I say give it a shot. Start with the light far and bring it closer over days/weeks as you can see their growth habit/colour change.

Thanks Jeff and I'm glad you're back into succulents! =)

Brendan - You are also now obligated to post a photo of your chameleon, haha.

For anyone interested in lights, see ewwmayo's thread here:

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/budding-succulents-under-lights-dsvw-vd~3376092[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/budding-succulents-under-lights-dsvw-vd~3376092)

Great thank you both! I tried to read up on lights and all the terminology on some websites and then remembered this extra reptile light in my basement. Figured I'd save some money and try it as long as it wasn't absolute no for succulents :)

That setup looks great Jeff, I need to figure out a shelving system so that I have a little more room. My medinillas have taken over my sunroom :-\

here he is-

Holy wow. That's a fantastic creature! Reptiles are so tempting to me since I already have a thriving terrarium. But after that little incident with two white mice (Lunch and Dinner) decades ago, I never dared again.

BTW, yeah, that light is good for succulents. It will get hot so it's perfect for plants that need heat as well as high light. At 6kK (and I'm guessing about 24 watts each bulb?), you can put plants right up against the bulbs, even.

Thanks Pagan...yeah they're only 24 watts each which after reading the thread EW linked to, seems a bit low. But I will spend the weekend building a thin structure to hold it above the table of succulents and see how they do. I feel like they get plenty of light during spring and summer, but I'm worried about our overcast winters here.

and thanks, he's a mini-dinosaur :) and even fussier than these succulents!

That light will be perfect for haworthias, gasterias, aloes and mesembs. I use 18-watt single-bank T5HO fixtures myself and put my plants right against the bulb.

Ok great! I only own some stapelias at the moment (Rhytidocaulon, Flavopurpurea), 2 small Dorstenias, a Cubiformis, and a Poissonii. Was thinking of just setting this up above all of those since they're small and I'm trying to encourage growth.

Nice chameleon. I've kept various reptiles for most of my life. As for the light, go for it. I have a ho t5 that I use for my seedlings and it works great.

Pagan I've had an incident or two myself lol.

And I thought there was no such thing as Trinicorns. What an amazing living thing to have in your home.

Awesome chameleon! I also love reptiles. =)

I think it should be just fine. Agreed that you will eventually need your light to be fairly close. Depending what you make, just ensure you have lots of flexibility to raise or lower the light as well as get your plants out.

Don't forget that a 24W fixture 2' long is essentially the same as a 48W fixture 4' long. My T5HO are 54W so the difference is just 12% or so.

Ok great! I'll get something set up that can swivel or raise easily.

That makes sense on the 12% difference, thanks again :)

Hopefully will help with all these cloudy days.

Interesting. Kevin and I have recently discussed a change I will be making this fall. He is my "go to" expert, as is demonstrated in the article link posted earlier. Currently, I winter some plants under T5HO 54W 6500K lights. I have four fixtures, each with six 4' tubes (24 tubes total). I trust you can see why my electric bill doubles from November to May! I am replacing these with 25W 5000K LED tubes. They are about $6.00+ USD/tube. While they are not what I was using for wave form, they are close enough. Life has its trade offs. This should reduce my electric costs significantly and with some adjustments of light distance, should work reasonably well. Keep in mind when purchasing replacement LED's, if your light fixture has a ballast, you must buy LED's that will work accordingly.

*or remove the ballast. I don't think that you get the reduced energy consumption without removing it. I use led tubes as well and prefer them.

isde02, maybe you could provide more information regarding electricity usage/consumption and ballast. I thought the ballast provided the light the initial "kick" to "start" the light. Then the light would use whatever wattage designated.

Direct wiring pro's:

• No ballast maintenance
  
  Removing the ballast simplifies the number of fixture components that need to be maintained.

• Lamp wattage equals actual fixture wattage
  
  Since you're removing the ballast from the equation, the lamp wattage is the same as what's listed on the box. Simple.

• Less energy used through elimination of ballast draw
  
  Energy is lost as it goes through the ballast. This is called ballast factor.