Hi, I wanted to try starting my tomatoes with seeds this year instead of store bought plants. I've heard about using lighting tubes as a cheaper way to do this but they don's put out a lot of light. It seems like the new smaller cfl lights would be a good idea. Any suggestions? I haven't found much on the internet about using them for grow lights. thankyou Trev
I still use the 40 W 4 foot tubes for early starting seeds but after germination most of my lighting comes from 42 W and 85 W CFL's (until I can move them the window for sunlight). Shaun
Regular flourescent tubes don't have a very high lumen/ft. That's why for growing indoors, there are usually 4 tubes under the reflector. Usable growing area is about 8 square feet. If you need a smaller area, a high wattage CFL provides light as a point source so with a good reflector, you get an area of 4 square feet. I would think you need about 20-30 watts/ft2. Watts/square foot are about the same in both, and cost/square foot is similar as well. So go for the CFL is you only need 4ft2, Tubes if you need 8ft2 and metal halide for 16ft2 and bigger (cost/ft2 is comparable).