Indoor lighting - what do you use?

[smokensqueal]

I'm just wondering what every one else uses for their indoor lighting needs.

I'm starting plants indoors for the first time this year and just kind of curious what type of fixtures and lights everyone is using. I'm currently have just a simple 4 foot shop light with 2 x 25 watt fluorescent light bulbs.

Other options I've see out there are...

1. Just plain old incandescent bulbs (I heard these are good for warmth but doesn't really give the plants the light spectrum they need)

2. The everyday fluorescent and CFLs bulbs (I heard these are good for getting plants started and are a very good price point but won't give enough of the light spectrum for the plants to thrive)

3. High Output Fluorescent (Best for most plants because of the wide light spectrum and can grow most plants to full size but a bit more expensive the the regular fluorescent.)

4. High Intensity Discharge (HID) (big bucks but can grow anything to full size)

5. LEDs (the new lights out there. Better because they can tune the light spectrum for optimal plant growth but very very price and very limited places to get them.)

Please add your comment and experience you have with your type of lighting and if I missed any feel free to add.

[hendi_alex]

It really depends upon what you want to do with the indoor garden/lights. For most things, the very inexpensive to buy and operate shop lights or CFL's will do just fine. If you want to grow blooming plants and want to use florescent, then you will need to buy wide spectrum bulbs or will have to mix some incandescent lights in with the shop lights. Shop lights or cool whites give too much blue/green and not enough on the red/yellow end of the spectrum. Mixing incandescent in will add the warm colors, but IMO are too inefficient and give off too much heat.

It might be worth reading about CFLs though. I recently took a couple of photos of my plants under a CFL and the color was heavily skewed toward the warm end of the spectrum. Would be interesting to know how their light varies from the traditional florescent bulbs.

See what I mean about the photo and the CFL light.

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3621/3318448033_9610183ba2.jpg[/img]

In any event my seedlings are growing nicely in the greenhouse while supplemented with this single CFL.

[JustPeachy]

I am using shop lights with T-12 cool white flouresent bulbs. My plants seem to be doing fine with that until it warms up enough to move them outside. I bought the four foot lights for around 8 bucks a pop. I have two side by side and have connected them to a timer so I don't have to turn them on and off. They also hang from chains so that I can move them up and down to accomidate the height of my plants. I would love to move up to a better setup next time, but this works great for me right now. Good luck!

[BrianSkilton]

This is my first time growing inside as well. I am using a 4 foot shop light, and a small curly white fluorescent bulb that are just above the plants. Most of my pepper plants seem to be doing fine, and growing more leaves instead of growing tall. I also have this rig right on my window sill, so they can get natural light as well (south side), and they really like the natural light.

[Jbest]

There are all shapes and sizes of window GHs that are ideal for your application.

John
[img]https://thegardengalleries.org/d/27834-1/WINDOW.jpg[/img]

[smokensqueal]

Just Peachy, I just looked at mine a bit closer and mine are also T12 Cool white. Good to hear someone else is using the same I am.

Alex, I think with the CFLs that you can buy just the regular or the wide spectrum on those also. I have an AeroGrow garden that I believe has the wide spectrum CFLs. They have a different connector not the typical screw in kind like the incandescent bulbs.

I'm working on some pics. My internet isn't very fast so it will take bit to upload them.

[smokensqueal]

Hey look the pics finally got uploaded. Here is my simple setup. My peppers are still upstairs because it's warmer up there.

Oh and as a side note I hate those CFLs. I just plugged in my aerogrow garden to see if I could get just the lights to work and one of them was burnt out already. And we put a number of them in our house and we've had more of them burn out then the old incandescent ones. I won't pay the extra money for them again unless it's for a special purpose.

Anyways..

[img]https://www.flickr.com/photos/9364399@N06/3329957550/[/img]

[url]https://www.flickr.com/photos/9364399@N06/3329957550/[/url]

How do you get a pic to post? Here's a URL of my setup.

[JustPeachy]

Here are my plants under the shop lights. They seem to like it. I just transplanted the tomato plants. I rotate them to make sure everyone gets all the light they need.

