Need advice on supplemental light
I guess I am in the dark about light. Around 9:00 a.m. my plant room (I call it a greenhouse) gets good morning sun for about 3 hours with light measuring about 3000 fc on the east side to 1000 on the SW. Around noon or 1:00 my mixed pine and hardwoods block the light and I get 300 to 500 fc. Around 4:00, another opening in the trees lets in filtered light about 1000 fc for a couple of hours. Is this enough light to have Phals, Dens and a couple of Catts bloom. They are growing and rooting in S/H, but I don't know about flowering. Also, I don't know what the light conditions will be when the leaves fall.
I really don't want to take out the trees because my wife will kill me. So if I need more light, I am thinking of supplemental lights and that's when the confusion increases.
Can anyone explain the terms, High Bay lighting and New Wave. Also Tec light.
I understand that T5 bulbs put out more light than T8 but I haven't seen a comparison report for the same bulb maker. Are T5 about 5000 lumens and T8 about 3000? This should be approximately 500 and 300 fc. Yes?
Am I correct that a two bulb T5 would add 1000 fc and four T8 bulbs would add 1200 fc? I ask this question because I can get full spectrum (5000K) T8 locally at HD, but I would have to order the T5 on the internet. That also holds for replacement bulbs. By price, I can get the four bulb T8, that I described, for less than $80 while the T5 set-up is a couple of hundred plus shipping.
And, the bottom line is: will 1200 fc plus the natural light give my plants enough light. Are the fc from the lamps directively additive to the fc from the sun or is there some interaction that I have missed? Will good reflection give me a substantial increase in fc?
I have read through past threads and things get a little confusing when all the different types of lights are discussed. I hope this all makes sense.
Oh, and I thought New Wave was a rock group.
Jim
Last edited by Learner; 09-17-2008 at 02:20 PM..
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