You can use regular soft white instead of the more expensive grow light florescent tubes if you can
find them in 36 inches.
Because you already have the
fluorescent fixtures you may want to use them but fluorescent tubes
emit a gentle, low temperature light in a very low wattage. Excellent for the first two weeks of plant
life but simply do not provide the intensity of light required by most plants but High-Intensity
Discharge (HID)
lights do. They are the same lights you see in parking lots, warehouses, baseball
diamonds and other places where reliability and economy are a prime concern.The two common
HID lights used for growing plants are
metal halide lights that produce an intense light of a
blue-white spectrum excellent for vegetative plant growth. And High-Pressure Sodium lights that puts
out an orange shaded light which simulates the rich red hue of the autumn sun. Best used for fruiting
or flowering. For best results use both kinds to give your plants the full light spectrum needed for
healthy plant growth.
If electricity is also a concern consider that a 40 Watt fluorescent tube puts out 22 lumens per watt
and a Metal Halide puts out 125 lumens per watt and an even higher 140 lumens per watt for
High-Pressure Sodium.
Ron