Grow lighting help needed :-(

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hobby_Libby Oct 13, 2021

I'm looking at 4ft 4 tube LED sets from Amazon.
I'm finding some companies will list information if asked & others are vague in their answers, or refuse to answer at all.
I've found contradictory information on the web as to what numbers are important & what's not.
I thought watts were important, per a couple sites.
I read lumens weren't important.
I read whether it's a T5 or T8 tube, it doesn't matter. That the T number only indicates tube size.
But otherwise I don't know what numbers are important, so I need help.
Please & thanks!
~~~
•Kelvin - This should be between 4,000 & 6,000 for nonflowering houseplants?
•CRI - This should be 90 or above?
•Spectrum - Look for "full". But what numbers represent "full"? And what nm & percentage number per color?
•What PAR number?
•What PPFD number in inches?

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hcmcdole Powder Springs, GA(Zone 7b) Mar 27, 2022

I would go for LED shop lights today as the prices are very low and competitive. If you grow high intensity light plants then you will pay a lot more for those features.

I started out with T12 years ago and then replaced all those over 4 to 5 years with T8 (more efficient and the same amount of light). Now I am in the process of changing out all the T8 lights with LED. I am running 90+ shop lights in the basement. The LED lights are 50 watts/5000 lumens compared to 64 watts for the T8 lights, much brighter in my opinion, run cooler enough that the leaves that touch the bulbs do not burn, and so lightweight that I can handle them with one hand instead of two. I get most of mine from Sam's Club (Honeywell even though the name of the fixture is Intertek) for $20 each. I buy five at a time and may have replaced a third of the 90+ so far. They are not without fault though - I've had to replace 3 of them so far but I put the burned out fixture in the box, take it back to Sam's for a refund and buy some more.

I built this stand last year using 2x2 furring strips to hang four LED shop lights for taller plants. The results were very good as these plants suffered in past winters next to other shelving units.

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