[img]https://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu174/JustPeachy1985/P3040052.jpg[/img]

Make sure you get the lights very close to your plants, but not touching. This will help to prevent stretching. When you move your seedlings to larger containers bury a good amount of the stem and the stems will grow stronger. I'm sure someone else can give you better advice, but this is what I have done so far. Remember to take advantage of the chains to raise and lower the lights.

[BrianSkilton]

Hey look the pics finally got uploaded. Here is my simple setup. My peppers are still upstairs because it's warmer up there.

Oh and as a side note I hate those CFLs. I just plugged in my aerogrow garden to see if I could get just the lights to work and one of them was burnt out already. And we put a number of them in our house and we've had more of them burn out then the old incandescent ones. I won't pay the extra money for them again unless it's for a special purpose.

Anyways..

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3588/3329957550_0ee0d6325d.jpg[/img]
(that should work now)

[url]https://www.flickr.com/photos/9364399@N06/3329957550/[/url]

How do you get a pic to post? Here's a URL of my setup.

You just need a (img) (/img) tag between your url (replace () with [] ).

Wait I see you did do that, right click the photo in flickr and copy the url until .jpg I did it in the quote for you. Those pepper plants are coming along .

[applestar]

I rotate them to make sure everyone gets all the light they need.
[...]
Remember to take advantage of the chains to raise and lower the lights.

My for ways to compensate for the light loss at the limits of the lit area:
* a mirror on the wall BEHIND the growing area (you could also use mylar sheet, aluminum foil, or paint it bright white)
* a reflector in FRONT of the growing area. I'm using an inexpensive windshield sunshield -- a promo item made of accordion folded, mylar covered foam. It's easy to fold it up and out of the way. Mylar or foil covered cardboard should work as well
* a reflector on EITHER END of the growing area

I have my setup in the unheated garage, so it's been a challenge. But I've described it at length here: https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12177&highlight=

Good luck with your seeds/transplants everybody!

[smokensqueal]

Nick, Actually that is my basement set up. Those are tomatoes, cabbage, and basil. My Peppers are still upstairs because it warmer there.

Let's see if I can get it right this time. Here is a pic of my peppers.

[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3345/3329951546_4e5f570b8d.jpg[/img]

[rootsy]

when using a florescent you need to look at the "color temperature" of the bulb. Lower number shifts the wavelength spectrum toward the reds, higher numbers further to the right or blue.... 5000K seems to be a good spot for seedlings... I mix a 5000 and a 6500 on the same 4' span... Theory being that blue wavelengths provide for plant "green" matter growth. Red's are more for flowering, etc... which in our case, the sun will take care of later once things are planted.

Other thing you have to consider is the amount of energy available to your plants from the bulb. Florescent bulbs are low wattage and therefore don't provide a lot of energy. Look at the lumen rating for the bulb.

Forget off the top of my head what the recommended lumen / sq foot value is for germinating and starting seedlings... use google... there are some decent University trial reports floating around...

[smokensqueal]

wow thanks. I'm learning a lot with just the knowledge that other people are posting.

Here's some interesting finds. Color Temp ranges from 2,700 which is a typical incandescent bulb to 6,500 which is a "daylight" bulb. Fluorescent bulbs come in many different ranges of these. Just for reference "cool white" is typically 4,000 or 4,100 on the color temp scale. Not only do you have to look at the wattage but you have to look at the color temp also. And to add to the mix you have the lumens. I'm not sure exactly what lumens are for so I'm still researching that. I'm assuming that's the amount of light that is put out.

Correct me if I'm wrong or mis-state something.
If you want high Lumens you can have a low wattage bulb but your color temp will also be lower.

If you want a high color temp your wattage will be higher but your lumens will be lower.

So even though you may have a high wattage bulb you still don't know if you are getting more lumens or a higher color temp. So what I'm trying to say is wattage on a bulb isn't everything.

I never knew there were that many options and variations of bulbs and lights out there. Now when I get home I'll have to see if I'm getting more Lumens or a higher color temp out of my 25 watt bulbs.

Thanks everyone for your great input.

[BrianSkilton]

Oh okay, I was thinking maybe those are not peppers. What peppers you got growing? I think I heard you say California wonder bells in another post...

