Did I buy the wrong Bulb?

[Wind Notes & Butterflies]

I posted here last week about using clamp lights as seed growing lights and someone gave me the advice I could.
They said to use a florescent bulb and gave me the watts.
Well I went to the store today and bought a pack of those swirlly florescent bulbs 3 pack for $6 they are 75 watt

Then I checked here and I had the watt wrong they said to buy 175 or 100 watt
Is this 75 watt enough or should I take them back and get the 100 watt?

 

[boggybranch]

I'd swap em.......don't thing that wattage is NEAR bright enough.

 

[Wind Notes & Butterflies]

I'd swap em.......don't thing that wattage is NEAR bright enough.

Will the 100 watt be bright enough I'm not sure if they had any higher than that?

Another question how high above the seedlings should the light be?

 

[journey11]

I am just guessing, but it might be an issue of how many watts that your 75 is equal to in lumens compared to a traditional light bulb of higher wattage. The CFLs use a lower wattage than traditional light bulbs do. They pull less electricity, but put out more light. I'd check into that first before exchanging them. I know I've been using 13 watt CFLs in my lighting fixtures at home, but they shine every bit as bright as a 75. They are also cool to the touch, which would be better for your seedlings as well.

 

[mandieg4]

My bulbs are 75 watt equivalent bulbs. I couldn't find anything higher, so I wrapped two sides of my shelf with tin foil, the third side is open to an east facing window (the only window I have available), and the forth side is open. My plants seem to be doing great and not too leggy.

 

[Lavender2]

I have some 26 W (100 equivalent) that are 1750 lumens.
Seedlings will do okay with 250 - 1,000 lumens as long as the lights are placed close to the plants.

I would be more concerned with the color light output.
The Kelvin rating is not listed on the pack I have, so I looked it up.
GE General Purpose CFLs are 2700K, which is considered a 'warm' bulb. (Not to touch, but warm color output - reds and yellows)

Real noontime sunlight ranges from 5000K to 6500K, so using a more full color spectrum bulb MAY be better for seedlings.

Maybe some of the other brands list the K rating on the package, but I would consider using a 'cool white' or one with over 4000K, or a mix of cool and warm.

There's a lot of controversy about all this however ... Seed starting under lights
This makes SOME sense, but so does giving a seedling the spectrum it needs while developing ... in my opinion anyway...

I have used the tube fluorescents (cool), and keep them 2-3" from the seedlings, for over 15 years with great results ... so I will plug along with that
CFLs are a bit brighter so possibly you could place them farther away to get better coverage ... not sure about that since I've not used them myself.
As mandieg4 mentioned, I think reflecting some of the light would benefit when using CFLs.
The little things always tend to stretch toward the light ... no matter how much you yell at them..