Mojave, lighting fixtures and the size of their tubes takes on a wide range for plant/seedling/seed growing. Improvements have been made in recent years so that smaller, less powerful lighting now gives increased lighting effects so that smaller fixtures can be used. The T8 refers to the size of the tube..in eighths...1 inch = 8/8...so your tube is 1" in diameter You can track what lighting is available for plant growing by simply doing a Google search...'lamps for plants'. How much light is given a plant or seed depends on the natural light that is common for the type of plant. Plants that normally take full sun, should be given more light; shade plants are given less intensity. Normally the incrase of light is made at the centre of the tube and can be as little as inches from the pot. Fluorescent tubes are cooler than incandescent bulbs and for that reason can be put closer to the seedling. If you are a novice seed grower, it can be a very interesting hobby but there are many pitfalls in getting your seeds to do their best; among them are diseases and watering problems. There are many good books on this subject and most can be purchased at little cost at "used" book stores.

Jessaka, First of all, when anyone who gardens chemically criticizes any part of an organic gardening program, I just ignore their comments. If they don't garden organically, then how do they know? For the opinion of experts who garden organically, you could go to the Organic Lawn Care forum and ask this question there if you want to. 2. I have never seen any research or reports that support her claim. But, I haven't seen any research or reports that say molasses does not cause fungal growth either because it is hard (almost impossible) to "prove" a negative. 3. On a personal basis, I have never had any fungal issues in the lawn or in the garden that I believe resulted from the use of molasses or sugar, either dried or liquid, either alone or as an ingredient in Garrett Juice. 4. Fungi exist EVERYWHERE. Even though our clay soil is dry 98% of the time in the summer, if we get an inch or two of rain and the ground is wet for a day or so you'll see a green fungal growth appear on the surface of the clay. What causes it? Well, either the fungi live on the soil surface and grow when wet, or the fungi is in the rain. So, maybe someone has blamed the appearance of fungi on the use of molasses, but the odds are the fungi was already there to begin with OR was in the rain OR had airborne spores that landed on the area and sprouted. Odds are, though, the fungus wasn't "caused" by the use of molasses. The use of sugar or molasses does drive fire ants away. It has been observed and documented by many, many people who use molasses or sugar in home gardens and in commercial gardening or farming. The reason is that fire ants thrive in poor soil (for example, heavy clay with little organic material or extremely fast-draining sandy soil with no organic material). Molasses/suger stimulates microbial activity and that is what drives the ants away--the healthier soil. When we lived in Texas, some massive lawn problems emerged in the 1980s that caused lots and lots of damage to turfgrasses. One of them was called takeall patch, at the time, but there were others as well. When all was said and done, the primary causes were too much chemical fertilizer and too much irrigation and, especially, the combination of too much fertilizer and excess irrigation, and most especially that combination during periods of peak heating. Howard Garrett (a Texas organic gardening guru, aka The Dirt Doctor) had it figured out WAY BEFORE any of the chemically-oriented horticulturalists. He was the first one, as I can recall, who realized these lawn problems that were wildly rampant there at that time were being seen only on chemically-maintained lawns. In the early 1980s, when I was starting to move towards a more organic way of veggie and fruit growing, but not yet maintaining the lawn organically, we had some of those fungal issues on our own St. Augustine lawn. When I dropped the chemical usage, went organic, and stopped overwintering, those fungal problems stopped pretty much overnight and I haven't had any since. So, all I'm saying is that based on what I've observed in my lifetime, fungal diseases occur much, much more commonly on chemically-maintained lawns than on organically-maintained ones. And, it isn't just on lawns. In the D-FW metro area, Red-Tipped Photinias are completely overused and are everywhere. They have severe foliar issues there and, guess what? Those fungal issues with their foliage exists in the same conditions that cause lawn fungal problems. Imagine that! Dawn

No promises, but it sure sounds like a good bet. I've worked in industrial design, and they don't tool up for new parts when they don't have to.

I have a series of smaller cacti, and was wondering if this bulb would be bright enough to be a substitute for sunlight. If so how far away should it be and how long should I expose them to it? Many thanks.