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jay83

t8 lighting for african violets? please help asap!!

jay83
9 years ago

hi I need some urgent advice. I used to grow beautiful violets under the good T12. I have since gotten out of violets... but recently I decided to get back in lol. anyways I noticed everything these days has upgraded to T8..(or downgraded as ive read about T8). I just bought an expensive stand. its 48Wx74Hx24D. I will be using the standard twin tube 4ft long T8 shoplights. I need everyones personal advice and experiences using these to grow violets. as you know all the 4ft T8 tubes are the 32W. what tubes should I buy. we don't have access to much here in Canada besides cool white. soft white. daylight. gro-lux WS. what combination of tubes should I use? how far above the tops of standards and semi minis? how many hrs per day to run the tubes? (this will be the sole light for them) I read everywhere that T8 destroys violets. bleaches them out, tight centers etc, I wanna make T8 shoplights work for violets like the T12 did. so fill me in on tips. and hopefully u can all answer my questions. again I will be using the cheap T8 twin tube 4ft shoplights. each tube will be the standard T8 32W

Comments (18)

  • Karin
    9 years ago

    Hi Jay,

    I am in Canada too :-) GTA, you?

    I use a 2 bulb T8 fixture with daylight bulbs. Haven't tried anything else really, and a box of 8 bulbs left to use up...

    My plants are between 8-12" away from the light. Closer at the ends of the tubes, farther in the center.
    Lights are on 7:30am-8:30pm. - in winter it was 8-8.

    Yes, i have some bleaching, and some tight centers, so i keep moving them around to see what suits each individual plant.
    Tight centers can also be from too much fertilizer, which i believe was an issue with mine at first.
    No reaching issues, so i think i am about as figured out as i will be.

    Good luck and let us know how it goes!

    Karin

  • jay83
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Owen sound ont. I had amazing luck using t12 about ten inches from plant tops. the standards grew humongous-about 14" diameter, some as big as dinnerplates and full of blooms. I got my leaves starts from a seller in south Carolina. cheap shipping to Canada!. but I got out of violets for a bit. now im starting back up. but now a days its all t8 and I read many horror stories on t8s so ive been nervous to invest lol. a friend mentioned if I get tight centers usually means to much light-to go buy insect screen-what u use on windows-and put 1 layer under the tubes to help filter and dapple the light-screens reduce light by up to 30% and they always say if u grow houseplants if u wanna give them more light to remove window screens when there not needed. so I may try the insect screen trick to dapple the light for the violets.

  • Karin
    9 years ago

    And, because we all like pictures...

  • jay83
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    **like!! (facebook symbol lol)

  • Karin
    9 years ago

    wow, that looked so much better on the ipod... I'll attach a proper picture later....

  • jay83
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    lol I thought it looked good...the picture lol

  • Vikki
    9 years ago

    I looked for the lowest and highest K values and put one of each in my fixtures. They seem very happy in it.. One color gives the leaves nourishment and the other give the flowers what they need.

  • lauraeli_
    9 years ago

    I hope the horror stories that you speak of arent true. I put a single tube t8 grolux over some AVs in my north window, and they are sitting like 5 inches below.

    This thread is making me think I should switch back to a single CFL. I grew some under a 2700K CFL before I knew much about the K part, and they grew happy as could be.

    After i learned about the light spectrum rating, I was surprised when I checked the light bulb box and saw that it was 2700, because my AVs were growing so well.

  • jay83
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Wow those are beautiful NOIDS @anon-cdn!. so there is hope for T8 shoplights after all!. and here I was debating on if I should put a layer of window screening under the tubes to help dapple the light lol. but as we can see t8 does work just the way it is! thanks @anon-cdn! now I feel much better about splurging on T8 lol. I just wish T12 didn't die out they worked so well for me and everyone else on violets and u can keep those T12 shoplights lower-10 inches lol. Im doing wall shelving-where u have a shelf on the wall. above that do another shelf where u hang your shoplight from. I can do several shoplights that way and at the same time doesn't take up floor space. got the idea online lol! here is a pic of where I got the idea from, pretty good idea. this way you just take up wall space and leaves your floor space free. notice in the pic, its just a simple wooden shelf with a wall bracket. and directly above that at the proper height you do another shelf, same size and that's where u hang ur shoplight under then the chain suspends it. good idea, simple. leaves floor space totally free and same time doesn't clutter your room up with stands! not to mention this is by far the cheapest method ($3 each if that for a simple 48x12 wooden pine board cut at home depot. two bucks for shelf brackets. $20 for a t8 shoplight) where as if u use stands u got to buy a stand first (usually $40 or more...some are $119 at home depot for the edsal 48x24x74h storage shelving unit five tier) add to that shoplights. tubes. ur pushing $200. so choice is clear this is the cheapest route! :) plus I have all my floor space FREE

  • taxonomist3
    9 years ago

    I was going to let this go without saying anything, but I just can't.

