Philips is confusing

[Meaven]

I'm sorta new to growing CPs, but after saving 6 VFTs from the grocery store that i work at (stupid little kids and their pencils...) i've gone pretty crazy growing these. i own a little bit of everything right now.

anyway i have a terrarium that is 36x18x12 with 2x 48" 40-watt shop lights on top, totalling 4 bulbs.

i bought them at first with 4 philips "cool white" bulbs... they were sold in bulk so i have no idea of the lumens output, color temp, etc.

i figured they sucked by default so i went out and bought some philips "plant and aquarium" bulbs. these are 1600 lumens each, 2700k and no info on the CRI. after reading a bit it actually sounds like these suck for CP growing, or is it that because they are specially made for plants, exceptions are made to the numbers?

I just want to know which bulbs would be best for my plants, i can buy more as long as they are shop-light style, beyond that money isnt really an issue.

also, is lumen output cumulative with multiple bulbs? how about color temp?

oh and one more thing.. if anyone knows where i can buy a N. Hamata, villosa, or Macrophylla? all the online stores i've looked at always seem sold out... and i dont think i'm deep enough into the "CP underworld" yet to "know a guy who knows a guy"

any info or sources would be really cool, thank you much!

 

[pingman]

Meaven, 4 x 40 watts is pretty good for your setup. For bulbs, many have found that cool white is adequate. I have switched over to Daylight bulbs that are about 5000K. They look very very white compared to cool white.
Using the plant and wide spectrum bulbs is ok but i don't think worth the extra cost!
I think you can get really technical with bulb lumens, wattage, temp, color etc., but why? if the plants are growing then great!

Peter.

 

[technoracer]

i use a 50/50 mix of the daylight and coolwhite bulbs will great results.

tech...

 

[CopcarFC]

^ Same here ^

 

[Ozzy]

I know a better source of light, that is 100% what the plants need, and best of all it's totally free. I use it in the summer months for all my cps, and in the winter for all but my nepenthes. This may not be an option for some because of geological restrictions. I just throw my plants outside and let mother nature take care of them.

 

[Meaven]

sweet that was going to be my next question, whether or not 2 different types of bulb can be placed in the same fixture

 

[xvart]

Quote[/b] (Meaven @ Aug. 28 2006,7:07)]sweet that was going to be my next question, whether or not 2 different types of bulb can be placed in the same fixture

Yes.

xvart.