flourescent lights will work ok. i use h.i.d. lights myself. they are just what i have picked. i would put the lights on a timer so they got the exact amount of light everyday. 16 hours on 8 hours off. you can use warm white and cool light mixxes in the set up. i use hps and mh for mine. that way they get plenty of light in each spectrum. good luck. i hope everything turns out ok for you.

This article helped me:

http://www.experimentalscene.com/articles/diyledgrowlights.php

i have 4 of the 45 watt glowpanels linked together. i had them over 2 coffee bean trees that are just a few inches tall. i took them down and put a 150 watt hps over them. i'm not impressed with the led's yet. maybe in years to come, but not now. the only ones i've seen that really make a big difference cost well over $1000. flourescents or h.i.d.'s are the way to go for the moment.

been there and tried that. waisted the money on the growpanels. money well spent on the h.i.d.'s.

Florescents will work fine and most people consider them to be the cheapest to aquire, but I know better. For the beginner small HID lamps work great, but are considered hard to aquire. The typical way to do it is to buy a 150 watt HPS motion-activated security light and re-wire it. This is a 60-80 dollar solution and a pain in the ass really. I'd get a vapor-tight or two, they're what I started out with and as far as price/performance goes they are unbeatable. I've included a link to them below. Now they aren't a silver-bullet, they have an effective light sphere with around a 36 inch radius if you've used a good reflector, and their penetrating power is not up to snuff compared to a 400 watt lamp. Paired with flat-screen training however they are awesome, you can check out some instruction on that particular method over at my own tomato grow diary:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg1222213220075.html?28
Alternatively you can just stick "ScrOG" into google and have the cannabis guys explain it for you.

The vapor-tights are a 150 watt HPS lamp, thats ballast, socket and bulb for 20 bucks. Yep. Cheaper than your average 2 socket 48 inch florescent shop light and a couple of floro tubes to put in it. And let me tell you, a hell of a lot more effective. If you go this rout you'll probably also want to snag one of their 15 inch reflectors to go along with it. Just click on the 'accessories" link underneath the picture. Snag one of those and remove the aluminum and glass shield from around the bulb and you have yourself a killer sub-40$ grow lamp. Good luck and happy growing!
-Zach

Here is a link that might be useful: HPS vapor-tights

Thanks hautions11 I was going to ask the same question and glad you answered this one. I wanted an inexpensive solution.

Glad to have helped! Those vapor-tights are one of the most cost-effective lamps out there and unlike florescents are actually powerful enough to deliver satisfying results all the way through a harvest. Like I said, don't expect miracles, if your plants get too bushy the lower levels will get shaded out even if they are within the light sphere. A little cleaver training fixes this, flatscreen is great for tomatoes and any other vine-like plant.

>> Just a newbie question. I want to grow tomatoes in my garage from seed during the winter. I have a shelf and now I need the lights. What kind of lights do I buy? Can I use flourescent lights or is it some special light?

Also, do the plants have to be "closed off" from other light in darkness with only that light or do I just put the seeds in the pot, water, turn on the lights, water as needed? How many plants do you plan to start and how much space will they take up?

Some people like to propose spending bunches of dollars on fancy lights with the idea the will grow seedlings better. Hogwash.

If, for instance, your goal is to start 18 plants in a 11"x22" area (a standard seed flat) then all you need is a couple of 23 watt CFL bulbs - $6.

This idea that you need special lights that cost a bunch of money to grow seeds so they are large enough to plant in the garden is pure baloney.

I wish I could say I'm sorry for rankling feathers but I'm not. I hate to see new growers thinking they have to spend more money than what they will spend at the supermarket the entire year on lights to grow plants.

Mike

I have to agree with "Mike"

I have had very good success with inexpensive fluorescent shop lights purchased from Home Depot (~$10 for the harware)...bulbs are inexpensive.

Hang the lights within a couple inches of the developing plants and all seems well.

I use the basement to start my plants and when warm enough, open the windows to let some "fresh air" in.

This system has worked many years for me.

Hi Hautions, I read your post in the tomatoes forums. I appreciate your teaching ability. The link for the 20 dollar vapor-tights says its temporarily out of stock. I think you've found the perfect growlight for the best price with that reflector they have for it!

From an electricity use point, won't one 150 watt HPS light cost 2 times as much on the light bill as two 40w flourescent bulbs? I'm wondering what the ratio is for one 150 watt HPS compared to 4) 40w bulbs from both an electricity usage point, and from a plant growing point? I'm sure its been covered here, but I haven't read it yet. Thanks for any quick learning you can throw my way.
~tom

Maybe this is a dumb question but... why 16 hours of light ? I doubt that my Long Island , NY garden gets that much even in mid summer. I like to start seedling under lights but discontinued doing this many years ago due to the very high cost of electric on Long Island.

