Popcorn Lover wrote:
I have a gloxinia, a hydrangea and a few other indoor plants on a plant shelf
in the living room. I've been using a fixture with dual 40 watt Gro-lights
over them for years now, but it's not real great for getting some of the
plants that require more full sun, to bloom.

What other kinds of lights are available, that won't bust the budget or use
massive amounts of energy, but will simulate direct bright sunlight better?



The fixture you have is probably OK if you change the ballast to a
electronic ballast for F32T8 lamps, and you want one with a fairly high
ballast factor. The lamps to use are GE's F32T8-SPX35 or Philips
F32T8/ADV830/ALTO (or something like that). The ballast should cost
between $15 and $25, and the lamps are about $3 each. Forget "warm
white" and "cool white", and "use 1 warm white and 1 cool white bulb";
that was good advice 30 years ago but not anymore. The EPA screwed up
40W fluorescent bulbs really bad in 1978 (that's why you can't find a
good 40W lamp anymore.) Maybe 10 of 15 years ago the industry came up
with the triphosphor lamps and electronic ballasts used in T8
technology, and it's much better than the T12 40W lamps used to be, and
the lamps use less mercury.

It would be better if you had 3 or 4 lamps instead of just 2, but these
32W lamps will put out more and better quality light than any reasonbly
prices 40W lamps, and they don't dim as much over their lifetime.

You might look at a commercial electrical supply store for a "troffer"
style 4' fluorescent fixure for suspended ceiling that can take 3 or 4
F32T8 lamps. Especially if you buy a 4 lamp fixture, tell them you want
"high light output" rather than energy saving; a good 4-lamp fixture
should have 2 ballasts in it instead of just 1 (last time I checked
anyway.) you can suspend a troffer fixture from chains like a shoplite,
but it's 2 feet wide instead of 8" wide so it gives more even light
distribution.

Best regards,
Bob