Another Grow Light Question...!?

[happychick]

I have purchased fluorescent shop lights (General Electric) from Farm & Fleet - note they are 'Cooler Daylight'. I don't know a thing about the color temp. or lumens, etc. Basically what I want to know from all you growers - will they work for successful grow lights!?
I want to feel confident going into this for the first time that my plants won't go all leggy.

I've got a couple, just thought I'd run it past you guys before buying a bunch more.

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Thank you so much for looking!

[PD-Riverman]

Originally Posted by happychick

I have purchased fluorescent shop lights (General Electric) from Farm & Fleet - note they are 'Cooler Daylight'. I don't know a thing about the color temp. or lumens, etc. Basically what I want to know from all you growers - will they work for successful grow lights!?
I want to feel confident going into this for the first time that my plants won't go all leggy.

I've got a couple, just thought I'd run it past you guys before buying a bunch more.

Thank you so much for looking!

I personally feel you would want something brighter for tomatoes etc, but I have used some similiar but I was using 2 light fixtures(4 bulbs) a few inches apart with trays centered between the fixture keeping the bulbs real close to the plants and they work ok. My plants were in a dark room wih no windows which would affect it some too.

[rzrubek]

Yes you got the right ones. Hang them so they are an inch or two above your plants. They will grow out lettuce and herbs, but you will need something like a metal halide to grow out tomatoes and such.

[Callieslamb]

I use those every year for about 10 years now. I prefer a warm and a cool bulb but at times the warm ones are harder to find. I have had no trouble with growing tomatoes for transplanting into the garden. If you are trying to grow them to produce fruit, you will need a full-spectrum bulb or three or four.

I have metal shelves with 2 light fixtures per shelf - so 4 bulbs each shelf. I keep the lights just above the plants and raise them as the plants grow. One year I got a bad batch of bulbs or something and things weren't quite as successful. I put aluminum foil against the wall on the far side and drape it over the top of the light fixtures to ensure all the light possible is bounced around amoung the baby plants.

[KarmaK]

I usually get the ones labeled "plant" or "aquarium" or something like that, and those work really well. But from the sound of it, yours should work fine, too.

[Coloneldad5]

Lumens is a measurement of the brightness of the light. The higher the number the brighter and more light output.

Kelvin is more of a measurement of the of the light spectrum. Again the higher the number the closer to actual daylight it's supposed to be. Most 'Daylight' bulbs are in the range of 6000 or better. This bulb being 6500 is supposed to be about as close as you can get to actual daylight.

Thus if you are using them for growing plants indoor, the higher the Kelvin the better.

[whiterock]

I use a daylight and a reg. tube in each light for starting seeds, right above the plants, preferably in a south facing window to get as much light as possible, I just bought a tall shelving unit to use this year which will require 4 shoplights. In addition I plan to take the flats outside as much as possible this year to get more natural light and bring them in to protect from low temps as needed.
Ed

[oregon woodsmok]

That's the bulb I am using. In cheap old hanging shop lights.

I've got fig trees and citrus trees in a south facing window, with a couple of those bulbs behind them, and they are thriving.

I've got a bunch more figs and pomegranates and potted herbs in a room with no windows at all, and that type of bulb down close on them, and they are all looking very good.

I'll start my veggie seeds under those lights and they will not go outside until they are a couple of months old.

My only warning: when the plants get moved outside, you have to do it gradually, or they will get sunburned.

[happychick]

Great - thanks for all the replies!

If anyone would be willing to share any pictures of their homemade set up I would REALLY appreciate it!

I'm planning on building shelves in my basement, will hang the lights just above the plants, making them adjustable. I've heard that the tin foil helps, I'll do that too. From there, I plan on moving them out to my new hoop house, then selling some flowers & plant starts, putting all vegtable starts in the garden. Sound like a good plan? Anything I need to consider with moving them out, will I need to do it gradually and how much? Tips - Tricks?!

[lisa's garden]

Hey Happy Chick,

I agree with Callieslamb, use one cool and one warm light bulb in each fixture. I have grown my own starts from seed every year, except the last 2 years (1st year we were moving, this year had a new garden and didn't have much time). But this configuration has always worked for me and I will be setting up my seed starting area This winter so that I can start my own plants this year. Sorry I don't have pics to share. I used wood shelves on the wall in my basement and hung the shop light with wire from the shelf above it or from the ceiling. I was able to adjust the wire as the plants got taller.

[just john]

I've been useing the 40w two bulb shop lights for about 35 years now. I
I don't use the grow lights b/c I'm too cheep.

You need to place the seedlings under the lights as soon as they
start sprouting. Keep them as close to the lights as you can,
without the leaves touching the bulbs.

