A note on Philips NS fluorescent bulbs

[silence882]

Hey all,

I just wanted to share my conclusions on Philips Natural Sunshine bulbs:

They suck for growing orchids.

They put out very nice light for reading and such, but I can't recommend against them for growing strongly enough. I got a 2-tube 48" T8 setup about 18 months ago and decided on the Philips NS bulbs because of their impressively wide light spectrum. The leaves on the plants have always struck me as pale, so I switched to one each of regular ol' Philips soft white and cool white bulbs. In the past two weeks, the plants have darkened up and have lost the chlorotic look.

I can't say why the NS bulbs didn't work, but I'm never going back to them.

--Stephen

 

[Ross]

I had the same reaction when I've put the Sylvania GRO-LUX F40/GRO/AQ bulb in my mix of flourescents. It seems to have much more light in the UV (blue) range than my standard Sylvania GRO-LUX F40/GRO/AQ/WS bulb. I my case, I think the plants, especially the seedlings were getting too much light in the blue spectrum. After removing the "bluer" F40/GRO/AQ bulb and replacing it with the F40/GRO/AQ/WS bulb, the plants green up, also. I'm now using the "bluer" F40/GRO/AQ bulb where I winter over some of my larger Catts, and they work fine there.
I've tried several of the so called "daylight" bulbs and compared to other wide spectrum bulbs, they tend to be more green or blue/green in color, so lots of their light (green) is wasted because it is not used by the plants. Plant growth and flowering is enhanced by using bulbs that emit more light in the red and blue spectrums. That's what makes the 'cool white/warm white' combo effective. What's interesting, though, when placed next to the Sylvania wide spectrum bulbs mentioned above, the standard cool white looks green and the standard warm white looks orange. The ultimate question is while the WS bulbs are more efficient at producing the spectrum needed for optimal plant growth and flowering, are they worth the price difference?

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

I use 4 bulb fixtures, and I always stick to 3 cool whites, 1 warm white...I have never been impressed by "daylight" bulbs...I only use the warm white for balance...cool whites have the most lumens. Take care, Eric

 

[Rick]

cool whites have the most lumens. Take care, Eric

Lumens or foot candles realy is what it all boils down to.

 

[NYEric]

I installed 2 Hydrofarm, Agrosun Dayspot grow bulbs [150 watt] in fixtures. The one I put over my littlest seedlings worked great doubling their size in 3 or 4 nights. The one I put over some more mature plants desicated the leaves until they looked like roast corn husks in a few hours. Even w/ fans S/H and open windows. Hot damn!!! Or is it damn hot!? Still learning. E.

 

[Heather]

The one I put over some more mature plants desicated the leaves until they looked like roast corn husks in a few hours. Even w/ fans S/H and open windows. Hot damn!!! Or is it damn hot!? Still learning. E.

I've been burning plants left and right in the new house. Takes a few days to adjust things around and increase/decrease distance between the plants and the lights. Pfftt.....not enough! Too much! Aiiii!

 

[NYEric]

Everything will be fine when we all move our collections to the mountains in Ecuador!!!:drool: