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Post by daylilydude on Aug 27, 2018 4:16:49 GMT -5
What kind of lights do you use for starting your seeds? Fluorescent, Incandescent, LED or maybe a combination and what are the different watts that you think work best?
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Post by brownrexx on Aug 27, 2018 6:11:48 GMT -5
Mine are fluorescent.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Aug 27, 2018 7:15:02 GMT -5
Regular old Shop Fluorescent for me
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Post by coppice on Aug 27, 2018 7:50:46 GMT -5
A pair of four foot T-8 florescent bulbs is like $ 8. A pair of LED's is like $ 33.
The eight dollar pair wins.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Aug 27, 2018 8:14:35 GMT -5
I have a double pair of T8s, with electronic starters, with around 3,300 lumens per bulb. It is amazing how much more light you get with the better bulbs, and ballasts. I switched all of the lights in the workshop to these, and the difference was incredible. I bought a dozen of the new ballasts years ago, and changed every one of them in my house. They don't even sell the old ones any more, due to the mercury in them (though the bulbs still have mercury in them). The bulbs I use are Maxum, 5,000k T8 bulbs, which are rated at 3,300 lumens (I was close, remembering 3200! lol), and 34,000 hours. www.fullspectrumsolutions.com/collections/full-spectrum-fluorescent-tubes/products/maxum-5000-48-f32-t8-mb-fluorescent-tube?variant=13953008009273The bulbs available in HD and Lowe's these days are better than the old ones, but still not as good as these, which are worth the extra cost, since they last so long! The old ones I got way back, were only about 1800 lumens for the generic ones, and 2100 lumens for the GE (funny how I remember this, but not names! lol). And I would replace them after 2 years; a year longer, and the black rings on the ends would get really dark, and the lighting would get decreased to the point that the tomatoes would be leggy, compared to the two years before. I use the lights about 9 weeks a year, so that's 1,008 hours, and those old lights were rated at 2,000 hours, so that makes sense, looking back at it. And the better lights later on lasted longer, maybe rated at 20,000 hours, but after about 5 years I'd start seeing the leggy tomatoes again. They were rated at 2600-2700 lumens, so they were better, to begin with, but they would still get too dim. Probably had something to do with the old ballasts, too.
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Post by paulf on Aug 27, 2018 9:34:33 GMT -5
Five sets of old style shop lights..fluorescents
new bulbs every three years...if and when I can still find them.
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Post by september on Aug 27, 2018 9:53:55 GMT -5
Five sets of old style shop lights..fluorescents Yup. Have used the same cheap shop lights for years. But they don't get used for very many hours each year because I move sprouted seedlings out to the greenhouse as soon as possible during the day.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Aug 27, 2018 17:10:34 GMT -5
Regular old shop lights.
If I were growing plants indoors with the intention of getting them to produce I would invest in lights with a full spectrum. But I use the lights to get a jump start on outdoor growing, so that's not really necessary.
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Post by Gianna on Aug 27, 2018 18:50:02 GMT -5
Sunlight through S-facing windows till they sprout. And outdoors as soon as possible, up on tables to thwart the snails, and covered with wire to thwart the birds.
When I've needed added light for misc plant projects such as starting cuttings or microgreens, I;ve used generic florescent shop lights.
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Post by spike on Aug 27, 2018 19:56:43 GMT -5
I have 2 - 2' dirt genius T5 grow light . . . blah blah blah light systems and a 4' shop light with the fancy grow bulbs. Since I start things at different times this works out great for me. They go from the 2 footers to the 4 footer, out to the portable little green house to the ground. WOO
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Post by guruofgardens on Aug 28, 2018 20:27:09 GMT -5
Shop lights with one cool and one warm set of lights in each one.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Aug 29, 2018 9:20:55 GMT -5
I like my T5 fluorescents. I get far, far better (greener, stockier) seedlings with them than I did with just light from the south-facing window. I use the 6500K daylight bulbs since I just grow seedlings indoors. If I was trying to get flowers or fruit I would have to swap out some or all of the bulbs. I love the idea of LED lights, but they are still really expensive. Maybe when more of the kids move out and I can snag one of their bedrooms to use as a plant room I'll spring for more shelves and some LED lights for them.
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