Help choosing a grow light

11 years ago

I want to start vegetable seeds indoors this winter. I will likely be putting the plants in a basement near a big east facing window. I have never done this before, and I would love some help choosing a grow light.

Here are my options.

New Hydrofarm Jump Start 4 ft. T5 grow light with adjustable rack, $60 from amazon. Seems like a great product, but bulbs are a proprietary size and hard to replace.

2 opened but unused Hydrofarm Jump Start 2 ft. grow lights with racks, one with broken leg, but easily fixable. This one comes with a heat mat, all for $50 from a local seller. Great deal! Same bulb problem. I am assuming this is the newer T5 version, not the old T12. If it is old, I'll pass.

Or, I could make my own from a $50 T5 light from HTG supply or theLAshop. The benefit of this option is that I would get 2 bulbs in the light fixture, which I assume would give me twice the light output. Also, the bulbs would be a standard size. One of these would likely fit in my kitchen window, too.

Is it worth the trouble of building my own rack to get twice the light? Is the bonus heat mat too good to pass up?

Thanks for the help!

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Comments (7)

Pyewacket
11 years ago
I'd go with standard size bulbs, definitely. And 2 bulbs per fixture is also a gigantic plus. Single bulb fixtures are the next thing to useless, IMHO.
LivesForever
Original Author
11 years ago
A friend of mine said the same thing. I think I will go with the homemade version! Can anyone recommend a way to make a cheap rack that would look decent on my kitchen window sill? It should be wide enough to hold a 4 foot stand.

By the way, zensojourner, thank you so much for the response!
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valray
11 years ago
Hi. I was also considering a jumpstart plant stand but didn't realize the t5 lamps are a proprietary size. Do you mean they are a non-standard t5? Do they have to be purchased from hydrofarm? (Sorry, don't mean to hijack your post.)
idloveamocha
11 years ago
I have the Hydrofarm Jump Start 2' assemblies. I have two.
Bulbs haven't been terribly difficult to get *yet*. Time will tell, but I was able to order them from Amazon last winter.

I do like the Jump Start systems because they are so easy to adjust, and I've had great luck growing with them.
Henry22
11 years ago
i bought the grow lights on BLMALL store.
mary
11 years ago
sometimes you can also get really cheap ballasts for sodium and metal halide lights, and the bulbs (lamps) on crags list from people who were trying to grow pot and gave up for whatever reason. but you do have to match the strength of bulb with the ballast unless it's switchable. the nice thing about these is that they DO generate heat especially the sodium, which you might need if the basement is cold. You have to experiment not to get too close and burn the plant but these are quite powerful. but i have t5's I like, too and my myer lemons seem satisfied with them.
Pyewacket
11 years ago
My curry leaf tree seedlings - a citrus relative - are doing great with T8s. I haven't even overdriven them yet. I'm about to move them to larger pots on a shelf with a lot more light - 10 T8 bulbs (they are currently under 4 bulbs in 2 dual-bulb fixtures). I just need the Wago Lever connectors so I can wire in the power cord.

@valray - I'm not sure what sort of setup you are contemplating. How deep is the window sill? Do you mean to put the plants ON the sill, or on a stand in front of the window?