pay $10 for 1 light bulb to get the "grow lights" or is the 6400 fine?

OK, we are talking about growing tomato seedlings from germination to about 4 weeks under the tubes which is the growth phase. 6400k is the ideal color temp to use for a standard fluorescent tube. If were talking about indoor plants that flower or fish or coral tanks were talking a different animal and color temps. So anything from Cool White 4400k up to 6400k tubes will work for this 4 week period and then be put in storage till they are needed for the following year.
This is what I do with my seedlings after 4 weeks under the tubes and transplanting them to 4" CowPots. The wood base that the metal racks are attached to are on wheels so I can rotate the racks every day or two so the plants get even lighting. These are ready to be planted out. Ami

[quote=dipchip2000;150635]Just one quick question for now. I just got 2 four foot ceiling light fixtures with four bulbs per fixture. I am going to hang them over my seedlings.
Do I need the opaque light defuser panel left on them or shall I discard it so the bulbs will closer to the plants. Would the defuser panel serve any useful purpose by being between the bulbs and the plants. I dont know but Im sure someone out there has a good answer.
thanks for the feedback
dipchip2000[/quote]

I have the same set up.

A couple things here...

1. I've had the panel in and out over the years and to be honest, the results have been the same growth-wise. So, I leave panel in.

2. I DO use 4' flourescent grow lights.

Another consideration for your 4-light, 4' shop light: seed starting. I'll place my starter trays atop of the shop lights as they provide plenty of warmth on top while lighting trays of tiny plants underneath.

[quote=amideutch;151217]This is what I do with my seedlings after 4 weeks under the tubes and transplanting them to 4" CowPots...[/quote]
Ami,

So these pictures you posted - seedlings are just transplanted into cowpots? I know you start yours in #7 pellets, but in what media do your seedling grow after germination (prior to the transplant to cowpots)? Looks like pretty remarkable results!

Regards,

D, those have been in the CowPots for a couple weeks. They are only 4" tall when I remove them from under the grow lights and transplant them to the CowPots using "Light Warrior" growing medium which I swear by. The seedlings stay in the Jiffy 7's till I transplant into CowPots. So I grow them under lights till they are 4" tall and then transplant to CowPots and set them on the racks in my south facing window. I'm lucky to have a big south facing window which is a great help. Ami

Thank you for the explanation Ami!

Nice window, I wish my South window was as large!

I've been to and called every store locally, and no one carries the Fox Farms products. I'd love to try it. Looks like internet is the only option left for me...

Regards,
D

[quote=yotetrapper;151076]Where are good sources for lights? I know the ones we bought at the big box hardware store cost upwards of $10 for 24". $1?? Never heard of them that cheap? Where would one buy the 6400K tubes?[/quote]

I looked up reviews of local light bulb shops to find a good one, then called up the best shop to ask what their prices were for what I needed. They had the cool white and natural light (~6400 ) for 2.99/bulb. That is for the 4', 32W, T8 light fixtures I have.

Online, [URL="http://www.elightbulbs.com/"]eLightBulbs.com[/URL] has great reviews. Their natural light bulbs, however, are almost as expensive as growbulbs, and then there's shipping.

I think your best bet is a local light shop as opposed to a hardware store.

Welcome to Tville BlackestKrim. Thanks!

Yote

Checkout Lowes or Homedepot. I bought mine for 19.98 per case of 10.
ron

daylight bulbs 6400k

The color temp of Plant and Aquarium tubes does not translate to that of "white light" tubes, and even those don't reflect real color temperatures. Color temperature refers to is the continuous spectrum put out by a glowing filament at a certain temperature degrees kelvin. Red hot is cooler than white hot. Blue light is highter energy = hotter temperature needed to produce it. Flourescent tube color temperature "looks like it to the human eye" but in reality is still just a series of light peaks put out by a few phosphors. Plant and aquarium tubes do not use much if any green phosphor (just enough so humans will feel comfortable with the light), and they have red light to help blooming in addition to the blue so they look pinkish = cooler color temp, but more of the energy spectrum (wattage) can be used by plants.

So just as a 100 watt equivalent (= 43 watt) fluorescent tube looks like a 100 watt incandescant bulb, a P&A tube looks like a 2800K incandescent bulb to the human eye.


A 40 watt daylight tube (48" T-12 6400K) will not have the same amount of usable energy for a plant as a 40 watt P&A tube (48" T-12 2800K). The wattage and spectrum are the important variables.


That being said, part of the P&A spectrum (the red) is to induce flowering, so energy for seedling growth (blue light) will be similar between the two, with the 6400K being the cheaper tube.



I thought they quit making 40 watt T-12s. For the past ten years or so I have just been seeing the more efficient 32 (38?) watt tubes now (still T-12). Maybe the 40 watters are the cheap, green heavy, industrial coolwhites?

your opinion..... i WISH TO GROW LETTUCE , SPINACH INDOORS & UNDER LIGHT DURING THE WINTER MONTHS. SAW AN AD IN "SPRAY 'N GROW" CATALOG FOR AN "LED GROW LITE""....600% STRONGER THAN AN EQUIVALENT 50- TO 60- WATT BULB , WITH 2 YR. WARRANTY."" HAS BLUE & REWD SPECTRUM FOR PHOTOSYNTHESIS.,

COMMENTS...........PLEASE! LOOKS GOOD TO ME.

TZ-OH6
What about the lumens per light ie actual light output effiency? Are not the newer T5 HO 54 watt 5000 lumen per bulb with 6500K spectrum more effective and also supposed to be more cost effective to run - though initial cost is high a 4 ft 4 bulb unit can now be found for less than a similar T12 made for horticulture or aquariums
I have been in the process of switching all my T-12 to T-5

Dennis