hey everyone.. im looking to start growing a tomato plant indoors... im going deep water culture in a 5 gallon bucket and an aquarium air
pump to oxygenate the solution...
anyway, ive been thinking of
grow lights.. this plant will be about 4 feet high, trimmed if neccessary and will be grown indoors with a wall on 3 sides of it to reflect more light onto the plant, the
bulbs will be mounted from the side to cover more surface area
one option is a 100w
hps bulb, 9,500 lumens of about a 6500 color temperature, since the light is a more localized source it would have to be placed further away to cover the entire side of the plant and to prevent the plant from being burnt
my other option is two 48" long t5 grow
lights, i can get these in any color temperature it seems, and they produce about 5,000 lumens each at 54w, so 108w and about 10,000 lumens with this setup... also, i can position them closer since the longer bulbs will be able to reach the top and bottom of the plant, and lower heat would prevent burning, also, a 2x 48" tube light fixture is cheaper than an HPS
ballast, and easier to replace
so, same color temperature, roughly the same lumens, and roughly the same cost in power... should i take the benefits of the longer bulbs closer to the plant and go with the
fluorescent setup?
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