Tom,

The HID lights in general are more efficient then straight flor. in light output per watt inputed. The red range produced by the HPS is better for flowering plants. If you are only growing starts for the garden, that is not very important. Flowering with flor. is a lot harder. The important point is anything will work, if you orient it correctly and put your plants in the best attitude to take advantage of the light.

Club,

Your garden gets real sunlight, no artificial light is that good, thus the longer run times. Electricity cost is definately a factor. If you can go to your garden center and buy 2 plants it probably is not worth it. If you want special varieties not available in plants or have bigger quantities, it can be cost effective. My 2 cents.

e-econolight has the 20.00 vapor light back in stock
~tom

I saw the econ light on e-bay for $45 and free shipping. maybe that explains the shortage.

Does mounting vertically or horizontally matter? I was thinking about getting two of these mounted lengthwise.
What spacing should I use?
What area would it illuminate using a homemade reflector?
I have a moving track so could I increase the growing area and effectively grow more plants?

Zach, your suggestion for Vapor Tights is wonderful. Wow, what a well made and heavy light fixture. I bought the reflector also, but that means that I can't go horizonal with the light. Instead, I bought pipes to attach it to my wall going out and then down. Nice setup for my area as it is only 3 x 3 where this light goes.

vapor tight light and fixture: 20.00 reflector 18.00 shipping 10.00 piping at Lowes, 8.42

How many feet or inches above the top of the plants should a 150w HPS lamb with a reflector be placed?
~tom

I am a complete newbie to this so I apologize if I am asking a stupid question... what type bulb do you use in the vapor-tight?

I am trying to plan a system in my converted garage to grow lettuce, some herbs like cilantro and parsley and some avocados/cucumbers/yams.

I do not want to waste money but do not mind paying for quality, long lasting products.

My plan so far is to go with either two Rain Forest, 1 with the 6 pods and 1 with I belive 18 pods... that way I can grow a lot of lettuce in the 18 pods and the 6 pod unit will be for larger plants.

The other option is to use the 6 pod Rain Forest for the large plants and one of those aeroflow2 modular systems with the long white trays which are easy to expland for the lettuce... I like that to a point because of the ease of expanding but then again I could just buy another Rain Forest if I want to expand.

As far as lighting efficiency goes, will I be better off with 2 or 3 Rain Forest systems or with the long modular pods or will it really matter?

Which lighting configuration will be best for such a setup... I want my plants to get the light they need, hopefully without adding a ton of heat to the room since I am in Texas, and I do want to be as economical and green as possible.

At some point I plan to setup solar power so my plants always get light but that step will be down the road.

Thanks!

The vapor tight uses a high pressure sodium bulb and it comes with the fixture. I do not know what rain forest pods are so I can not comment. How about a description. Thanks.

If you do a search for Rain Forest 66 Aeroponics you will find hits for the model with 6 6" pods... the Rain Forest 318 has 18 3" pods.

They are self-contained aeroponics systems, then again so is the Aeroflow2 modular system but I would think lights would need to cover a wider area with one of these systems because they appear to be a long series of pods instead of the circular layout of the Rain Forest.

I am trying to find the most efficient lighting for plants for food and want to avoid generating a lot of heat.

HID lighting appears to have the benefit of fewer bulbs generating enough power for growth without the source constantly being moved to keep a minimal distance from the plants, like with CFL, but I read that HID generates a lot of heat... being in Texas, generating more heat in the summer is not the way to go.

The debate online about lighting leaves me unsure which way to go since I do not know enough about any of it to discern whether what someone says makes sense or not.

Thank you for your reply!

11 degrees below zero last week I like heat. Different for u I don't have anything to add.

Looks like those vapor tights in the HPS variety come and go??? Currently, the HPS one listed is 70W. The 150W and 300W are INC(andescent) and don't come with a bulb.

Just noting that so people are a little extra cautious before ordering. :)

I believe they discontinued the 150 HPS vaportight both the pendant mount and ceiling.

If they did I'm glad I got one before that.

HID lights are best if you want to grow mature tomato plants and get large, healthy yields. Fluorescent lights will work, but you usually need a lot of juice in them to get similar results. The fixtures from HD are great, and CFLs work fine too (go to 1000bulbs to find bigger ones).

CFLs put out most of their light to the side, so mounting them horizontally works best.

Especially with weaker lighting reflectors and mylar can make a huge difference.