Reka wrote:
Steve wrote:

Joanna,
I'm sure Rob will be along with his advice. In the mean time I'll
offer my opinion.
I don't think you would ever regret going with 4 tubes. I think 20" is
a reasonable distance considering that you are only supplementing the
light from a big north facing window.
Here is a picture of one small part of my growing area:
http://stevewilson.homestead.com/files/lights.jpg
I took that picture when I had one of the benches turned over to fix
something. I use 6 tubes spaced about as close together as I could get
them. I keep my plants only 6 to 8 inches from the lights but then I'm
growing in the basement and there are no windows near that area.
Mini Catts do very well with that light and it's not too much for
Paphs either.
Enjoy your new place!

Steve

What three types of lights are in there?

Reka,
The pink looking ones are Grow-lux wide spectrum. They are not as
expensive as most plant fluorescents so I use a few. I'm not real
convinced that they grow plants any better than ordinary cool whites.
I believe the white ones are Cool whites and the bluish ones are some
weird brand that were supposed to be better for people in offices. They
got sent to me by mistake several years ago and I didn't want them. The
company didn't want to pay to have them returned so they offered to let
me keep them for a cheap price. I mixed them in with the other plant
lights as shown and I think they are all gone now. Now I just use the
other two.
By the way, I've never believed that the warm white tubes offered
anything for plants. I know people mix them with cool whites but I think
using all cool whites would be better than that mix. I base that on
things that I read many years ago. I could be re-educated on that point
if someone has proof (not opinion).

Steve .... who can answer a simple question with a thousand words. :-)