Grow light - need opinion if this is good enough

[ladyslipper]

Hi guys, I just bought two 48 inch sylvania gro lux lights for my grow area. they are wide spectrum & 40 watts. I thought if I could get light strenght of 1000 - 1500 footcandles that would be good for my phals (I could also have plants requiring a little higher light levels if I wanted.

Is the light from the 2 tubes I bought sufficient?

regards, m

[Ross]

How many foot candles are they rated for? You are correct in that you will want 1000-1500 footcandles for your orchids at the surface of the leaf. This may mean you will want higher at the output level. That is usually rated at the bulb surface. You will want at least double the needed light level of the plant if the plant will be at 1 foot from the bulb. So if your target for Phals is 1000 Foot-candles at the leaf surface, then you need 2000 foot candles output from the bulb. I recommend t5 lights as the best light source. I use a 4 tube light bank and it is rated at 1500 foot candles, 1 foot from the light bank.

[ladyslipper]

Hi Ross, I couldnt find any t5 lights so I got t12, how are they different? the light stand I have only has room for 2 lights

m

[ToddsterVonCattMan]

Originally Posted by ladyslipper

Hi Ross, I couldnt find any t5 lights so I got t12, how are they different? the light stand I have only has room for 2 lights

m

For future references sake, T5's fluorescents are much more intense than traditional T12's, and for around the same wattage to boot. The much smaller size of T5's allows for a more intense output, allowing less bulbs, more plants under the bulbs, and having the bulbs a little higher over the plants. The one disadvantage is that since the tube is so much smaller, the spectral output of T5's will degrade more rapidly than the larger T12's, but it's not outrageous. For best results T5's should be changed every 12 months or so, 18 months at the most. In contrast, T12's might go 18-24 months, though you must keep these larger and lower output bulbs much closer to the plants, and much less of them would fit into any given growing area than the much smaller T5's.

T12's and T8's all work very well, no doubt, but the best results under fluorescents, in less space, and allowing for more plants, will be seen with the more modern T5 lamps...