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My mind has just been blown with the selection of different kinds of lights.

JB_OrchidGuy

Cardiac Nurse
Ok My mind has just been overloaded with the different kinds of lights. I thought there was 3 kinds of florescent tubes. t-5, t-8, and t-12. I go look at 1000bulbs.com and there are like 6 different kinds of t-5's there is VHO t-12. I didn't know there was such an animal there either! What is a programmed start t-5? What are all the different kinds of lights? What would be best for growing plants? I am glad I started looking early because had I bought on the fly like I planned in the next year i would be totaly lost!

Please help make sense of it all!
 
VHO is outdated. I used to use them and wasn't impressed at all. I switched to MH and a 250 watt MH blows a 440 watt VHO setup out of the water ten times over.

Go with T5 HO if you can afford it (even though after trying MH I'll never go back!) Expensive but great from what I hear. I don't know what programmed start means but I imagine it just means it's got a digital timer (that's what it sounds like lol)
 
these are just the bulbs, not the fixture. The bulb is not going ot have a timer in it, but what do I know.

MH puts off to much heat, so I will look into t-5 and and t-8 combinations, but still there is so many different kinds of bulbs for each one of those.
 
Oh, I see. Then get whatever lamp will fit your fixture. An HO T5 will not work on an NO T12 fixture, for example. A VHO lamp will not work in a NO or HO fixture either, but if you have a VHO fixture already you can overdrive HO or NO lamp in it at the cost of decreased lamp life (but It'll be brighter than it would have normally been in their respective fixtures, and it'll save cash on the lamps.)



Or did I just add another level of confusion for you? Lol
 
The programmed start ballast is not what you would think (timer) it incorporates a starting method which is gentler on the lamp than either the rapid or instant start ballasts. It breaks the starting process down into programmed "steps" which increases bulb life

For frequent-start applications, rapid start ballasts are traditionally specified with the promise of minimal lamp life reduction compared to instant start ballasts.

Rapid start ballasts consume more energy than instant start, so there is a tradeoff in using them. Also, rapid start ballasts provide longer lamp life.

The wide variety of design methodologies of rapid start ballasts among manufacturers, can actually lead to a reduction in lamp life as compared to instant start ballasts

now are ya even more confused? :)

TEK brand lights use the newer "triad" programmed start ballast, I recently got a "new in wrap" one on ebay for 39.00$ :)

Josh, when i get home tonight Ill send you some good links to get you started in your quest for knowledge... plant lighting is one of my fav areas of study.

Regardless of format choice, you really should read the link that I posted in this thread, if you only read one page on the plant lighting, this one should be it... do your homework, there is a lot of wrong information floating around

http://terraforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111643

Butch
 
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