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Lights

Finch

Whats it to ya?
I was wondering about lights. I have $45. Is that enough to buy a reletevly small light? Do i need a special type of lamp? what bulbs do i need, what wattege, what sort of places cary these things??

And how much would a setup for a beginner cost?


Thanks
 
Hey,
Well I got this light at Menards that is compact flourescent and 65wtt with 6500K 6500lumens. It cost me $5?.00 for the lamp and fixture. I've only had it like 2 months but It's a deffinite improvement from my long tubes. Huge difference in growth in all my plants. It's pretty much the same as a MH but flourescent instead. The only problem is that instead of being positioned in the fixture to be horizontal, it is vertical. You can also find the same lamps and fixtures that are horizontal at grow/hydro stores onlineor local if the case but, these will be more like $60 for the bulb and $100 for the fixture. The bulbs are identical though. I struggled with the stupid lighting issue for months or more.

Joe
 
You should be able to get a "Fluorex" Floodlight at a Home Depot or something. Sounds like what Joe is talking about. Mine are impressive and a great value. I think I paid 40 bucks at Home Depot.

The other alternative is the 4 foot fluorescent tubes and cheap shoplight fixtures. My local OSH hardware store has fixtures for nine bucks, and the cheap "cool white" bulbs at about 2 bucks each. I'd get two fixtures for a total of four tubes. This spreads light over a larger area than the Fluorex fixture, but both are excellent for cps.

Incidentally, my Fluorex fixture IS horizontal.

Capslock
 
i really dont need a large grow area to start out with. I have a mini-terrerium fo r my first try, and then a 10 and 35 gallon tank(s) in the basement somewhere. So i dont need gro-lights then?

(sigh) 40 bucks? Looks im gonna have to save up another 30 or so to jsut get plants from californiacarnivores or some other place, plus shipping.
 
Hey Finch,
I think to start out with you could use a ten gallon aquarium. I have a 20 gallon that I use as a nursery/hospital for new or sick plants(unless there fungal or something). I have two shoplights set up on top of it. For the ten you could probably get away with one shop light fixture, if, you put reflective material completely covering the bottom and sides. That could free up some money for cps. Is it possible to put the tank by a sunny window? I dont know what kind of humidity you have there so I was just suggesting a tank. California
Carnivores has a great selection, probably second to none. I have ordered there, and received very healthy plants. However since I live in TX the plants had to be inspected, and that took three weeks. I don't know if the same time frame will apply to you, but it's a california law. some other places I have received extremely healthy plants from are www.cobraplants.com www.botanique.com, and of course here at PFT. These seem to be much more
reasonably priced if you're just beginning your collection.
 
if you're trying to save money (who isn't?) then perhaps you can check out ebay and see whats being offered on there. I'm always finding great deals on ebay
smile.gif
 
Hey Spec, thanx for that link Ive been looking for that site for months now.
I used to have it saved in my Favs but when my m-board fried i lost it.
(#### "Surge Protectors")
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Khai @ Mar. 23 2004,08:13)]Hey Spec, thanx for that link Ive been looking for that site for months now.
I used to have it saved in my Favs but when my m-board fried i lost it.
(#### "Surge Protectors")
heh, np!
cool.gif

now if i could just find that square pot site i lost...
wow.gif
 
  • #10
Ugg, that place is right around the corner from me -- didnt even know it existed. I was relying on the slim choices from home depot
 
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