WARM white bulbs???

Hi all,

I use regular shoplight fixtures with 40 watt cool white bulbs to start seedlings, and generally have excellent success. However, I have become intrigued with the discussions of "warm white" bulbs...I can't seem to find them in 48" lengths in any of the big box stores. Does anyone have a particular model/brand name of economical warm white bulbs?

Thanks! Lois

I have sylvania brand warm white. I usually buy bulbs from Home Depot & Menards. Frankford

Don't waste your time buying warm white bulbs - they're expensive and don't do what most people claim (per a U of MN professor). For the cost, two cool white bulbs are all your plants/seedling need. Warm white tubes provide light more pleasing (less harsh) to our eyes and that's why people "think" that their plants are doing better, because the plants look somewhat better under the spectrum of light that WW tubes provide. That doesn't mean that your plants will grow better under that light.

Chroma 50 tubes will give your seedlings more blue spectrum to keep the seedlings more compact. Home Depot carries Chroma 50's, but that's not what the bulbs are marked on the paper/cardboard outer sleeve. Look at the label that's printed on the actual bulb; the bulbs will be marked as "chroma50" or "chroma 50". The outer sleeve might be labeled as "daylight" tubes.

One of the big-time Gesneriad growers, here in the Twin Cities, used Chroma 50's exclusively because of the bulbs ability to keep plants compact (he has since passed away, unfortunately).

Chroma 50's are also less expensive than Grow Lux wide spectrum, which also has more of the blue spectrum of light.

Warm white tubes also do not have the intensity that cool white tubes have, and it's the intensity that your seedlings need.
Mike

Great information Mike!
Thanks,
JanetS

Thanks for the answers and great information! Lois

I buy whats on sale and put different colors in same fixture .

I looked all over for Chroma 50 tubes and couldn't find them.I did find Sylvannia daylight tubes. I have to say sunlight is the best light of all
whenever possible. Over the years I have mixed different colors including agricultural grow lights.