Grow Light

[christian1971]

I'm debating whether to get a grow light. The website HTGSupply has the Slimstar 4 foot 8 lamp HO T5 fluorescent. 3" tall x 47.7" long x 26.5" wide.
I will around 25 tomato plants. Is this system adequate or not needed in ur opinion.

[PureHarvest]

How long will you grow from seed under it?

[PhilaGardener]

One T5 bulb or two in that fixture? They have good light output and are quite efficient!

[kurt]

Things to consider are.
Seed starting only,cloning,or plant indoor start outside finish,indoor complete growout.
Amount of plants.
Then you can adjust the different Kelvins,Lumens and the specs on light spectrums.
Also what are you growing?Cherrys,determinates,dwarfs?
In the search pane there is a myriad of threads and posts regarding lighting,plant stands,adjustable pulley systems,reflectors etc.One good of many threads below.

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...ndoor+lighting

[Ricky Shaw]

I would get 2, 4 lamp fixtures. As opposed to 1, 8 lamp fixture. Two fixtures will only be nominally wider and it allows you more options, while not being that much more expensive.

[PureHarvest]

You can get a 400 watt HPS for $150 and get 15,000 more lumens
The first one I pulled up has the ballast built into the light.
you can get the ratchet hanging ropes for $11

http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-FLO...um-Grow-Light#

Something to consider. Do not be confused by the red vs blue thing. You can do everything from germ to veg to flower with an HPS light. More intensity for your $ than Metal Halide.

I start seeds under t-5's and put them under a 430 watt HPS at 2-3 weeks old, but am going to start going right under the HPS on my next start.

Here are mine after 1 week under the HPS. They are 24 days old from seed. The top left are non-dwarfs. They are staying very compact. I will update the pics on Sunday when they will be a month old.

24 days.JPG

[DrDoug]

Check Sams Club, search for shop lights, They have LED 48" 40 watt, 5000k, 4200 lumen fixtures for $35 Menards also had some similar lights
Although officially not a grow light, they are working very well for me. check on you tube search for Farmer Doug

[decherdt]

Welcome and good luck! I have a 4 bulb setup 13" x 49" with T5 bulbs. The one you mention is twice as big with twice the bulbs. I can start two 72 cell flats at the same time under it, you could start twice that. I can grow 36 plants in 3.5" pots (2x18 trays) to 6-8 weeks and maybe 12-18 tomatoes to 10 or 12 weeks if I had to. The T5 bulbs are hot to the touch, cannot let leaves touch them. I like the "get two four bulb fixtures" option, if one four bulb fixture is not enough.

[christian1971]

Floralux 400 also looks very nice. Thanks for the information.
I know my initial seedling set up can easily be covered with such a light system.
Wondering if it will cover seedlings in pots that are 6 inches in diameter. I will have twenty, 6 inch pots. Want to make sure each tomato plant gets coverage. Does Floralux 400 get hot? Wondering how far from plants to hang. Thanks again.

[Father'sDaughter]

If all your doing is starting seedlings that will go into the garden after a short amount of time, a simple Home Depot T8 shop light will serve just as well.

[christian1971]

Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter

If all your doing is starting seedlings that will go into the garden after a short amount of time, a simple Home Depot T8 shop light will serve just as well.

Would 6 to 8 weeks be a short enough time for Home Depot t 8 lights?

[BackyardFarm]

Home Depot (or any place really) T8 Fluorescent light fixture. That's what I use and some of my flowers, my artichokes stay under there for 3-4 months. Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplants do just fine 6-12 weeks under there.

I'm running greens under there year round and it also works just fine.

[Father'sDaughter]

I've kept pepper plants perfectly happy under them for 15 weeks; tomatoes for 12 weeks. The key is finding a way to move them up (or the plants down) as they grow. I use the chains that come with the lights and hang them from the upper shelf of a wire shelf unit. I've also built a "bridge" with them using blocks to hold the lights.

[christian1971]

Originally Posted by BackyardFarm

Home Depot (or any place really) T8 Fluorescent light fixture. That's what I use and some of my flowers, my artichokes stay under there for 3-4 months. Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplants do just fine 6-12 weeks under there.

I'm running greens under there year round and it also works just fine.

12 weeks for tomatoes? Won't they be too big by then? I'm guessing the soil here in Minnesota won't be ready for tomatoes til early June. When do you think is a good time to start indoors for me.

[PureHarvest]

Christian, a 400 watt light puts off some heat, but as long as it's not enclosed in a closet or something, its not a big deal.

My 430 illuminates a primary area of about 4x4, a tad more if needed.

It is about 3' above my plants right now. Tops of the plants are not hot or burned. I sense that people are nervous around HID lights.

It really comes down to your definition of what is "good" as far as what you want your plants to look like at plant out.

You are talking about doing 20 six-inch pots.

I would personally want 1 square foot per plant at maturity for 20 -6" pots that will be 8 weeks old. That is 20 sqft. or roughly 4.5' x 4.5'
The slimstar you mentioned would have to be raised higher to illuminate this area, and I would question the intensity of this to produce plants of compact stature with short internodes.
Flourescent is great if you can keep it right over top of the plants. Otherwise, you will get some stretching, but maybe that is ok if that is good enough for your purposes.
It would irritate me.
If you tightened up the spacing to .5 sqft per plant, the light would directly cover all 20 plants, but they would all be touching after 4-5 weeks, and you could have some issues with stretching as they compete for light due to the shading of each neighboring plant.

Either way, everything else being equal, you will have healthy green plants to put out in June. You just might have to plant deeper. But if I was gonna go through the trouble to start that early and spend the money and electricity, I'd want a robust plant.

Also, my thought is why pay $64 more for 15,000 less lumens?