fluorescent lamps

I thought I'd purchase new tubes for this year's starting trays. I'm always confused by the many kinds listed - energy efficient, full spectrum, high output etc.
Any help out there or are the cheapest ones just a good?

For a two bulb fixture, get one "cool" and one "warm" which will give you close to full spectrum light at the least cost.

I have 4 shelves of 2 tubes each.

So put the combo of one cool (blue) & one warm(pink) in each fixture for each shelf

I use one full spectrum reptile bulb. They are really cheap.

I have a tanning bed with 8 bulbs down and 8 bulbs up. Does anyone think this could be used for plant growth? I can remove the lower bulbs so light only comes from above. Thanks very much for any info.

Robert Slattery
Collierville TN
zone 7b

I would think you could find someone to buy your tanning bed, buy regular bulbs and a shelf, and have money left over!! I don't know that tanning bulbs would work, though I suppose they would if you wanted to go that route. Would be an interesting experiment for sure!

Tanning lights are mostly in the UV range so they may be missing some parts of the visible spectrum that plants need to grow. I would also worry about the humidity getting too high in a closed in area like that. And I wonder how much the electricity would cost to run the tanning bed for the number of hours a day that the plants need light?