Phillips 32-watt Cool Whites versus Daylight Deluxe??

Hello--newbie here. I am just setting up my greenhouse, ahem, OK, it's in the basement. A greenhouse is in my dreams! But meanwhile, I'm starting my seeds under 4-ft. shoplight-type fixtures downstairs.
Today at Home Depot the orange-aproned "expert" said I should buy Phillips 32-watt Daylight Deluxe T-8 4-foot lights for seeds, so I did. I have several sets of of them arranged in "wide reflector" shoplights, with two side by side, four lights to a shelf. They are placed about 2 inches above my seedlings, which are just emerging.
My question (after reading more about lights on this forum) is: should I replace some or all of these with Cool White lights? I don't know what the difference is--
My seedlings run the gamut of the usual suspects, annual flowers and veggies for zone 7a. No tropicals or succulents.
Thanks in advance.
--Emily

Emily,

"Today at Home Depot the orange-aproned "expert" said I should buy Phillips 32-watt Daylight Deluxe T-8 4-foot lights for seeds, so I did. ...should I replace some or all of these with Cool White lights?"

Since you already have them, use them. The Home Depot guy did not tell you wrong. But, in my opinion, those bulbs are much more expensive than you need. However, they should work very well.

I use the Philips cool white T8s, which come in a box of 10 bulbs for $19.99 at Home Depot. They have a color temperature of 4100 °K, which is cool enough. I suspect your Philips Daylight Deluxe bulbs are actually considerably better than my $2 bulbs, but they probably cost quite a bit more. And I overdrive my bulbs, which makes them much brighter. I would hazard a guess that the overdriven $2 bulbs considerably outperform the more expensive bulbs.

"I have several sets of of them arranged in "wide reflector" shoplights, with two side by side, four lights to a shelf."

The "wide reflector" shoplights were a serious "goof". The wide reflectors seriously restrict how many shoplights you can hang over a shelf. You should have purchased the Home Depot Commercial Electric model 732-334 shoplights. They usually cost about $8 each. They have narrow reflectors and, since they are only 5 inches wide, you can easily hang four shoplights over a 24-inch shelf, to get 8 fluorescent tubes per shelf. And, by overdriving them, you get the light equivalent of at least 12 tubes per 24-inch shelf.

"They are placed about 2 inches above my seedlings, which are just emerging."

That's a good placement. Many people make the mistake of hanging the lights too high above their seedlings.

MM

Thank you, Maine Man, for your prompt reply. I really appreciate your advice. Do you think I should bite the bullet and get the cheaper, narrower shop lights you recommend ASAP, thus enabling me to use eight 48-in tubes per shelf, intermixing the Phillips Daylight Deluxe lights that I have with more of the Cool White T-8s. (Perhaps I can just use the wide-reflectors as regular shop lighting elsewhere in my basement).
I've never sown under lights before --I want to do the right thing by my seeds and seedlings. It sounds as if the four lights I presently have above each 24 x 48 inch shelf just aren't going to do it? Correct?
Thanks again!!
--Emily

Emily,

"Do you think I should bite the bullet and get the cheaper, narrower shop lights you recommend ASAP, thus enabling me to use eight 48-in tubes per shelf, intermixing the Phillips Daylight Deluxe lights that I have with more of the Cool White T-8s."

Yes, I would. The Home Depot Commercial Electric model 732-334 shoplights should cost only about $8 each.

"It sounds as if the four lights I presently have above each 24 x 48 inch shelf just aren't going to do it? Correct?"

They might be sufficient for some shade-loving plants like coleus and impatiens, but in general more fluorescent light is better. I'm starting some zinnia seedlings now, and they have a big appetite for bright light.

Home Depot also has relatively inexpensive electric timers that you can use to automatically turn your lights on at a preset time and automatically turn them off at a preset time. I usually set my timers for 16 hours of light and 8 hours of dark.

Incidentally, when your seedlings get their first "true" leaves, you might want to think about supplying a little artificial breeze to them with a small electric fan. I usually run my fans off of the same timers I use for my lights, but if you wanted to use separate timers for your fans, that would be OK too, and give you a little more flexibility in your scheduling.

MM

Thank you so much. Off to HD to get more fixtures! And a fan.
I do appreciate your taking the time to answer my questions.

--Emily