The table top lights aren't going to be strong enough from what I've seen. I have the second light with the red and blue lights. It seems to be doing well so far, but I've only had it since summer and I'm only using it for some leftover plants in the basement. I use regular white light florescent and LED for plants that are on display.

I heard that if you look at the purple light for too long your eyes will stay that way. (kidding)

ANYONE SOMEBODY!!!!! I DESPERATELY NEED HELP FINDING GROW LIGHTS. ITS A LARGE AREA AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO. IM AFRAID ILL LOSE THEM THIS WINTER!!!!!

You may consider LED tubes, or T5HO tubes. You could get them in different lengths (2' - 4') to cover bigger area. Having them on timer helps too. Many use LED square panels (click on link provided by mesembs upthread), but they are usually 'weird' colored light (strong pinkish-red, or magenta or whatever he color is :) you may not want for your room...

If it's a large area, your most cost-effective choice is probably going to be to go to one of the home improvement stores and buy some shop lights (the light fixtures that have the fluorescent tubes). Each one should cover an area up to twice the size of the light (aprox. same length, twice as wide), assuming those windows let in decent light to supplement. The lights will have to be close to the plants - probably 6 inches to a foot above them, at most.

LEDs are probably going to be too expensive to cover that many plants, and high intensity discharge lighting (HID lighting), while cost-effective, will be so bright that you may not want to spend much time in the room while the lights are on. So I suggest fluorescent lights.

Edited to add: T5 HO (High Output) lights are excellent plant lights, but also more expensive (and sometimes harder to find at home improvement stores). If you are just supplementing the light from the windows, you can probably get by with regular T5 lights, or T8 lights. These are all types of fluorescent lights.

Which is better, warm florescent lights or cool white tubes?

Mike

Mike, definitely white, which is full(er) spectrum, depending on if it's cool white or truly full spectrum 6400K. Hope you're doing well, or weller.

You can find all sorts of information online about which is better for flowering, or vegetative growth, or what percentage mix of both will be best.. but if you look at the spectral graphs (distribution of each wavelength of light being emitted by the bulb) for warm fluorescent and cool fluorescent bulbs, the differences are not striking. Anyone is welcome to argue about this, but my suggestion is to use whatever bulbs you can find between 2700k and 6500k and not worry about it.

Cindy

Just to add to post by illsstep : LED lightbulbs are very economic to run and have longer life too. Yes, they are more expensive to buy, but if you are looking at the longer use, they are worth it. And they produce almost no heat, which means that you can have lights closer to your plants and will not burn them. Tubes are what I was suggesting - they fit 'shop light' fixture. Just make sure you buy proper fixture: LED tubes have much smaller diameter, and will not fit/work with old type fixtures.

I have used all of different bulbs over he years...I am also using many CFL lightbulbs now, that are quite economic (23W CFL bulbs equals 100W incandescent bulb). They produce some heat, so if using, start with bulbs little further away and gradually move closer to the plant. Reason I am still using them is that I was given almost 50 bulbs few years ago...so they were all free and work quite well. I am using them in the basement, where looks do not matter, and little extra heat is np. They are all min 23W (few are more), and all are 6500k. But anything new I buy is LED. I have 1 bulb T5HO, they are approx. $50 in Canada. Sold in any Hydroponic store. Other lightbulbs and fixtures are available in any BBS (Lowe's, Home Depo, probably in many hardware and home improvement stores). Just MO, but I wouldn't waste $ on T8 if buying new (even if they are inexpensive) - only if I couldn't find or afford anything better (like T5HO or LED). I do not find light from 6500k too strong - but it is bright! But it is for plants that are on shelves by the windows and in the basement, and I do not stare at the lights :) They are all on timers. I do not bother with shorter than 4' for plants I have, but you could buy shorter to fit your area and number of plants. LED tubes fit in 'shop light' fixture, as long as you get the proper size. T5HO comes with the 'fixture'.

LED panels (as in link provided by mesembs) emit 'funny' light (that would bother me in the living area much more than daylight - but I am thinking of buying at least 1 for use in the basement), and you can get info about them on net. Some color will promote growth, other flowering - I am not too concerned much about it since I grow mostly succulents, and do not worry much about flowering - they do quite well under lights I have :) This is only for the winter in my case, since all plants I have go outside as early as possible in Spring.

Jeff, thand you. I really appreciate it. Getting much better. Now if I can just sleep one full night for a change.

I was looking at 4 foot shop lights with two bulbs the whole fixture about 5 inches wide that are on sale right now for only 10 bucks!! Wasn’t sure if they would be good enough being cool white bulbs for my orchids. What do you think ?

Hello everyone else.

Mike

I have no idea for orchids. I use T5 HO florescents, LED strip light, and an LED blurple light for succulents. Rina has shown that the less expensive T8 can work. I find they need to be very close and on for a longer time for optimal light.

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

I'm just using the clip-on reflector lamps with ordinary Daylight type LED floodlight bulbs With a 100W equivalent (14W power usage). Spectrum is a little weaker than I'd like in blue wavelengths but good enough. Placed 10 inchs above foliage light measures from 6000 lux in center to about 3000 lux at edge of 28 inch diameter circle. That's about 1/4 to 1/8 of full sunlight.

A good cheap Lux meter can be had on Amazon for less that $20 to find out what you really have.

https://www.amazon.com/Leaton-Digital-Luxmeter-Illuminance-Display/dp/B018QLIVSC/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1546828417&sr=8-7&keywords=lux+meter

I'm not a rich man and I use $10 dollar shop lights, with 1 warm white and one cool white ( daylight) bulb. The system works great.

I know this topic has been kicked around elsewhere on GW. I was using 8’ fluorescent units with 6500K T5 HO 54W fluorescent tubes. This year I changed the units to retrofit T5 LED’s at 5000K/24W. I know this is at the lower end of daylight. The units are approximately 12” above plants running 8 hrs/day. I know foot candles isn’t the best method for measuring available light, but with my setup, I’m getting an average of 1500fc center and 975fc perimeter. All plants are doing as well as past years, maintaining good color and form. The best part is my electric bills are down about 30%. I’m certain the electric usage would be less if not for the fact that my significant other has the home heat turned up so the furnace is running more!

Doc, great setup. If you don't mind: How many bulbs in each fixture? How do you water? How do you keep the middle tray suspended in mid air?

There are 6-4’ tubes in each unit. I use stackable shelving (tables) for support. I water with a garden hose hoked up to the wash basin and a long arm wand.

UPDATE: Just reviewed my current electric bill. Our average temperatures have been 13°F colder this past month over last year same time period. I mention this because it relates to the portion of electricity used to run the blower on the furnace; it has nothing to do directly with lights. The new LED's are operating under the same parameters as they were last year using fluorescent tubes. Electrical usage is down 26%. I venture to say, it would be a larger difference were it not for the cooler temps and running the furnace more. And, the plants still are looking great!