Lumens

christian1971 · March 12, 2016

How many lumens do tomato seedlings require? I see 4,000, 30,000 and so forth.mi decided to go with fewer plants. So my plants will have space in between.

luigiwu · March 12, 2016

I can't speak technically as I don't have a meter but all I use are T8 Alto daylight deluxe bulbs. I have 4 bulbs per 18-inch deep shelf. (two cheap shoplight fixtures)
Everything from home depot for pretty cheap. Been using it a couple of years now.

amideutch · March 12, 2016

Check out this thread for your answer.

Ami

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=13171

elight · March 12, 2016

I agree with Luigi. Don't over thing it too much. Shop lights with daylight bulbs and keep the seedlings as close as possible to the lights.

Sent from my SM-G925I using Tapatalk

Gardeneer · March 12, 2016

Same as Luigiwu .... T8, Daylight deluxe (6500k) ... inexpensive twin tube shoplight from HD. I dont know how much lumens they are putting out

This is my 3rd season with them. Just keep the plants/seedlings anywhere from almost touching to 4" away from the bulbs. Also 16 hrs on 8 hrs off. But whatever it is I am getting satisfactory results.

Gardeneer

I

arcanedeity · March 14, 2016

I buy these every year. Set them a few inches above the tomatoes and voila. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o01_s00

Scooty · March 14, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

Same as Luigiwu .... T8, Daylight deluxe (6500k) ... inexpensive twin tube shoplight from HD. I dont know how much lumens they are putting out

This is my 3rd season with them. Just keep the plants/seedlings anywhere from almost touching to 4" away from the bulbs. Also 16 hrs on 8 hrs off. But whatever it is I am getting satisfactory results.

Gardeneer

I

Regular T8s are like 2.2k-ish lumens per tube.

Worth1 · March 14, 2016

You all can take this for what you want but lumens are for people not plants.
They are a measurement of brightness that people can see not a plant.
Since your are using a light source for people the lumens are there but you need to concern yourself with wattage and color spectrum.

With the tube lights and the incandescent lights the wattage is what it is.
With the CFL lights the wattage comes in two forms.
One is what it draws and the other is the equivalent to an incandescent light.
They did this so people would know what light to buy to replace the lights they had.
In other words you can put a 100 watt light that draws 23 watts in a fixture that says no larger than 60 watts.
They did the same with LED lights.
You will then be getting 100 watts of light out of a 23 watt consumption.
The old rule of thumb has always been 50 watts per square foot at the plant.
I have been putting out a little over 100 watts per square foot.

If you are a person that can fabricate and wire up things then the CFL's are the way to go.
I managed to have 1200 usable watts and only consume 276 watts by doing this.
If you want plug and play the tube lights are best fitted for you.

Worth

Gardadore · March 14, 2016

I have been using the T12's for years but I think they have been discontinued. They have always worked fine. I can replace them with T8's because the holder takes both. Last year I bought a 4 ft. jump light system (tabletop) which uses the new T5's. The bulbs are thinner but very bright and are supposedly on bulb equals 2 T8's in coverage. Here is a link to a similar one

http://www.amazon.com/Start-JSV4-4-F...FZT5TC0JRZNBDY

I haven't measured the difference but under all these lights my tomatoes and eggplants have done fine.

March 12, 2016	#1
christian1971 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Minnesota Posts: 94	Lumens How many lumens do tomato seedlings require? I see 4,000, 30,000 and so forth.mi decided to go with fewer plants. So my plants will have space in between.

March 12, 2016	#2
luigiwu Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: ny Posts: 1,219	I can't speak technically as I don't have a meter but all I use are T8 Alto daylight deluxe bulbs. I have 4 bulbs per 18-inch deep shelf. (two cheap shoplight fixtures) Everything from home depot for pretty cheap. Been using it a couple of years now. __________________ Subirrigated Container gardening (RGGS) in NY, Zone 7! Last edited by luigiwu; March 12, 2016 at 12:10 PM.

March 12, 2016	#3
amideutch Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Germany 49°26"N 07°36"E Posts: 5,041	Check out this thread for your answer. Ami http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=13171 __________________ Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘...Holy Crap .....What a ride!'

March 12, 2016	#4
elight Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Allentown, PA Posts: 349	I agree with Luigi. Don't over thing it too much. Shop lights with daylight bulbs and keep the seedlings as close as possible to the lights. Sent from my SM-G925I using Tapatalk

March 12, 2016	#5
Gardeneer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7 Posts: 4,918	Same as Luigiwu .... T8, Daylight deluxe (6500k) ... inexpensive twin tube shoplight from HD. I dont know how much lumens they are putting out This is my 3rd season with them. Just keep the plants/seedlings anywhere from almost touching to 4" away from the bulbs. Also 16 hrs on 8 hrs off. But whatever it is I am getting satisfactory results. Gardeneer I

March 14, 2016	#6
arcanedeity Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Zone 4b/5a, Iowa Posts: 36	I buy these every year. Set them a few inches above the tomatoes and voila. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o01_s00

March 14, 2016	#8
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	You all can take this for what you want but lumens are for people not plants. They are a measurement of brightness that people can see not a plant. Since your are using a light source for people the lumens are there but you need to concern yourself with wattage and color spectrum. With the tube lights and the incandescent lights the wattage is what it is. With the CFL lights the wattage comes in two forms. One is what it draws and the other is the equivalent to an incandescent light. They did this so people would know what light to buy to replace the lights they had. In other words you can put a 100 watt light that draws 23 watts in a fixture that says no larger than 60 watts. They did the same with LED lights. You will then be getting 100 watts of light out of a 23 watt consumption. The old rule of thumb has always been 50 watts per square foot at the plant. I have been putting out a little over 100 watts per square foot. If you are a person that can fabricate and wire up things then the CFL's are the way to go. I managed to have 1200 usable watts and only consume 276 watts by doing this. If you want plug and play the tube lights are best fitted for you. Worth

March 14, 2016	#9
Gardadore Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Saylorsburg, PA Posts: 261	I have been using the T12's for years but I think they have been discontinued. They have always worked fine. I can replace them with T8's because the holder takes both. Last year I bought a 4 ft. jump light system (tabletop) which uses the new T5's. The bulbs are thinner but very bright and are supposedly on bulb equals 2 T8's in coverage. Here is a link to a similar one http://www.amazon.com/Start-JSV4-4-F...FZT5TC0JRZNBDY I haven't measured the difference but under all these lights my tomatoes and eggplants have done fine.