Hello, everyone,

I am planning on assembling my first plant shelves to overwinter plants and start seedlings. I don't have the money or the room for any kind of fancy set up. My initial plan was to just buy a metal shelving unit and several T12 fixtures to go under each of my shelves. My understanding was that as long as I buy a "cool" and "warm" tube for each fixture, the plants should do fine. However, reading through related posts on this forum, it seems like some people don't consider T12s adequate.

If my purpose is solely overwintering plants and starting seedlings, is there any reason that T12s are a mistake? If so, could you suggest some cheap alternatives?

Also, is overdriving safe/easy? We have really old wiring in our house and it makes me nervous.

Thanks for any advice you can give...I'm trying to keep it as simple and cheap as possible.