Please tell me what to get!

[Lady Tottington]

I cleared out a big wire shelf (which is about 5-6 ft tall, and about 5 ft. long) approx. and it has 3 shelves I can hang lights from & put my orchids underneath.

Please tell me what to buy, I don't understand the T thing?

Thanks!!

[Call_Me_Bob]

Oooh!!! more orchids!

the t5 t8 and t12 stands for different thickness of bulbs. as far as i know, the thinner the bulbs the more efficient. the t12 is a standard flourescent, a t8 is medium sized and is used sometimes for things in houses or stores, the t5 is the smallest and most efficient recently i have noticed them being used in place of other flouro's in stores and stuff. for t5's there are t5NO ( normal output ) or t5Ho ( high output ) i would get the best lights you can. the higher the intensity, obviously the brighter light levels you can get for different plants.

there are also other types of lighting, there is metal halide, high pressure sodium, and LED. as far as i know the flouros are the best bet for your money. unless you are planning on growing vandas indoors, then you will need to invest in a metal halide....

i just have t12s, 4 ovber a shelf, and i can bloom phals and dens so far.

i would recommend getting humidity trays for under ALL of the plants. not really for humidity, but for eas of watering. that way you dont have drippage, and you can water them without taking trips to the sink!

[silken]

Apparently T12's are being discontinued at the end of this year. the fixtures and ballasts may already not be available, I forget the exact dates. So you may want to look at other options. T5's are small and easy to mount and usually daisy chain together, so you only need one plug in cord for multiple fixtures. The HO ones are fairly easy to find. Supposed to be somewhat more powerful than the standard T12's

[silken]

I should add, that is in North America that T12's are being discontinued. I have no idea about elsewhere.

[Call_Me_Bob]

Originally Posted by silken

I should add, that is in North America that T12's are being discontinued. I have no idea about elsewhere.

Noooooo that means I'll have to buy all new fixtures! That's lot of money I'm just Broke teenager


You can call me Bob

"have no fear, help is here!"

[silken]

Stock up on bulbs now!

[Call_Me_Bob]

Then I won't have any good excuse to uprgade! Hah! I'd like to upgrade. So that I can maybe bloom catts. But I can do my phals just fine. This is the first summer I have had my catts so I'm trying to see if I can get any to bloom outside. Since there is more light.

Sorry for the thread hack lady t! If I were you I'd get some nice t5HO with good reflectors. Reflectors are very important too!


You can call me Bob

"have no fear, help is here!"

[Lady Tottington]

Thank you thank you!! This helps tremendously! I will post photos as soon as I get bulbs

btw, I'm finally able to get on the MB. My ISP blocked the OB for some crazy reason and I couldn't log on from home for a week! HORRIBLE! Withdrawls! I checked a couple times at work, but I don't want to get canned, so I didn't stay on too long

[FairyInTheFlowers]

Originally Posted by help

Noooooo that means I'll have to buy all new fixtures! That's lot of money I'm just Broke teenager

Ahahahahahaha! I know how you feel! I actually have two T5's that are waiting to be used when I build a second tier in my closet!(No, I am not rubbing this in! ) The dumb thing I noticed, is that for the sizes, there are 2', 3', or 4', and they are all about thirty bucks. So for about $28, you can get a two foot bulb with ballast, but for an extra $3ish bucks, you can get TWO FEET more! Btw, T5's are proven to cut down exponentially on the energy wasted compared to T12's. So for the same amount of money that is spent on running the lights, a T5 will be WAY brighter, use less energy, and give of less heat. The T5HO's are supposed to be even MORE efficient! Even though it will cost you, upgrading to T5's is a SUPER good idea. (P.S. You do not need to but reflectors, which are about 75% of the price of the bulb/ballast! I simply took a piece of tin-foil, put it above the lights, and the fc in a specific spot shot from 2,100 to 2,700 fc!)

Originally Posted by help

Then I won't have any good excuse to upgrade! Hah! I'd like to upgrade. So that I can maybe bloom catts. But I can do my phals just fine. This is the first summer I have had my catts so I'm trying to see if I can get any to bloom outside. Since there is more light.

Sorry for the thread hack lady t! If I were you I'd get some nice t5HO with good reflectors. Reflectors are very important too!

You are lucky your weather is nice enough to grow in your back yard and that you HAVE a back yard! I have a big, ugly piece of mud for my backyard! Upgrading is FUN! It allows you to grow more plants!

Originally Posted by Lady Tottington

Thank you thank you!! This helps tremendously! I will post photos as soon as I get bulbs

btw, I'm finally able to get on the MB. My ISP blocked the OB for some crazy reason and I couldn't log on from home for a week! HORRIBLE! Withdrawls! I checked a couple times at work, but I don't want to get canned, so I didn't stay on too long

OMG! A WHOLE WEEK!!!!!! I wouldn't just get withdrawls, I would DIE a SLOW and PAINFUL DEATH!

[Call_Me_Bob]

while you can diy reflectors with tinfoil, and you get increased light, think about how much you could gain with proper reflectors.