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wendy_z

lighting for an African Violet

Wendy_Z
18 years ago

We have found one flourescent screw in bulb that is an 85 watter. My husband says it will burn the leaves and that we should get one in their 20's. He says that is what they mean--the incandescent exchabge.

I am lost to know the wattage of what we should get and the AV forum talked about you guys. Any help very appreciated.

Thank you,

Wendy

Comments (5)

  • shrubs_n_bulbs
    18 years ago

    85W is an immensely bright bulb, not something you would likely pick up at home depot, plus it would be perhaps eight or ten inches long. It would fry your plant. It would also light up an entire average room quite brightly.

    Do you actually mean 85W equivalent, which would be about as bright as an 85W incandescent bulb? It would probably also say 20W on it somewhere which is the actual fluorescent wattage. This bulb would be a little more than you'd need for a single plant but you could use it positioned perhaps six inches away, maybe a bit more.

    Is the bulb just for supplemental light, with some natural light from a window?

  • noinwi
    18 years ago

    I have 2 AV's placed next to a small table lamp with a 15 watt flourescent compact bulb(the spiral type) which is equivalent to a 60 watt incandescent bulb, and they love it. I have the lamp on for about 4-5 hours every evening and the AV's bloom like crazy. They are about 8" below the bulb. The compact flourescents are much cooler than the incandescents. I only have one window in my apartment living room and most of my houseplants get only this type of light. Hope this info helps.

  • lucyw_5
    17 years ago

    I have a 60W sprial flourscent bulb in a woorkshop lamp that is clamped onto the center of my 2 windows, and it is about 30 In from the plants I have. I have my shelf in a east window.

    I have it on 12-14 hrs a day and no blooms.
    What is candle Power?
    and what should I get? I have asked this before and still do not understand.
    I do not want to put up a long bulb fixture as this is in my home office.
    Can someone help me get blooms?

  • shrubs_n_bulbs
    17 years ago

    Candlepower is not the relevant measurement, the necessary light intensity is measured in foot-candles, which are lumens per square foot. The 60W spiral is perhaps a 60W equivalent, meaning it is only really 12W or so. The spiral compact fluorescents produce about 65 lumens per W (actual watts, not equivalent) and AVs need very roughly 1,000 foot-candles.

    If the calculation are confusing you, just confirm whether your bulb is actually 12W or 60W (a true 60W compact fluorescent would be nearly a foot long!) and how many plants you have and I'll tot up the numbers.

  • lovescritters
    17 years ago

    Question for noinwi:

    You say, "I have 2 AV's placed next to a small table lamp with a 15 watt flourescent compact bulb(the spiral type) which is equivalent to a 60 watt incandescent bulb, and they love it. I have the lamp on for about 4-5 hours every evening and the AV's bloom like crazy. They are about 8" below the bulb. The compact flourescents are much cooler than the incandescents. I only have one window in my apartment living room and most of my houseplants get only this type of light. Hope this info helps.".

    Is this bulb just a regular light bulb or is it a grow light???

    Thanks for your time,
    Dar S.