    T8's do produce decent plants. However, please keep in mind you will need to leave more distance for your plants (roughly 12" for standards) as they will be getting more light with any T8. Also the T8 will come in a 32W or a 40W. It will just depend upon the ballast for if it is able to reach that 40W mark.

    Many people have had a lot more luck putting a layer of parchment paper over the lights to cut-down on the intensity of the T8 to something on par with a T12.

    Good luck!

  • jay83
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    thanks for the tip. yea when I set up the wall shelves like in the pic I just posted I was gonna leave about 25" between each shelf, that way compensating for the height of the 4 inch pot and the height of the violet will put the distance around 14" above plant tops. That should be an ok distance eh, maybe then at 14" I wont need parchment paper? im thinking if I do need to dapple the intense light a bit I can also use window screening-like we have on our windows-that cuts light by up to 30%-it would filter it a lil

  • jay83
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    oh I forgot to mention the pic I just posted isn't mine lol. its an old pic I found online obv using the good T12 :) I posted it because I was showing everyone I want to use that same IDEA. so this way it doesn't take up floor space. :)

  • jay83
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    #anon-cdn did u filter your light with screening or parchment paper when the tubes were 14" above the tops of those plants to grow such nice plants?? and @taxonist- if I grow semi-minis along with standards ifi aim for an overall distance of 14" if the semi minis want a hair more light I can always set them on upturned saucers that way they get the light they want and the standards get there 14 inches they want. and both r happy?

  • cdnanon
    9 years ago

    jay83 - No, I have not used any filtering on my plants as of yet,
    but I did construct a light filter from acrylic frosted Ceiling Light Panel just in case it was needed. I also found that I needed a tray for humidity during the winter (might have to take that into consideration as well). I live west-southwest of Ottawa, Ontario

    best of luck with your project!

  • taxonomist3
    9 years ago

    Actually I haven't (yet) filtered with parchment paper. This is what a few of the top growers I know have recommended. I've opted instead to toss any plants that don't perform with the 12"-14" using the dual T8's. Believe it or not, some plants do just fine with it (my old favorite Tomahawk for instance). I also have trailers that LOVE the extra light. I also can't grow a semi-mini or mini to save my life so I can't advise you well on distances from the lights there.

    Pretty much the best advise is to keep an eye on your plants, you'll notice if they start getting too much light after about 2 weeks. The crowns will either start growing in all mis-shapen, or the older leaves will start bending up to shade the crown. From there you'll have to orient you plants from center to edges to see if you can get them to behave. Some just won't, and that's ok.

  • jay83
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    thanks! ya I hope it goes well. it should. I know with the wall shelves it will be a cheap easy way to grow violets as the pic earlier showed. u can hang shoplights under each shelf. have the shelves spaced apart so that I can maintain ideal distances. at the same time I still have all my floor space. Im thinking of leaving 25" between each shelf, that way I can compensate for the height of the 4 inch pot, the height of the actual violet and the height of the shoplight. and I figured around 25 inches between shelves and everything factored in that shud put my shoplights around 14 inches from plant tops. perfect for standards. and semis well if they demand more light ill just prop them up on upturned saucers. My new setup for violets is going to look good. All this time I had stands taking up floor space but as u see in the previous picture it IS possible to install simple 48 x 12 shelving on a wall, 25 inches directly up the wall install another board that size. mount a shoplight with chains under the top board and viola ur bottom shelf is lighted, no floor space taken. you can install as many shelves as u can reach lol.

  • Zukoll
    9 years ago

    I use T8 and T5 lights for my african violets from the very beginning. Both works well provided there is sufficient clearance from the plants. I keep at least 10 inch clearance.

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