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Explore DiscussionsFeatured Home DiscussionsFeatured Garden Discussions
Growing under Lights
sneakyp86

Decided to build my own Grow Light Setup

13 years ago

I was going to buy a grow light setup I found on Craigslist but it had T12 bulbs which I know are fine but not as efficient as they could be and they are going to quit making the T12 fixtures or so they say. Which I'm sure will make the price of bulbs and ballasts go up unless you start stockpiling now.

So I have decided to build my own setup using either T8 or T5 48" 4 bulb fixtures.

I will be using the 4 pack cellpacks and the trays they come on to start my seeds so roughly 96 seedlings to a tray. I want to run the trays front to back and not side to side so I can fit 4 trays per shelf. I don't know what if any difference but seeds I will starting are tomato,pepper (bell, hot and sweet) corn, green bean, cucumber, onion, melon, zucchini and lettuce.

The T8 does not come with bulbs I know I can get them in the 6500K range so the cost for 3 fixtures plus bulbs will be roughly $200.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202968125/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=shop+light&storeId=10051#.URs4s2eAN2S

The T5 comes with the bulbs included and the price for 3 fixtures is roughly $400.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25ecodZ5yc1v/R-203012866/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=grow+light&storeId=10051#.URs4gmeAN2Q

So my questions are as follows:

Will the performance of the T5 be so much better as to justify the added expense?

Which setup would be more economical to operate?

Well that is all I can think of at this time but any other advice you can give concerning these two lights would be most appreciated.

Thanks.......Pete

Comments (4)

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