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?

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"Popcorn Lover" wrote in message
3...
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?

I have read that Gro-Lights aren't any better than standard fluorescent
bulbs. Maybe you just need a fixture with more bulbs (or higher output)
that is closer to the plants. The amount of energy received by the plants
is inverse to the square of the distance to the source. Moving the fixture
closer to the plants will significantly increase the amount of light energy
they receive. In aquariums, especially heavily planted ones or reef tanks,
people are using high output fluorescent fixtures and/or metal halide
(mercury vapor) lamps. I would probably look into the high output
fluorescent bulbs as they are more efficient and don't produce large amounts
of heat. Here is a link to a search:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...nt&btnG=Search

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

"Vox Humana" wrote in message
...

"Popcorn Lover" wrote in message
3...
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?

I have read that Gro-Lights aren't any better than standard fluorescent
bulbs.

Wow, you're a regular spring of misinformation, aren't you!

"Vox Humana" wrote :


"Popcorn Lover" wrote in message
3...
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?

I have read that Gro-Lights aren't any better than standard fluorescent
bulbs.

They appear to be somewhat better, because they have the spectrum that
plants seem to like, but I'm looking for something that more closely
approaches sunlight.

Maybe you just need a fixture with more bulbs (or higher output)
that is closer to the plants. The amount of energy received by the
plants is inverse to the square of the distance to the source. Moving
the fixture closer to the plants will significantly increase the amount
of light energy they receive.

Yeah but gro lites just don't seem to have the intensity that full sun
flowering plants need.

In aquariums, especially heavily planted
ones or reef tanks, people are using high output fluorescent fixtures
and/or metal halide (mercury vapor) lamps. I would probably look into
the high output fluorescent bulbs as they are more efficient and don't
produce large amounts of heat. Here is a link to a search:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...ut+fluorescent
&btnG=Search

Thanks.

--
- Popcorn Lover
If you love popcorn too, there are no popcorn groups on usenet but
there IS one in Yahoo Groups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Popcorn_Lovers
The internet's first-ever-in-the-world popcorn group!
Share the word on making great popcorn - come join us!

zxcvbob wrote :

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


Thanks Bob, I'll check into it!



--
- Popcorn Lover
If you love popcorn too, there are no popcorn groups on usenet but
there IS one in Yahoo Groups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Popcorn_Lovers
The internet's first-ever-in-the-world popcorn group!
Share the word on making great popcorn - come join us!

"Bill" wrote in message
news:PCfRc.265681$XM6.152859@attbi_s53...

"Vox Humana" wrote in message
...

"Popcorn Lover" wrote in message
3...
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?

I have read that Gro-Lights aren't any better than standard fluorescent
bulbs.

Wow, you're a regular spring of misinformation, aren't you!

Wow, why don't you tell me how much better the grow lights are than standard
fluorescent bulbs? While you are at it, why don't you compare the
gro-lights to the high output fluorescent lights and metal halide lights
that I suggested the OP consider?

On 7 Aug 2004 20:38:55 -0600, Popcorn Lover
wrote:

"Vox Humana" wrote :


"Popcorn Lover" wrote in message
3...
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?

I have read that Gro-Lights aren't any better than standard fluorescent
bulbs.

They appear to be somewhat better, because they have the spectrum that
plants seem to like, but I'm looking for something that more closely
approaches sunlight.

Maybe you just need a fixture with more bulbs (or higher output)
that is closer to the plants. The amount of energy received by the
plants is inverse to the square of the distance to the source. Moving
the fixture closer to the plants will significantly increase the amount
of light energy they receive.

Yeah but gro lites just don't seem to have the intensity that full sun
flowering plants need.


If you really want to mimic the sun, you need high pressure sodium or
metal halide, although they ain't cheap.

http://www.elights.com/plantgrow.html

Hal

In aquariums, especially heavily planted
ones or reef tanks, people are using high output fluorescent fixtures
and/or metal halide (mercury vapor) lamps. I would probably look into
the high output fluorescent bulbs as they are more efficient and don't
produce large amounts of heat. Here is a link to a search:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...ut+fluorescent
&btnG=Search

Thanks.

If you are serious about growing plants indoor, then there is no
comparison to a HID lighting system such as a HPS (High Pressure Sodium) or
MH (Metal Halide) system. The general rule of thumb for growing plants
indoors is 50 watts of light per square foot for plants that require full
sun. The problem with flourescent grow lights is that they just don't put
out enough light intensity to grow large plants. A HID (High Intensity
Discharge) system such as HPS or MH put out a very intense light. This
allows you keep the light source (bulb) several feet away from the plant
while still supplying the plant with enough light. In order to achieve
similar results with flourescent bulbs, generally you need to keep the bulbs
no further than 1" away from the plant at all times. This requires you to
constantly adjust your lights as the plants grow. Most plants grown under
flourescent lights will be long and leggy as they are trying to get closer
to the light source, due to the fact that their isn't much light intensity
coming from the flouro bulbs. Plants grown under an HID system gererally
will be shorter and fuller plants with more blooms. One warning though, HID
systems can create alot of heat and will need to be addressed during
installation.
good luck,
Matt

"Popcorn Lover" wrote in message
3...
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?

--
- Popcorn Lover
If you love popcorn too, there are no popcorn groups on usenet but
there IS one in Yahoo Groups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Popcorn_Lovers
The internet's first-ever-in-the-world popcorn group!
Share the word on making great popcorn - come join us!

"Vox Humana" writes in article dated Sat, 07 Aug 2004 16:08:44 GMT:

"Popcorn Lover" wrote in message
. 13...
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 problem with your request is that sunlight *is* much more intense than
any normal indoor light. You could up the ante to 8 bulbs instead of 2.
There are other fluorescent alternatives to Gro-lite bulbs, some may look to
the human eye to be more like sunlight but I doubt the plants would grow any
better.

I've heard of people growing plants under mercury vapor or high pressure
sodium lights -- the kind of things used for streetlights or security lights
outdoors.

I have read that Gro-Lights aren't any better than standard fluorescent
bulbs. Maybe you just need a fixture with more bulbs (or higher output)
that is closer to the plants. The amount of energy received by the plants
is inverse to the square of the distance to the source.

That's true when your light comes from a single point, but if it comes from
a 4' tube and you're already closer than 4', intensity varies inversely more
like with the distance, not the square.

Moving the fixture
closer to the plants will significantly increase the amount of light energy
they receive.

Yes, with fluorescents you can put the lights right on top of the plants.
Not touching, because contact would interfere with aspiration.

-- spud_demon -at- thundermaker.net
The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer.