umm k.. still confused..

[Ruffsta]

I went to lowes today and bought a: UTILITECH 4ft 2-light shop light fixture

similar to:
[img]https://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/300/87/875b0cb0-c1b4-4065-b02a-6bb6d4fc0444_300.jpg[/img]

but I'm still confused about which bulbs to put in it... I want bulbs that I can grow from seedlings to mature plants..

how many watts should the bulbs be? I also saw there DAYLIGHT bulbs.. but don't know if I should get those or just regular bulbs with certain watts


help

[Ruffsta]

I originally bought 2 - 40 watt plant/aquarium lights.. but personally after I got home.. I just didn't think they were the proper lights.

so I'm hoping to get answers within the next 3 hrs.. cause the wife has them and is exchanging them after she gets out of work.. and I'd like to tell her which ones to get - otherwise she gonna bring home the DAYLIGHT bulbs.

thanks in advance..

[Ruffsta]

anyone? would really like to know within the hour before wife gets out of work and heads back to lowes..

it is confusing... watts, red spectrum / blue spectrum, etc...

my main plants are peppers and tomatoes.. but I have a couple of other plants too but those are my main plants..

[soil]

your going to have a hard time getting good yeilds of tomatoes and peppers with full maturity using those lights. if you want to grow food indoors be prepared to spend some cash on a good light, and in turn drop some cash every month to pay for the light bill. in the end you might be paying for the 20$ tomato.

[rainbowgardener]

If you want to get an answer right away, it always helps to use the Search the Forum feature to find all the stuff that is already here.

Typing indoor tomatoes into Search the Forum Keyword box, I got 141 hits including these:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=222016#222016

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=202217#202217

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=200324#200324

You will find a general consensus, that it is nearly impossible to get tomatoes (and peppers which are in the same family) to fruit indoors with just fluorescent tubes. You probably need metal halide or high pressure sodium lights to do that. Those lights are expensive to buy and expensive in energy to run.

There are a lot of other things you could grow under regular lights, including herbs and all the green leafy vegetables and anything that doesn't have to produce fruit. And I use regular T-5 or even T-8 fluorescent tubes to start tons of different stuff, including tomatoes and peppers, from seed for transplanting out into the garden later.

[Ruffsta]

this guy doesn't use any special lights, but his plants are awesome looking.. at first he seemed goofy, but didn't take long to stay tuned to his plant videos. watch some of his videos...


https://www.youtube.com/user/Praxxus55712

https://www.youtube.com/user/VoodooGarden

[Ruffsta]

k, settled for 2 sunshine t12 bulbs at 5000k 40 watt each..

and as you can see - it's temporarily hooked up in my sons closet until I can build my custom rack..

[img]https://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1947/photo0123x.jpg[/img]

left to right:
orange habanero (just sprouted the other day), cherry tomato, eggplant, cherry tomato

I can't drop the light down any further, but I am wondering if I should raise the plants up a little closer to the light...

[soil]

move the light closer

[Ruffsta]

[img]https://img42.imageshack.us/img42/452/photo0123c.jpg[/img]

[soil]

better and good luck!

[Ruffsta]

thanks

[rainbowgardener]

Hey ruffsta, I know you are still around doing the seed game. Give us an update, what ever happened with the indoor tomatoes? thanks!

[GardenGnome]

That little one I would put on something to make it even with the others.

[rainbowgardener]

a little late now; that was in Sept. I was just wondering what happened and if he was actually able to produce tomatoes indoors.

[Ruffsta]

I did manage to grow them indoors and close friend bought the tomato plants from me - you should see his indoor setup... anyways, he has already harvested a couple to have with his salads. he's also had a few peppers from the pepper plant.



here is an eggplant I had under that same light shortly after.. the bottom leaves were HUGE!!! so I had to trim the plant up... but it will soon be going outside into my garden.

[img]https://img804.imageshack.us/img804/3182/photo0006uw.jpg[/img]

[Ruffsta]

as far as lighting advice... watch this!

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1e1TLO7hI34[/url]

[rainbowgardener]

Thanks for the update. So in other words, the goal of winter tomatoes is still pretty elusive... Someone (who bought your plants) with a really good light set up, managed to get a couple spring tomatoes and then will be putting the plants outdoors pretty soon. Given the power usage of the really good lighting set up, those were probably $20 tomatoes...

Just checking, because that's what I generally tell people who ask about growing winter tomatoes indoors, but I keep waiting to see if someone is going to prove me wrong. I know it can be done with really professional set ups, but I still think it isn't very workable for ordinary people at any reasonable expense levels.

[Ruffsta]

you just have to have the right setup and deep enough pockets.. otherwise you are correct the concept is not cost effective to the average gardener...

btw, he doesn't bring every single plant he has outside - he does grow certain pepper plants indoors all year round.