These are my tomato plants from spring 2011.

http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/...an1015/010.jpg

[lisa's garden]

Nice tomato plants John! Now I'm starting to think about getting moving on my seed starting set up more seriously...can't start seeds around here until March or April, but I could get the set up started...hmmmm.

[ksfarmer]

Originally Posted by happychick

Great - thanks for all the replies!

If anyone would be willing to share any pictures of their homemade set up I would REALLY appreciate it!

Here's part of my setup. Mostly regular shop lites, I do have a couple that use the T-8 bulbs (4 ft), I think they are a little brighter and last longer.

[happychick]

Awesome - thanks for the pictures!!

I will consider using one warm with one cool bulb...That's why I posted here - looking for advice & tips!

Anything else I should know?

[Welshmom]

I used to be into growing orchids, and had a whole room devoted to them.
The reason behind wanting one warm and one cool bulb is so that you are providing more of the full spectrum of light - we don't see much difference, but the plants do.

Also, a trick I used was over- driving my shop lights. Google Overdriving Light Fixture or something like it, and you will find lots of info. I found an article a while back listing a brand of 4 ft. shop light from Home Depot that was really cheap (like, 5 bucks) and had a removeable ballast. So I bought an extra, pulled the ballast out of it and put it in the one I would put over the plants. It did make the light a lot brighter, and when growing plants, light is the name of the game. They say it shortens the bulb life, but I never burned any out, and I used them nearly year 'round. You should put in fresh bulbs for plants at least once per year though, cuz they do get weaker with time anyway. The old ones are perfectly fine for us to use for room lighting, etc.

Oh, it's also good to start seeds on a warm surface. Some people use a heating mat, I often use the top of my fridge.

Have fun!

[hippygirl]

What a timely thread!

We just finished our rack this weekend...I'll be using two 1020 flats end-to-end on each of the 4 shelves.

As for lighting, I originally bought only one 4' shop light for each shelf (already had T12 cool bulbs), but after looking at a LOT of setups online, I went back today and bought more so that I'll have two fixtures side-by-side per shelf.

[||Downhome||]

Cool is Blue spectrum and warm is Red.
that said plants under Blue light tend to stay stocky.
Those under red stretch.
mix and a little of both.
Blue spectrum covers a area better so you can get by with less lumens.

I really like those twisty bulbs, cfls. one thing I never liked about tubes was you can only fit so many into a area. Meaning its hard to concentrate the light. those compacts are easy though, I used aluminum roaster pans for reflectors and wired up my own screw-ins from cheap extension cords. Worked great,not only can you concentrate the light but you can vary the size and shape of the area your using.

If you don't want the plants getting leggy keep the Nitrogen low, use all blue light and keep the blubs as close as possible. I prefer cords and pulleys for my lights rather then chains and S-hooks.

I was going to post a pic from the net on the CFL/roaster pan set up but they are growing those funny maters, so just Google and you can see the same thing.

[lisa's garden]

Nice set up ksfarmer! I like the idea of the pvc pipes for building the shelving units...I wonder how it compares to the cost of those ready to assemble metal shelves? I was thinking about doing that.

One of the most common mistakes is to use garden soil which can have soil borne diseases. If you want to avoid the cost of potting soil, be sure that you cook your soil in the oven to kill the fungus spores and things like that. I highly recommend just buying a nice peat mix potting soil.

Also, don't over water your little babies or they may get damping off...a fungal disease that makes it look like the little sprouts died at the spot where the stem meets the soil. It is a good idea to have a fan turned very low to blow gently on the baby plants. This keeps them from staying wet too long and also makes the stems stronger for when you plant them outside.

[happychick]

Good point about the soil. I have bought organic potting soil and mix - want to get off to a good start!

I want to spend as little on containers as possible...I've thought about peat pots, plastic flats, etc...I'm thinking the best thing to do is put them in small containters and pack them under the lights, and then once they are too big transplant them into the hundreds of large yogurt containters I've got (instead of buying them) when I move them to the hoop house. What have you guys used for containers? I've seen some people not use any at all - just cubes of dirt!

[||Downhome||]

for pots you can use eggshells, roll your own with newspaper (not to fond of that can grow mold.) or my favorite plastic bags or Styrofoam/plastic cups.

the cups work good as to uniformity. the plastic is a little more work to prep but last longer.I take a small stack and drill out a few drainage holes.

I also like to line a shelf with plastic and water from the bottom up. rather then using flats.

on a soil-less mix remember you need to fertilize. Amending does not work real great as it lacks enzymes and bacteria that help to make those nutrients available.
better to use a good fertilizer with micro nutrients. use less more often.

I use to use one called rapid grow. depending on how often I had to water was what determined how much. but never over 1/4 teaspoon per gallon.

watering from the bottom up you dont need to worry about washing the fertilizer out.