recommend a light for starting seeds

Can anybody recommend a light for starting seeds? I used to have this ballast that was about 4 ft long with 2 40 watt flourescent tubes in it, but it got kinda flickery, and the thing was ancient, so I tossed it. I am totally not up to date on the CFL thing.

Criteria:
1. I need to start about 35 seeds at a time.
2. Cheap is good.
3. Available at Home Depot is also good, but I can get whatever.

I have HID's, so this is just an initial seed starting lamp.

Thanks!

....I personally use t-8, 4 foot tubes.....6500 kelvin (lowes, walmart)

...link ----> http://www.ballastkit.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1058&cPath=0_982#googlebase

kamut said:

Can anybody recommend a light for starting seeds? I used to have this ballast that was about 4 ft long with 2 40 watt flourescent tubes in it, but it got kinda flickery, and the thing was ancient, so I tossed it. I am totally not up to date on the CFL thing.

Criteria:
1. I need to start about 35 seeds at a time.
2. Cheap is good.
3. Available at Home Depot is also good, but I can get whatever.

I have HID's, so this is just an initial seed starting lamp.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

That was the ballast going out in that old fixture, which would have worked nicely considering the larger amount of coverage you need. Also, Menards is much better for lighting than Home Depot...heading there today in fact to get some of these:
http://www.menards.com/main/lighting-fans/lighting-hardware-accessories/sockets-adapters/white-incandescent-outlet-to-lampholder-medium-base/p-1401688-c-7526.htm

I heard t-5s work well for seedlings. Im sure a few cfls would work. I started from clone under a t-5. Now Im using cfls for the whole grow. Good luck!

dont EVERuse cheap or too small gauge extension cord. your life DOES depend on it....peace

I start seeds under my living room cfl, when the first set of leaves open, I move them to a t-5

How many watts can I run through a single indoor extension cord?...could one conceivably use 10-23W off one line?.

Sunbiz1 said:

How many watts can I run through a single indoor extension cord?...could one conceivably use 10-23W off one line?.

Click to expand...

lol... yeh i think so

Sunbiz1 said:

How many watts can I run through a single indoor extension cord?...could one conceivably use 10-23W off one line?.

Click to expand...

I think your fine...thats only 230 watts total....space heaters use up to 1600 watts and you can use a indoor extension cord with them.....another reason I like cfls is, its hard to burn your house down with them

um home depot cfls and a few lamps. i use one 68 watt clf in 65k temp for my 2x2x1.5ft space with my bubble cloner and cloning tray in it. works magic. u could get away with like 4 30 watt cfls if u really wanted to for cheap.

um i have 300 watts or so worth of cfls plugged into one indoor cord running thru mine right now. lol. u will be good. wouldnt run much more than that tho unless its a bigger gauge cord.

I would recommend using T8 or T5 lighting. You can get both the ballasts and bulbs at any local aquarium/pet store quite cheaply. The T5 ballast and bulbs will be pricier, but provide more lumens/watt than traditional T8 lighting. There is even a wide array of bulbs to choose from including high-output bulbs which have been modified to provide the perfect spectrum for photosynthesis. There are even bulbs designed to grow coral which can be very useful in growing marijuana when used in conjuncture with other bulbs.