Walmart or Homedepot lights to start seeds

[smoke me smoke me]

i want some flourescent lights to start my seeds before i put them under my 400 watt hps. i only wanna spend like 30$ bucks or so what type of lights should i look for??? i went the other day and couldnt figure out which ones would grow?? i just stared off a a billion bulbs, my red eyes aimlessly searching for the right ones???? some one help so i can start these babies in some soil tonight

[smoke me smoke me]

will two 150 watt cfl work to veg 5 seeds for 2 weeks

[rodekyll]

My personal bias is for long flourescents (as opposed to CFL). My reasoning is that the seedlings don't need a lot of light, and that a long line of seedlings will get even lighting from a long tube. I'm a personal use grower, so I'm following alaska rules for legal gardens -- 4 plants, indoors. An 18" or 25" full-spectrum grow stick works for me. No assembly required, you can lay it right on the plants, and it's cheap as well as cool to run. I just replaced one after 25 months of use -- it cost $28. Probably cheaper where you live.

Good luck!

[Kevin Spencer]

yea man, my buddy actually just got back from there, he bought a 25" and 21" er, the 25 was actually called a floro grow light , the other one was 10 bucks cheaper, but was same bulb but a lil smaller and 5 less watts, hes got 60 little guys under them, well actually hes got 2 more spiral floros for normal sockets hooked up as well

[smoke me smoke me]

Alright i went to Wally world and grabbed a 10$ floro tube that was 20 watts 24inches long. It had pics of some tomatoes on the cover so im sure it will work to sprout my seeds and veg for like 2 weeks. thanks for the help folks. smoke on!

[GrowinGreen23]

i have one CFL right now 150 watt for 3 plants amd i don't think that it's hitting them enough, i'm using foil to help keep some light in i would go with about 3 lights $10 a piece for 5 planst at the mniimum

[friendowl]

i agree with roadkill

i use the 48" floros from home depot and they keep my lil babies happy.

[BlueDragonSmoke]

A 4 foot fluor. shop light that holdes 2 4 foot tubes work GREAT for the first 2 weeks of a plants life...There like $14 for the fixture and $2 each for the bulbs..peace

[latewood]

in case ant of you want to try one...agrosun make a 48" dual spectrum tube for under 20 bucks. Available at your local hydroshop...later lw

[Ap0c4lyPtIcF4t3]

those 48's will work fine for veg(gotta be cool whites) but you gotta keep em cool and close to your plants. Ive seen full spectrum 48 bulbs but never tried them out after going to HPS. If you want to use CFL get a bathroom light fixture strip from home depot and fill 2 of them up with the CFL's but make sure you got some decent ventilation!

As for flowering, the flouro tubes dont get decent enough penetration to do a good job. Your tops will be good but anything lower than 3-4 inches will end up being popcorn buds.

Good luck!


EDIT: Make sure you got ATLEAST 40-50watts per sq ft

[smoke me smoke me]

i just need it to start the seeds i got a 400 hps they are goin under. i think this 24inch grow tube i go should work its kinda a pink colored light but it shows tomatoes on the add so i guess it should work.