I get the feeling we are rehashing some of this. I'll link the discussions about the problems with the peat pellets for you below. Some like them, many hate them. Some swear by them, others won't touch them for anything. As to the kits, if you really want to use one after all the info provided then the size all depends on what you will be growing and how many of each. As i mentioned above, the problem with using one kit for several different things at the same time is they don't all germinate at the same time. So you either have to immediately transplant out the things that sprout early and leave the rest, or cut the cell packs inside all apart, OR, what is best is to use one kit for each plant. Tomatoes in one kit, the peppers in another one, all the petunias in one, all the lobelia, etc. in their own kit. See the problem? So if you are germinating 40 pepper plants then buy the 40 cell one. Or buy the 60 cell one and make sure it can be cut into separate sections. The advantage to the Jiffy 72 cell starter other have mentioned is that it can be separated into several different 6 or 9 cell packs so as things germinate they can be removed from the heat and out from under the domes and the rest left. Plug trays work well for those of us that are starting 144 or 288 of the same plant but otherwise you have to transplant out of the plug tray as they germinate to get them off the heat. So I don't think you have really mention what seeds and how many plants you will be working with? Can you tell us? As to the lights. Did you read the FAQs I linked you to above? There is one on the lights used. You can go to Home depot or Lowes or Walmart's website to find out the bulb prices in your area.. Here they are about $9 each and the fixture for them costs about $18. What I really would like is a Bio Dome System from Park's. Did you read the discussions about the problems with them that I linked? But if that is what you really want then why not get one? The only problem with the NK Seed Starter 18 you bought is that it takes awfully lot of potting mix just to start a seed and it will take a lot of heat to warm that much soil up to germination temps. They work great for transplanting plants into but if you want to use them for germinating then just put a little bit of soil in them until it sprouts. But years ago all I did was start the seed in a Styrofoam cups and put them under four florescent light tubes and raised them up when they need to be raised. I started out with them about 2 or 3 inches above the cups. I had no Heating Mat at that time.. If that worked for you why not just stick with it? Just add a couple of inches of soil to the cup, punch some holes in it, and instead of some kit just buy a heating pad and a light? Hope this helps. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Peat pellet discussions

Karine, I've been using these things for 4 years now so they last at least that long. But when I tried to get reserve bulbs on Amazon, they were no longer available. Reviewers who contacted the manufacturer said the product was discontinued because the bulbs themselves were no longer available. I built a Japanese-style shoji lantern specifically for these fixtures so when they break, I'm pretty much screwed. I decided I will just replace the fixture with LED strips eventually. That said, it was worth it for me. But if you have an open shelf, the 2-foot ones will work, they'll just stick out awkwardly on the sides. If it is a closed shelf, I suppose you're stuck too. There are LED strips you can install instead. They are more expensive, though and depending on the kind of shelf you are using, you might need to rig them a bit, i.e. tape them to a strip of wood that you can then hang (if you have one of those wire shelf things). I didn't know much about LED grow lights when I got these T5HOs but if I knew then what I have thus far learned, I would have invested on the LED strips. In point of fact, if you find replacement bulbs in Canada, could you get me 3 as well lol Because you just might have the last hoard of 17-watt T5HOs on the planet. I hope this helps Pagan

For seed raising I use a couple of T5 LED tubulars side by side (used to use fluoros, but have updated), each 7 Watt, 680 LM, 6500 K colour temperature. I can comfortably get 3 seed trays under them. They are hanging with a couple of light chains from two hooks - dead easy then to adjust the height.

It appears the Apollo product is not safety certified but the Mars product is. I would prefer the Mars product (or any other safety certified one) over the Apollo one every day of the week. This is *especially* a concern if you were going to use metal shelves.