This thread is in reply to a blog post by RickCorey entitled "Fluorescent Bulb Types".
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Oct 18, 2014 9:47 AM CST
Plants Admin Emeritus
Name: Evan
Pioneer Valley south, MA, USA (Zone 6a)
Charter ATP Member Aroids Irises I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Tropicals Vermiculture
Foliage Fan Bulbs Hummingbirder Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Composter Plant Identifier
Great article/resource for us here at ATP. I enjoyed reading it, again, to refresh my memory for the long indoor growing season to come.
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Oct 18, 2014 12:46 PM CST
Name: Debra
Garland, TX (NE Dallas suburb) (Zone 8a)
Rescue dogs: Angels with paws needi
Dragonflies Dog Lover Bookworm I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Photography Bee Lover
Plays in the sandbox Butterflies Region: Texas Garden Sages I sent a postcard to Randy! Charter ATP Member
Useful information, Rick. Thank you for putting it together and posting it for the rest of us to benefit from your hard work. Big Grin
It’s okay to not know all the answers.
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Oct 21, 2014 5:50 PM CST
Name: Rick Corey
Everett WA 98204 (Zone 8a)
Sunset Zone 5. Koppen Csb. Eco 2f
Frugal Gardener Garden Procrastinator I helped beta test the first seed swap Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Region: Pacific Northwest
Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Avid Green Pages Reviewer Garden Ideas: Master Level Garden Sages I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
Thank you both!

Special thanks to Evan, who pointed out that "CFL" only applies to certain kinds of bulbs with built-in ballast. I went back and edited out the references to T-5 and T-8 as "CFL tubes".

Really, they are "fluorescent tubes using technology as modern and efficient as CFL bulbs use".

In a way, I'm sad that LED lights will knock out T-8 and T-5 tubes the same way they are knocking out T-12 tubes - slowly but inexorably. I wish I had some 2-tube or four-tube T-5 fixtures! But I am cheap, so I MIGHT buy some T-8s between now and cheap LED lights coming on the market.

I originally hoped to work this up into an article, but I couldn't document what I really wanted to say: that "Gro-lites" are just broad spectrum tubes with a fancy price and name added.

Maybe some "gro-lites" also have a wacky color balance, like "purple", but have no benefit to the plants equal to the increase in price.

I couldn't find good spectra for both kinds of tubes.
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