Petiolaris I am an orchid grower that cannot get enough light indoors! We talk in footcandles (fc's) not lumens. My carnivours are getting about 2000 fc's. They are thriving/flowering under 42 w 5500k bulbs. distance 3-4'. I also have some under the 85w 5500k at longer distance. 5-6' to start. Metal clamp lights make a decent size pool of light at that distance. Obviously the center is the "hot spot" but you can put several smaller plants under the light. I used to use tubes but they really don't kick enough light and heat becomes a factor for me in the winter. I need a heat up and drop at night. CFL's work like a charm. Pings really don't stick for me with 4 t-8 tubes. When put under a 42 w they take off. The 42 w is about 14$ and the 85 is about 25$. There are larger ones too at the link I gave. You can grow anything with 85w and higher. Have the VFT under an 85w and it's pinking up nicely. Has spiked twice. My drosera's are all spiking. A cermaic fixture is recommended. You can get away with a shorter run time with cfl's and they are cheaper to run than tubes. For orchids we do 14 hours in winter. 12 if you have the 85's is sufficient. Not sure how that would translate for carnivours but the more light the better! I never knew how underlight I was until I made the switch. What a difference! Hope that helps Clara Got your email been having problems... Orchid Fest is this w.e but I will respond you :-)

Hi Stephanie, Where are you intending to use these lights? I'm in NJ and cannot imagine you trying to set up an outdoor greenhouse. I know it may not seem to make any sense, but even with just moderate lighting, citrus can thrive. I'd conclude from my own results that warming the soil may be far more beneficial to the citrus than lighting in general. Granted, I have my plants on a timer (roughly 12hrs on/off), but they sit upon entertainment electronics equipment where they presumably enjoy soil temps between 60-70F while the ambient air is always above 78F. Humidity is also maintained above 50% with the use of pebbles in my pot saucers. The lights previously were 3 fixtures on a track where two were those screw in flourescent bulbs ($2-4$/bulb) and one of those GE full spectrum bulbs (it looks a little bluish/purple and is also pretty cheap). I've heard individuals lose about 90-95% of their blooms/early fruit. I usually lose about 60%. So if I get 5 flowers, 2 usually develop into fruit. Don't know what I'm doing special other than warming the soil. I also don't fertilize regularly (though I probably should) but will feed quarterly. I did spend countless hours reading many suggestions and posts to make my own educated decisions. Biggest rule of thumb, don't overcare for your citrus. Outside of proper watering, they should be perfectly happy when ignored. best of luck, Eugene

hi Tanya, welcome to gowning under lights. It can be lots of fun, some times sad (when damp off hits, etc.); always has things old and new to learn; and gives you a real sense of accomplishment when everything works well. --besides, it lets you choose what you want to grow and not what the greenhouses have brought to the stores. Here's my opinions on your questions, beginning with the latter: 1) "grow lights." As strange as it may seem, these special, expensive lights are used to "show" the plant, and not to grow it. We see colors because that is the spectrum (Kelvin temperature) that is reflected to our eyes. When your flower/plant is placed beneath a grow light, it looks brighter, more vibrant, because the grow light is putting out more of that color, to be reflected, rather than absorbed, for growing. The 2' fluorescents should be okay if you put in at least one cool white bulb. What's often used for starting and for growing is a combination soft & cool white or two cool whites. 2) spiral florescent: I too have those lights. I use them in my house to make it brighter (get rid of the lower Kelvin) yellow light. The spiral florescent claims to be daylight, which has a Kelvin temp. around 5,000 to 6,000 degrees. A light that gives off "sunlight," provides more degrees Kelvin, thus the plant has more spectrum of light to choose from for growth. I'd be concerned, that at 840 lumens this is far too little light for the seedling to grow successfully. Even with my 4', 40 wt fluorescents, that puts out 4,100 lumens each, and are in a double lamp fixture, I still have to keep the plants within 4" of the lamps, and on 16hrs/day to be successful. To get that intensity, you'll either have to move the plants within an inch or so of the spiral bulbs or increase the number of bulbs. However, with each bulb you double the heat it puts out. My shop-light fluorescents can be comfortably touched, no fear of burning the plants. My spiral florescent, after a few minutes are too hot to touch. That would certainly burn the plants. -------------- Conclusion: I'd go with the two 2' fluorescents, changing one bulb for a cool white, or change to cool + soft, or two cool light, shop lights. Of course you could go to the much more expensive "daylight/sunlight/full-spectrum" fluorescents. Just make certain the combined Kelvin temperature is in the 5,000 to 6,000 K range and the lumens are sufficient. --I often find that the full-range lights are much dimmer than a cool-white. --of course you don't want to give the plant too much light. If the leaves begin to droop, angle down, as if they are trying to hide, then they are getting too much light. If they are reaching up, they are getting too little.-- Hope this helps, Bob

Fixtures with magnetic ballasts that take T12 bulbs aren't even legal in the US anymore (the phase-out got much less public attention and controversy than the current phase-out of incandescent 60/75/100w bulbs since consumers are more familiar and dependent on these). Replacement ballasts and bulbs for existing fixtures remain available. I'd change over to the T8s anyway because they're more efficient, and the electronic ballasts don't hum or flicker. Cold-weather-start ballasts are available, but I've found standard T8 ballasts often work fine in garages even on 20F winter days.