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Lighting - which kind?

I'm going to move some of my neps(alata & sanguinea, most likely) from my growchamber to out in the open, possibly a windowsill. The problem is that the only window available is north facing, so there's basically no direct sun coming in. What kind of relatively inexpensive light setup would be good for groing neps on something like a table or windowsill?
 
Check out the terrarium lighting 101 topic in the greenhouse forum. You'll find info about every type of light. You would probably want to go with cheap flourecent tubes. How big is the area you want to grow the plants in?
 
Get a Fluorex! They cost $20-$30 bucks at Home Depot, and you can always just add a second one if they get too big.
 
I'd rather not go with regular fluorescent tubes. They would take up too much space, because I'm only lighting 2 plants. The area's not that big - the n. sanguinea is in an 8" pot, the alata will be in a 6"(in a 4" now-needs repotted). Compact flourescents seem the best route, but I've never used those. Would a cf be too much for the small area I'll be lighting?

I have read lighting 101 before, I just wanted to see if someone had done something similar to what I'm doing before I went ahead with something.
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I personally went with a Phillips Compact Flourescent bulb with the Daylight spectrum. Comes in at 75 watts (incandescent equivilant) and fits in any standard incandescent fixture. Should give your plants the light they need so long as the lamp isn't too tall and they're not too far away from it.
 
At bulbs.com you can find a compact flourescent that's 26 watts (100 watt equivalent) with a 5100K color temperature for about $5. Around 6500K would probably be ideal, but it seems to do the trick. Only problem is they have a $20 minimum order, so you'd have to grab a few others. Put them in your house and save electricity I guess. You might want to put more than one bulb over the nepenthes... I'm still not clear on just how much light is enough for them unfortunately.
 
5000-6500k daylight compact fluorescent would be ideal. You deffinately want to get a nice high power one 65watts + if possible. They do make them all the way up to 85watts now with 6500k.

The fluorex fixture from homedepot (regent from lowes) is a unit with a 6500k/65watt compact fluorescent bulb. It is used for outdoor security lighting but also works great for growing plants indoors. It does require some wiring though to use it in this fashion. Or you can buy a screwin type that will fit an incandescent fixture but these can be a bit more expensive in the long run as your buying a new ballast with each bulb. A websearch for '6500k compact fluorescent' should bring up a variety of websites that sell bulbs. As I mentioned before.. go for 65watt or higher. It is nearly impossible to give too much fluorescent light on a plant indoors. Also be sure it has a medium base so it fits a standard incandescent socket.
Tony
 
Ok, this will help. Thanks everyone.
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Oh, and whatever fixture you get, make sure it will handle the wattage bulb you get! Also, I wouldn't worry about ballasts, because it would seem that most new bulbs are almost always self ballased. I cant even find a bulb without one to save money...
 
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