Quote:
Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie
I still like CFL for seedlings more than LED. Building your own fixtures is easy. If off-season storage is an issue, just put the reflectors together with screws and disassemble to store.
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Hi-
I've thought about CFL, but have never given it much serious consideration. First, they seem to concentrate the light instead of spreading it out, as do tubes. Second, although they are pretty cheap (and the little fixtures are really cheap), they don't last very long in my experience. The heat seems to kill the ballasts or cause leaks. Full-size 60 watt equiv. seem to last the longest, and it goes down hill as you go to higher watts. You can get extended life bulbs, but they are usually quite expensive. Third, I don't have a lot of head room on my 4-shelf plant stand. (Made it in '73 to start my Burpee Pixie plants.) T-8 (and earlier T-12) fixtures fit this stand quite well.
But this is my first foray into LED territory for plants, so this is basically a trial.
If I can successfully get down to about 40 watts per shelf total + no Mercury, and maybe 8-10 years of service, I'll be a very happy camper.
How would you arrange the CFL's to cover a 4' X 1' shelf with one-foot of head room? How many would it take? Just curious as to how you would do it.
-Larry