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Hydroponic Fluorescent Lights Bulbs Lamps

Hydroponic System DiagramFluorescent Light
Fluorescent tubes offer a broader color spectrum and are available in a variety of kinds including bright white. cool white. warm white. plant bulbs. daylight and full spectrum. The combination of warm and cool white offer a broad light spectrum.

Fluorescent bulbs are relatively inexpensive, long-lasting and provide even, cool lighting.

The down-side to fluorescent lights is that they are low in intensity and need to be very close to the plants to be effective. Seedlings, cuttings and most house plants will benefit from fluorescent lighting. Listed below are some fluorescent lights to get you started with.

There are several options when it comes to lighting your indoor hydroponics system. One of them is fluorescent lighting. Fluorescent lighting is the least expensive of the lighting system for indoor hydroponics growing. It is also one of the more energy efficient and coolest running systems. Despite these pluses, there are also some significant drawbacks to fluorescent lighting.

The biggest drawback to fluorescent lights is that they do not provide the full spectrum of wavelengths in the optimum bands for photosynthesis. The newer T5 fluorescents are an improvement and are getting closer to covering the full spectrum needed for all phases of plant growth.

For the moment, fluorescent lighting is best suited for ornamental house plants and for starting seedlings, cuttings and clones. Full-spectrum fluorescent lights are also great for leafy produce like lettuce spinach and herbs. They fall short, however, when it comes to fruiting vegetables and flowering plants. Despite the improvements with the T5 bulbs, they are still lacking in the wavelengths most suited to fruiting and flowering, so they are not well suited to activities such as growing tomatoes.

If you are going to limit your growing, say, rafts of lettuce, you might well consider taking advantage of the low cost of fluorescent lighting. If you do choose this option, here are a few guidelines in utilizing them:

  • Since fluorescent lighting does not produce much in the way of heat, lights can be hung very near to     your plants. As a rule of thumb, 4-6 inches above the plants is sufficient.
  • When planning your system, plan on using about 40 watts of fluorescent lighting for each square foot of growing area. With T5 fluorescents, use one 4 foot tube for each two square feet of growing bed.
  • Fluorescent lights are not well suited for larger plants because the light they emit does not penetrate foliage as well as some other types of lighting (Notably, lighting of the High Intensity Discharge varieties), this can be overcome by placing lights to the sides as well as above larger plants.
  • You can split your operation, utilizing fluorescent lighting for vegetative stages of plant growth and moving your plants under an HID lighting system for flowering and fruiting.

Properly used, and with an understanding of its limitations, fluorescent lighting can be a useful tool in indoor hydroponics, they are economical to purchase and cheap to operate. They also produce less heat than other lights and therefore reduce the amount of cooling your growing space will require. They can be a big money  saver, if their spectrum meets your growing needs.

fluorescent

Hydro Farm 4’ Hydroponics Grow Light Set Of 2 Solar Wind With fluorescent Bulbs picture

Hydro Farm 4’ Hydroponics Grow Light Set Of 2 Solar Wind With fluorescent Bulbs

$200.00



T5 Grow Light - 2 FT 4 Lamps - DL824 HO Fluorescent Hydroponic Fixture Seeding picture

T5 Grow Light - 2 FT 4 Lamps - DL824 HO Fluorescent Hydroponic Fixture Seeding

$74.99



Hydrofarm Agrobrite Designer T5, FLP48, 432W 4 Foot, 8-Tube Fixture with Lamps picture

Hydrofarm Agrobrite Designer T5, FLP48, 432W 4 Foot, 8-Tube Fixture with Lamps

$150.00



LED Grow Light 2FT Seedlings Mother Plant Flowers Full Spectrum Hydroponic picture

LED Grow Light 2FT Seedlings Mother Plant Flowers Full Spectrum Hydroponic

$24.99



fluorescent light fixtures picture

fluorescent light fixtures

$25.00



California Lightworks SolarSystem UVB T5 Light Kit picture

California Lightworks SolarSystem UVB T5 Light Kit

$40.00



VIVOSUN 2FT 4FT 6500K 24W 54W T5 Fluorescent Grow Light Bulbs - Pack of 5 picture

VIVOSUN 2FT 4FT 6500K 24W 54W T5 Fluorescent Grow Light Bulbs - Pack of 5

$42.49



Aerogarden Grow Light Bulb Compact Fluorescent Full Spectrum #100340 picture

Aerogarden Grow Light Bulb Compact Fluorescent Full Spectrum #100340

$24.99



Lot Of 2 Smartpond 9W UV Replacement Bulb Pond Clarifiers For Model #52285 picture

Lot Of 2 Smartpond 9W UV Replacement Bulb Pond Clarifiers For Model #52285

$17.95



AeroGarden Replacement Grow Bulb Model #100629 1450 Lumens 26 watt Pack of 1 picture

AeroGarden Replacement Grow Bulb Model #100629 1450 Lumens 26 watt Pack of 1

$24.95



(Model-I) ThinkGrow Horticulture LED Grow Light picture

(Model-I) ThinkGrow Horticulture LED Grow Light

$440.00



Agrobrite T5 Grow Light (8-4’ bulbs) - Fluorescent, 8 Tube Grow... picture

Agrobrite T5 Grow Light (8-4’ bulbs) - Fluorescent, 8 Tube Grow...

$95.00



Sunleaves Pioneer IV High-Output T5 Horticultural Lighting picture

Sunleaves Pioneer IV High-Output T5 Horticultural Lighting

$119.00



DoubleLux 4 ft x 16 BULB T5 Fluorescent Light Fixture picture

DoubleLux 4 ft x 16 BULB T5 Fluorescent Light Fixture

$200.00



Philips 496810 Advance 4-Bulb Residential Electronic Fluorescent Lighting picture

Philips 496810 Advance 4-Bulb Residential Electronic Fluorescent Lighting

$19.95



Fluorescent Grow Light 120V 60Hz 125W 6400 K 1.49 A USED  picture

Fluorescent Grow Light 120V 60Hz 125W 6400 K 1.49 A USED

$33.96



T5 Grow Light Bulbs 2 Ft 22 Inches, 24W 6500K HO Fluorescent Tubes Light Bulbs,  picture

T5 Grow Light Bulbs 2 Ft 22 Inches, 24W 6500K HO Fluorescent Tubes Light Bulbs,

$47.34



Sun leaves Da Luminaire Series Plant Grow Light with Bulb Hydrofarm US SMS 125 picture

Sun leaves Da Luminaire Series Plant Grow Light with Bulb Hydrofarm US SMS 125

$119.50



4FT 54W T5 HO 6500K Fluorescent Tubes Grow Light Bulbs Cool Daylight White Pack  picture

4FT 54W T5 HO 6500K Fluorescent Tubes Grow Light Bulbs Cool Daylight White Pack

$72.95



Yield Lab 4-Bulb Fluorescent Grow Light Panel 2700K T5 54W CU-T54X4-2700K picture

Yield Lab 4-Bulb Fluorescent Grow Light Panel 2700K T5 54W CU-T54X4-2700K

$152.96