[smokensqueal]

Yep California wonder they are. I don't eat peppers so the wife picked them out. I tried to grow a purple pepper last year that we bought and we got one pepper from it and she said it tasted really bad. I sure hope these do better.

[su_ju]

I live in Oregon and we can have lots of overcast days at this time of year. I've started my tomatoes, peppers, and tomatillos indoors and they just sprouted. Last year, they didn't get enough sun at this stage (due to my lack of knowledge) and sprouted up long and thin and fell over. (We were able to grow them up enough to put out in the garden though) My son, who was taking biology at the time, informed me it was due to a lack of sun and gave me the scientific reasoning behind this . (I love when they teach me cool things!) Anyway....... I'm trying to avoid that this year.

Will the simple fluorescent bulbs (the ones that replace regular bulbs) provide anything close to what the plants need? It's output is only 800 lumens, 13 watts. From the rest of the posts, all I can gather is that this is probably not nearly enough light. I do have the plants in a sunny window, but that doesn't help much when the sun is hiding, does it?

[smokensqueal]

su_ju, That's a good question. I was thinking the same thing. Tomorrow it's going to be 70 but coudy outside and I was wondering if they plants would get more from being outside then under the fake lights.

[JustPeachy]

Alex is a great person to answer this. He is all about getting the plants outside and into natural light ASAP to harden them off. I don't know if it is too early for your seedlings, but I'm sure someone can answer that for me and you.

As far as it being an overcast day.... the sun will still manage to get some of those precious rays through. If you do put them outside for a few hours I would just keep a check on them.

[BrianSkilton]

su_ju, That's a good question. I was thinking the same thing. Tomorrow it's going to be 70 but coudy outside and I was wondering if they plants would get more from being outside then under the fake lights.

From what I have noticed, plants grow and look overall more healthy when in contact with the sun light. I have a few plants on my window sill and they have grown stronger and healthy with natural sunlight then the fluorescent shop lights. I believe some people use cold frames, which allows sunlight in, and keeps the plants warm (I think you usually use cold frames for colder weather then 70 though)

[applestar]

If you do put them outside, it's a good idea to keep them off the ground. The air temp might be 70 but the ground might still be 40~50 etc. and draft blowing over that could quickly chill your seedlings. A check with a thermometer might help.

A cold frame is typically shielded on all 4 sides (solid or clear/translucent), as well as have the vented clear/translucent top, and the soil inside it has been warmed for a while before use. There are a variety of innovative temporary cold frame ideas available on the net with a quick search. I'm thinking of making something like that soon.

I think the natural day/night fluctuation in the temp also helps to grow sturdy transplants, and I like to mist the inside ones with water first thing in the morning to simulate dew.

[bali]

Hey lotza nice growing ideas here.

I put mine under a Grow lite from Lowes .. They are warm and nifty ..

No photo.

[Timlin]

For the last 25 years I've grown thousands of seeds each spring. I do have a greenhouse that I open about this time of year for 5 or 6 hours a day and extend that as the weather warms. When my plants are not in the greenhouse (and before I had the greenhouse) I have them under 2 shop lights. Each shop light has two 4 foot long florescent bulbs which I replace with new each spring even if they are still good. They do lose a lot of glow power in a season.

I find that with keeping them in a cool room, near a window and under the shop lights they grow strong and solid. Under 'grow lights' there is too much heat and mine grow tall and thin.......'grow lights' are necessary if you want a plant to blossom but our seedlings are far from blossoming and only need the regular florescent (cheapie) lights.

[bali]

Thanks for the hints.....

Maybe why my orchid grows so good on the cold window sill out on the north side..

Makes sense to me..

b

[thepassionatecook]

T5's are the best lights for the money and they can multi-task, handling both vegetative and bloom stages for delicate herbs or complex fruit-bearing plants as long as you use two different spectrum bulbs. T5's are better and stronger than T12's.

Avoid standard shop light fluorescents, CFL's, incandescents, and especially LED's! If you're growing a ton of flowering or fruit bearing plants indoors, and can get your hands on a High Pressure Sodium unit, then that would be your best bet. Be warned, they will cost you about $350.

For T5's, look for a unit that will hold 2, four foot bulbs. Currently, 92 lumens per watt at 54 watts per bulb is the best offered. This will cost about $150.