majors 2018 garden..

[Zeedman]

while out this morning dropping off the chainsaw for some work... dw and i stopped at my favorite hippie store, picked up 8 new trays and a bag of sunshine potting mix.
all i need to do is order some seeds and pots and i will ready to grow....
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yes yes i know you dang yankees are dealing with arctic vortex and wondering if the resupply ships are going to make it... heads up even the icebreaker is stuck....

I could really use some of those bags of sunshine up here.

My own seed starting setup uses high-bay fixtures as well, but mine are for T8 bulbs. Found some good high-intensity bulbs online, and ordered 2 cases, in case they go the way of the once-common high-output T12s... by the time I use those up, the price & availability of LED lighting might have become more attractive. But then again, I'm in my 60's... might not be gardening by that point.

 

[flowerbug]

I could really use some of those bags of sunshine up here.

My own seed starting setup uses high-bay fixtures as well, but mine are for T8 bulbs. Found some good high-intensity bulbs online, and ordered 2 cases, in case they go the way of the once-common high-output T12s... by the time I use those up, the price & availability of LED lighting might have become more attractive. But then again, I'm in my 60's... might not be gardening by that point.

price per amount of light put out makes LEDs well worth it IMO. we've replaced all our lights in the house here except six (and when those show signs of going out i'll replace them too) with LEDs. the old shop lights lasted almost 20yrs. i'd be surprised if i'll ever have to replace any of the new ones. as of yet, only one light has had an issue and i returned it, and then found out later it was actually the wiring so wasn't even an LED issue at all. i am still very embarassed by that...

 

[majorcatfish]

yes led lighting is improving by leaps and bounds..and some power companies will reimburse you some of the money you put into switching over to led...

one thing i will say...do not buy any led fixtures from a box store you will be replacing them in a year or so....

 

[seedcorn]

Bought some at Menards. About half price as one brand has been supplemented by electric company-sylania brand?

 

[Zeedman]

All good info, about the LED replacement lighting... but just an FYI...

The company I work for just went through a contractor to replace most of our T8 overhead lighting with equivalent LED bulbs. The bulbs fit into the existing fixtures, once the T8 ballasts were removed. Very bright light, at a high spectrum. I really liked them... until they began falling out of the ceiling. The internal electronics were located on one end of the bulb, and began over-heating - melting the plastic around the contact pins on that end, which then collapsed. The bulbs were encased in a shatter-proof sheath, so no broken glass... but we were fortunate that no employees were struck by the falling bulbs, there could have been serious injuries. We had to do an emergency change-out over a weekend, to pull out the faulty (and dangerous) LEDs & put the T8s (and their ballasts) back in.

Personally, I like to wait for a new technology to stabilize before jumping in, and this (and Major's observation about big-box LEDs) are great illustrations of why I do so. That not only gives time for the "bugs" to be worked out, it also allows for more competition, leading to better quality & lower prices. When I was trying to decide whether to go with T8s or T5s, an electrician commented to me that the life time of T5s was not yet worth the higher price - hence the T8s. (That was several years ago, maybe the T5s have since improved?) Anyway, as it turned out, the energy consumption per lumen was very comparable between the two anyway. The plants are really healthy under the T8 fixtures, so I am in no hurry to change, and won't have to... did I mention that I have two cases of bulbs???

Oh, and I'm always skeptical of exaggerated lifetime claims for lighting - especially when those claims are used to justify higher prices than the lights they replace. Remember the 7-year claims for compact florescent? Which I change only slightly less than the incandescent bulbs they replaced (and we now have to dispose of toxic bulbs).I installed 2 (allegedly) long life, dimmable LED bulbs in a lamp post a year ago, and one has already failed... doesn't inspire much confidence in the present state of the technology.

 

[majorcatfish]

same here we had a company come out to the plant and changed all our 4' t-8 to led with a separate driver and the remodel we are doing we switched all of that with led with built in driver..of course both locations the ballasts were removed... yes they do put out bright light...

 

[Collector]

I switched to t-8 last year from t-12. I did not have very good luck with them, I think the room was to cold though the seedlings turned purple. This year I'm sticking with the t-8s but am moving setup into a heated room plus I purchased 2 - 20.75"x48" heat mats enough for 8flats going to see how it goes. I not ready to give up on all the clams I have invested in the t-8s.

 

[majorcatfish]

the big ice storm 2018

looked at the 10 day sunny 1 day, rain the next.... sunny, rain at least it will be above freezing ....

 

[majorcatfish]

I switched to t-8 last year from t-12. I did not have very good luck with them, I think the room was to cold though the seedlings turned purple. This year I'm sticking with the t-8s but am moving setup into a heated room plus I purchased 2 - 20.75"x48" heat mats enough for 8flats going to see how it goes. I not ready to give up on all the clams I have invested in the t-8s.

nothing wrong with t8... you can retro fit to t5 new lampholders and ballast<s> is still cheaper than buying a new fixture...

 

[Collector]

looked at the 10 day sunny 1 day, rain the next.... sunny, rain lat least it will be above freezing ....

Sounds pretty murky, that is what we are getting up here also. (I hate mud)