This is my first time trying to grow daylilies from seed. Would this be a good fixture to purchase for lighting during the sprouting and growing time?

http://www.wayfair.com/Hydrofa...

I do not do much growing from seed, but ran across this info that may be of use to you.

http://www.gardeners.com/how-t...

http://www.urbanorganicgardene...


And, the folks on the day lily forum here are pretty knowledgeable about seeds and day lilies.

The thread "Starting Daylily seeds" in Daylilies forum

That is really expensive. Buy a shop light and some quality bulbs - grow or natural. Less than 30 $ for a 2 bulb fixture.

I've read on some sites that the grow lights don't fit (or work??) on the shop light fixtures. I don't recall which site it was. I'll try asking at our local stores (Fleet Farm and Menards). Hopefully they have some knowledge on the subject.

Sue, if it is a T-5 tube and a T-5 fixture, it makes absolutely no difference whether the tubes are warm, cool, daylight, or gro-light. T-5 is T-5. You can't use T-5 HO tubes in a standard T-5 fixture though. The HO tubes require an entirely different ballast and it would be dangerous to use HO tubes in a standard T-5 fixture because of possible/probable overheating. The reverse is fine though. You can use standard T-5 tubes in a T-5 HO fixture.

Thank you. I'll make sure to be very aware of the T-5 vs. T-5 HO when I purchase. That's VERY good to know.

By the way, I started with T-8 fixtures, then switched to T-5 and now all the fixtures are T-5 HO. I replaced sixteen T-5 fixtures with eight T-5 HO fixtures and get double the light with half the fixtures.

drdawg said: I replaced sixteen T-5 fixtures with eight T-5 HO fixtures and get double the light with half the fixtures.

That would mean an HO light puts out four times the amount of light per unit length. That's not right: HO lights emit just under twice the amount.
http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/program... (See the table at the end.)

N.B. Since a lot of people won't know what HO means...... HO=High Output

The fixtures have twice the number of tubes, Rick.

petruske said:I've read on some sites that the grow lights don't fit (or work??) on the shop light fixtures. I don't recall which site it was. I'll try asking at our local stores (Fleet Farm and Menards). Hopefully they have some knowledge on the subject.

As Ken indicated, that is simply not true.

One thing I do is look at the options available. If they sell 3 types of "shop" lights, I buy the middle priced one. If 2 types, I buy the better of the two.

In the past I have bought "grow" lights, and I used to use 1 bulb of warm and 1 bulb cool in the same fixture. Experimentation and research showed me that "natural" (aka full spectrum) bulbs work well for my needs.

For a simple hobbyist application, I see no need to spend a ton of money on a fancy fixture.

I start from 500 - 1,500 or more seeds in my basement each winter.

drdawg said:The fixtures have twice the number of tubes, Rick.

Oh! You didn't say that, so how was anyone to know?!
Then, of course, you are right. I just didn't want readers to be misled.

I was just trying to keep everything simple, Rick. Nothing I do is "scientifically" important/provable. I'm only a hobbyist grower, experimenting as I go along. I do have a reliable lumen meter, so measuring the light output at different distances from my fluorescent lights is quite easy.

The important thing I wanted people to understand is that the HO fixtures, though certainly more expensive, are far brighter. A down-side is that they also get hot, so plants have to kept a fair distance from them. During winter, that heat generated is a plus though. It helps keep the greenhouses warmer, reducing the power necessary to run electric heaters.

The last time I did some reading was a year or two ago, but back then T-5s were a little more efficient than T8s (lumens per watt), and brighter, but much more expensive to buy tubes and fixtures.

At that time, T5 HO was MUCH brighter but (I think) quite a bit less efficient). And the HO bulbs either had a shorter lifetime or were expensive, or maybe both. I forget.

I thought at that time that T5s would only be worth it if I wanted the extra intensity or fewer fixtures. If I had planned to burn a lot of kilowatts, eventually the higher efficiency would "pay for" the initial price of fixtures plus tubes.

I was going to wait until T5s became the new "standard" and prices dropped, but LED lights make me wonder. When LED prices drop a lot, they will be much more efficient than T5s (I think). T8s might be the "low price point standard choice" until LEDs become cheap enough to replace them.

The old T12s are just so inefficient and low intensity that I would not buy another - I'd replace them with T8s unless T5 prices have dropped lately (or I found a good sale price).

to all. I feel much more confident to go out and purchase the lighting for my set up. I plan to take lots of pictures as I go along. IF everything works out, I'll post pictures. Well...I guess even if I run into problems, I'll still post pictures for you all to suggest where I went wrong. That way others can learn from any mistakes I may make.

That's how we all learn!

I have been most disappointed in all the LED fixtures I have used. Most did not last a year (regardless of what you read about their longevity). Its a problem with the voltage step-down module, not the LED bulbs per se. All those that failed were actually the more expensive, higher watt fixtures, and they seem to have been poorly made (all come from China, naturally). Also, being very low voltage, they simply don't produce much light. One of my problems is that I am using the LED's in moisture situations and thus, they must be water-tight. If not for this, I could go with higher voltage/higher light output, but those devices must be fan-cooled. They can't get wet.

Time will tell whether my HO fixtures (tubes) are long-lasting. I have only had mine for a year. Thus far, I have seen no problems. Again, I am speaking from experience, not scientifically measuring anything.

I agree on the LED. I have not tried one - so no experience. At this point, I do not intend to try them. Too expensive and cannot produce the quantity of light I need at a reasonable price.

As my T-12s die, I will be replacing with T-8s. When the price of T-5s come down enough, I will rotate into them from T-8s.

If I were starting from scratch and only needed one fixture, not sure whether I would go T-8 or T-5.

T-5. No comparison. Spend a few bucks and get better quality light. I have never regretted going with the HO tubes. Money well spent in my opinion.

I agree with Ken about the T5s.

What is the added cost for HO over regular T-5?