Kind and wattage of seedling & veg lights

[Babcock307]

Are two wide spectrum 2 foot plant growth / aquarium T-12 tubes (20 watts / 750 lumens each) sufficient for a for a 2'x2'x6' grow room?

I'm only planting 10 seeds in rockwool plugs in dome propogation tray.
I'll keep them under these lites for the whole veg. cycle also.

Is this enough wattage?
Would four T-12 tubes be really much better and worth athe added cost?

Home Depot said the 20 watts gives off more than a regular 20 watts (hard to understand this concept). Its the highest wattage they have for this type.
Thanks very much for your input.

Babcock307 Reviewed by Babcock307 on 05-23-2009. Kind and wattage of seedling & veg lights Are two wide spectrum 2 foot plant growth / aquarium T-12 tubes (20 watts / 750 lumens each) sufficient for a for a 2'x2'x6' grow room? I'm only planting 10 seeds in rockwool plugs in dome propogation tray. I'll keep them under these lites for the whole veg. cycle also. Is this enough wattage? Would four T-12 tubes be really much better and worth athe added cost? Home Depot said the 20 watts gives off more than a regular 20 watts (hard to understand this concept). Its the highest Rating: 5

[warfrat73]

That's going to be spreading it awfully thin for more than a couple of plants, and not ideal for any number of plants. You're certainly going to want much more light for ten plants.

There are any number of other threads that deal with this. Start by reading these stickies (http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-li...uch-light.html and http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-li...-lighting.html).

[gr8budz4me]

About all you'll be able to do is keep your seedlings happy with only two, 2 foot T12 tubes. Ideally you'll want to keep the T12 tubes only an inch or less away from your leaves and watch growth closely so you can raise them as they grow. If you have to go with T12's I'd suggest getting at least four, 4 foot T12 tubes with grow spectrum daylight bulbs. These will give you enough lumens to keep your 10 plants adequately covered. If you can afford a T5 lighting setup they are MUCH brighter and have very little heat also. Before T5's were available I used to use T12's for vegging. T12 fluroescents work well if you're not in a hurry. If you make sure you keep the lights very close to your plants it will keep them from stretching.

As soon as your kids pop up get that humidity dome OFF to prevent damping off (rotting of the stem). Have a gentle fan in the room moving air over the soil surface and stems and this will also help.

I can't follow what Home Depot dude is saying... Are you anywhere near a place that has indoor gardening/hydro gear?

Good Luck!

[Babcock307]

Thanks - I'll get four T5s (the 4 feet long ones).
What wattage should I ask for at Home epot?

[warfrat73]

I don't think you're going to find T5 fixtures at the Home Depot, bulbs yes, fixtures doubtful. They're new and still pretty expensive, and generally only available in specialty shops. A couple of inexpensive T8 or T12 fixtures should get you going. In the four foot length T8 bulbs are 32w i think and T12 are generally 40w. They have the lumen rating right on the factory packaging, your best bet is to pick out the bulbs with the highest lumen rating (from what I recall seeing the variation in t12 bulbs was a range of around 200 lumens).