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African Violets

Proper T8 light for african violet light stand

9 years ago

I have a nice light stand, it is 6ft Tall. 4 ft long, and each shelf is 18 inches wide.I have acquired some twin tube 4 ft 32W T8 shoplights. there ONLY 5 inches wide reflector to reflector so I need to use TWO of these twin tube T8 32W 4ft fixtures PER SHELF to allow even light coverage. If I just use one of these fixtures because my shelf is wide it is very dark to the plants. Now my question is this: What type of light bulbs should I buy that will give me maximum growth and bloom? I have used a combination of warm white/cool white with very mediocre results... im leaning towards using either all 5000K tubes or all 6500K tubes. I have read tho of some people using 6500K tubes only for AVs only to have their plants grow vertically. so maybe a 5000K tubes might be better?
at my local home depot they sell daylight DELUXE by phillips which is rated at 6500K (deluxe means they have a BIT of red light in it-that helps promote flowering). they also sell I think its called office light by phillips (Rated at 5000K) so I need your suggestions from any of you who grow African violets SUCCESSFULLY using ONLY T8 32W 4ft tubes. should I use only 6500K tubes OR only 5000K tubes?

Comments (2)

hacking_eden
9 years ago
Not sure what color temp the bulbs you have are, I've had good results with warm and cool tubes in 2700k and 6500k. I only switched to flourescents a year ago so I'm by no means an expert but my AVs haven't stopped blooming except for about a month after a week of neglect during moving.
My other light is all 6500k that produces good normal growth for orchids and haworthias (cant put AVs under a 200watt fixture) but no flowers yet, i think the reds from a 2700k are important to stimulate blooming.
Sorry I couldn't help more, I'm still learning too.
judyj
9 years ago
Hi Jay,
There's another thread on this too. I use T-5s, one 2700k and on 6500K in each of the fixtures (they can each hold four but that was too much for my small area). We have found that the combination of both 2700k and 6500K work the best for us.

Best,
Judy
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