I found an "indoor garden" fixture at a yard sale several years ago that
takes two 20 watt (2 ft) fluorescent bulbs and two 15 watt incandescent
bulbs. That's a more equal proportion of fluorescent and incandescent bulbs
than Jim said is recommended, but it works beautifully. The characteristics
of light from incandescent bulbs varies with wattage and this set-up must
provide a much larger proportion of red (light.
The fixture fits perfectly above a plastic tub and I drape a blanket above
it. That keeps the cats out and maintains the tub at a nice, warm rooting
and germinating temperature, even in the cold corner of the room.
Bruce Wittchen
1/2 mile outside Hartford, CT
where it's time to start onion seeds
> There is no need to buy grow-lights for your plants. Grow-lights are
> expensive, many of them don't emit enough of the longer wave-lengths of
> light and there is a better alternative.
> If we examine growth chambers like those used by many universities,
> etc., we'll learn that they use fluorescent and incandescent bulbs to
> duplicate sunlight. The proper proportion is seven watts of fluorescent to
> one watt of incandescent. The entire ceiling of growth chambers are
> covered with bulbs in the same spacing as a fluorescent fixture would have.
>
>Jim Fruth