Lighting Conundrum
 

I found a reasonably priced 4' four light T8 fluorescent ($50) at home
depot that I'd like to use for the planting/growing/flowering process
and would like to hear from others who have tried this inexpensive
method.I'd also like to compare the growing period using this system
against MH or HPS,I'm trying to save money as you can tell so I can
spend more on other garden issues. :)

It's been a long time since I was an under-lights grower, but I don't think
the issue is the growing period as much as the intensity, which is
controlled by the distance from the lights.

A plant needs a certain range of light intensity. From an HPS or MH source
that intensity at the plant can be reached at much greater light distances
than with a fluorescent bulb.

Yes, the flux is also important, so lengthening the "day" can compensate a
bit for lower intensity, but a plant does need some down time to be truly
healthy. In my growing days, PGH (pre-greenhouse), I typically ran the
lights (two, two-bulb fixtures side-by-side) about 14 hours a day, and
simply concerned myself with the distance the plants were from the bulbs.

--

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


wrote in message
oups.com...
I found a reasonably priced 4' four light T8 fluorescent ($50) at home
depot that I'd like to use for the planting/growing/flowering process
and would like to hear from others who have tried this inexpensive
method.I'd also like to compare the growing period using this system
against MH or HPS,I'm trying to save money as you can tell so I can
spend more on other garden issues. :)

Some years ago, we had to move and managed to take fifty plants with us. We
had to live in an apartment so I built an A-frame type of plant stand and used
one 4-ft shop light on the top level. I hung two 4-ft shop lights for the
lower level. The lights were about 1 foot from the top of most of the plants.

As to the length of time, I had the lights all on a timer, and the timer was
set generally to the day length outside.

Most of my plants were cats with a few phals. (All plants got the same
treatment.) They lived, and several bloomed although, to be fair, not quite as
robustly as they use to in my previous slat house.

We have since moved again, and all my plants are doing just fine in the
lean-to greenhouse. (No more lights.)

Good luck,
Chris

In article .com,
wrote:
I found a reasonably priced 4' four light T8 fluorescent ($50) at home
depot that I'd like to use for the planting/growing/flowering process
and would like to hear from others who have tried this inexpensive
method.I'd also like to compare the growing period using this system
against MH or HPS,I'm trying to save money as you can tell so I can
spend more on other garden issues. :)