My first and only fluorescent grow light is my well used 4 ft, 4 bulb t5ho with, I think, 5000k daylight bulbs. It draws over 200 watts, It makes a lot of heat, too much for some early starts of cool weather crops. It has a decent, hammered reflector. But the bulbs were never replaced, and the outer pair (I was mistaken in another thread) runs rather dim - the inner pair still seems very bright after a warm up. When I run a fan, the cool air convection over all the tubes seems to dim them a bit as well. And while it is 4 bulbs, I'd like to have more spread out light to accommodate more trays. Since I only have had one light, I have only used one old drafting desk to keep all my trays - at times there were 10 trays fighting over that one bright light! It worked, but it also was work to keep them happy and not knocked on the floor.

My brother needed lights for a grow system of his own (FINALLY something good happened this year no more growing starts for two houses) and I have been along for the testing.

So here is a quick and possibly ill informed review, but it might save some time if you need grow lights quick or cheap.

He first tried some walmart hyper tough shop lights. Those are very hard to look at, with led chips making very bright point sources. And the housings were ugly gray plastic. They might work on plants, but hard on eyes. I didn't see these in person, so I can't comment on the color temp. They were returned before I saw them, "very junky".

The second tried were the harbor freight ~$20 light, 4 ft (46in) 5000 lumens, single row of leds. Aluminum housing. Compared to my old grow light, these were pretty warm. Warmer than a 4100k cool white fluorescent. I would consider them warm whites. The throw on these was particularly narrow as well, so I wouldn't think of them as a general replacement for an old t12 shoplight. Much brighter under the light, but a lot more fringe shadow. Another oddity, the cord is very fat and stiff, so much so that the light housing has a very hard time hanging vertically. These lights don't weigh much.

The third lights were the harbor freight ~$25 light, 4 ft (47in) 5500 lumens, double row of LEDs, and 8x linkable. Aluminum housing. These throw about the identical color to my old grow light, much cooler than the other HF lights, and cooler than my basement 4100k cool white t12s. The throw is wider than the single row light. The cord is better as well - much more flexible. The draw for each is 0.5amp so at 120v that is 60 watts per.

I kept a few of these third type to upgrade my grow area. For a little more money, it is was a no brainer. I can't say for sure how well they work on the plants, since I just started using them, but so far so good. They make a lot of pretty white light for 60 watts, and not much waste heat. I have one over my lettuce, and it is looking stout and temp probe says 63 f, which is just a couple degrees over ambient for the basement. The housing looks like a brushed aluminum. Not a shiny reflector.

Now, with the extra flexibility of multiple lights, I am going to build a two tiered rack/shelf that sits atop the current old table, to give me 3 or 4 tray bays on each of them, since I can easily hang these 2 lb led lights underneath the shelf above. I am going to try to bend the aluminum housings out a little bit wider, because they are just a little too cupped.

Good to know about the double lights from Harbor Freight - thanks @JRinPA! I have a bunch of those singles - two over my hydro, along with the old T5, and have put three in place of 4 old T8 bulbs over two trays, in my seed room. And I know what you mean about that stiff cord! Here's what I did to alleviate the problem - I took 2 scrap pieces of plexiglass, about 14" long by maybe 2", and glued a strip of 1" Velcro on them. Then, I glued 2 pieces of the Velcro on the fixtures, about 4" or so from each end. This wasn't to support them, but to position them, and stabilize them. Works great! I use Velcro for a lot of things!

So the warmer light works for growing - that is good to hear. Reviews said they did. I actually like the warmer color for in the house, and was trying to decide where to use them, but its about 90 degrees of bright from them, and then tapering to shadow pretty quick. The upstairs rooms still have a 100 watt incandescant ceiling fixture, and they throw plenty of light all around. And we stocked up on 100 watt bulbs at the first govt threats to outlaw their manufacture, so we have plenty. But downstairs I like shop lights and those single row HF lights leave a lot of side shadows in comparison to t12 pairs.

The thing about shopping, nowadays, very few places to see product in action. Lots of buying and returning. I also had to laugh at the 4 ft light that was only 46", then the other 4ft was 47". ??

My Costco LED shoplights are also a little on the warm side of white. They work great for lettuce and brassicas. I get some leaf burn if they're too close, but otherwise the greens seem perfectly happy with it.

That brings up a good question @Bower. @JRinPA and @pepperhead212, what kind of distance are you using between the plants and the HF LEDs?

@rdback I usually put the seedlings fairly close - 4" or so, and I put the trays on top of several boxes, or Styrofoam inserts I've collected through the years, of all different thicknesses, and just gradually move them down, as they grow, keeping them close. In the hydroponics I have one tub at about 14", the other about 17", and sometimes the plants grow right into the lights, with no burn, as long as they aren't left too long.

The led replacement light bulbs that are shaped like incandescent bulbs seem to work ok. The cheapest grow light is still probably a hand wired ceramic socket with a splitter and two bulbs. I made a lot of these when CFL bulbs were popular.

I have had good luck with the economy lighting brand viparspectra on Amazon. They start at $59 for a light that covers a 2'x2' area, or maybe a 3x3 area for seed sprouting.

@rdback my seedlings grew rapidly at about 5 inches from my lights, and the baby greens likewise at 8 inches from. I do get some spotty burns on the leaves sometimes when they get up around the bulbs but not sure how much of that is just because of dry conditions this winter, some tip burn too.

Hello all,

I've always used T8 fluorescents (non LED) 6500K and the plants can be touching the lights and they don't burn. My wire shelf allows me to put four shelves (minus the top shelf) with 15 inches of height space between shelves. I can maximize that height of 15 inches with T8's. But if I had lights that generate a lot of heat and have to be kept some distance from the plants, then I would need to space out the shelves more, which would mean going to three instead of four shelves. That's one reason I have stayed with the T8's for my shelf setup, apart from the reason that they work.

This season, it so happens that I have to buy two T8 fixtures (I only have six on hand, which is good for three shelves - two for each shelf), but T8 shop light fixtures are all out of stock in our area. So I may have to switch to something else. Trouble is, all the lights I look at seem to require some distance from the plants - they all generate more heat than the T8's. Anyone have any recommendations?

I see fixtures on craigslist for free...fairly often. T12s and T8s.

I have the HF 5500 lumen about 8" from the plants right now, but I still have the one table. I need to get a wire rack system setup instead for 3 levels.