| Florescents can work very well, it is simply a matter of using the correct technique to utilize them to the maximum of their potential. There are a couple of oddities that keep gardeners from making the best of floros. Mostly its the long thin shape, screen training techniques can help with this though it isn't a neccesity. It is also very important to keep the bulbs as close as physically possible to the plants. There are a couple of ways to make this problem less severe. Get foil tape (2" wide for T12 floros, 1" wide for T8s and make sure it has a clear adhesive) and very carefully stick it on the back side of your florescent tube which faces away from your plants and towards your reflector, directly on the bulb, be sure to avoid folds bubbles and wrinkles. Make sure the tape falls an inch or two short of the end caps as the bulb is hottest here and you definitely don't want the metal tape to create a short between the usually metal caps. If you got the tape on there nice and straight with a minimum of imperfections they will be noticeably brighter on the side facing your plants. This works by reflecting the photons directly back out the front side of the bulb instead of them coming out of the backside, hitting whatever reflector you have and then making their way back down to the plants. The trick to a successful florescent grow is to keep the distance that the light has to travel as short as possible and this technique minimizes that distance by several inches. Also, you can over-drive florescent tubes. It is possible to connect two ballasts to a single tube in series and nearly double the light output. I have a link to an excellent instructional on how to do this. It is a simple to do and reliable technique that doesn't severely shorten the life of the tube. If you are using floro tubes horticulturally you should be replacing them every six months to a year anyway. I have seen T12 shop lamps that are both over-driven and foil taped and the brightness is unbelievable. Rigs like that are able to deliver adequate light to plants that are more than a foot away which is simply unheard of with normal floro rigs. These tricks are easy to do, give them a try and you'll be astounded by the results. Good luck and happy gardening! |
Here is a link that might be useful: overdriving floro lamps
