Doug,

Have you considered ducts and blowers to draw the heat out of the HID's and
vent it elsewhere? Also, if they're "too bright for some of your plants,
you just have them under too much wattage or they are simply too close. The
trick is to move the lamps higher, then make shelves that place the
higher-light plants closer.

Dusty,

FWIW, I bought one of the FarmTek full spectrum CFL fixtures with the 125W
bulb, and the total delivered cost was under $100, about the cost of 4
decent quality shop lights. I have it illuminating a 5' x 4' bench from a
distance of about 3 feet (it actually covers a larger area), and I am very
pleased with it.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"Dusty" wrote in message
. 17.102...
"OrchidKitty" wrote in
ups.com:

high-intensity flourescent light

Hi
I also looked into the 40 watt high-intensity fluorescent lights and
found that it is only the groove in the tube design that increases the
light output. Also the small amount of light gain does not equal the
excessive cost. I use 40 2 bulb fluorescent strip lamps placed side by
side to give me 8 lamps across on shelf 28 inches wide. I've grown &
bloomed catts, Phals, and dens under these lights although I have burnt
a few catt leaf tips when they touched the lights.

Note: I have seen some fluorescent lamps in the Farmtek catalog but they
are also too pricy for me to try. Note; do not try the cheap shop
lights, 1. you cant place them close enough I.e. side by side. 2. They
seem to eat lamps in a short time.

Grow well and bloom magnificently
dusty