Veg lighting - strip LED vs. fluorescent

In the "way back when", my veg areas consisted of 4 ft. fluorescent shop lights. When I shut down, I got rid of the lights. Well, I just looked, and the only shop lights these days are 4' LED strips. Are these a valid replacement, or????

leds are about 20% more efficient so 50w led would be similar to 60w fluorescent
roughly

Those LED strip\tube shop lights are kinda weak. The price you pay for actual watt is pretty ridiculous. Even if you removed the protective diffusers they won't amount to much. Not even that good for micro green seedling grows IMO. Neither are old school t12 & t-8 floros. You want HO t-5 if going that route. I see tons of T-5 fixtures for sale still these days. Whatever size you need, and replacement bulbs for days.. T-5s rock!

KnowAndGrow said:

In the "way back when", my veg areas consisted of 4 ft. fluorescent shop lights. When I shut down, I got rid of the lights. Well, I just looked, and the only shop lights these days are 4' LED strips. Are these a valid replacement, or????

Click to expand...

I've used old school 4 foot T5 high output for years to veg. Also known as high bay lights. If you need the Heat, you can still find the old school T5HO in standard florescent. LED will save some coin and run much cooler.. I was running veg in an old garden shed and the heat was welcome in the off season. If you are in California or Vermont you may not have a choice any longer.

Add them to the list of useful things I now need to get from out of state. No denatured Alcohol. Hell no drinking alcohol stronger then 120 proof. Useless as water for tincture. No paint thinner / mineral spirits.

I still use 100w of t5s its sufficient for my D90 clone which keeps me going perpetual with mother's, clones and seedlings.

I've 4k led I bought for vegging but there's no heat from them, for my climate and circumstances t5s are my best option.
If you're in a warm climate leds are amazingly efficient, I only need 42/43w to get the same intensity as the 4x t5s.

Found a six pack of these on Amazon...thinking 2x for nursery (3ft x 4ft), 4x for middle tier (4ft x 4 ft). Thoughts?

I've not used them but i can't see why they wouldn't work it's, 5k light which is ideal for the job.

Maybe 4 in a 4x4 would be pushing it a bit but maybe not though?

To be sure before I clicked buy id ask the forum if there's any better recommendations at the price.

Star Dog said:

I've not used them but i can't see why they wouldn't work it's, 5k light which is ideal for the job.

Maybe 4 in a 4x4 would be pushing it a bit but maybe not though?

To be sure before I clicked buy id ask the forum if there's any better recommendations at the price.

Click to expand...

I could do 3 in each...

KnowAndGrow said:

I could do 3 in each...

Click to expand...

I'm not sure about led type, if were using regular t5s in a 4x4 I'd use 8 or 10.

That's based on my 3x2 using 4x and the sides being less than ideal.

40-50 watts per square foot. Dig a little you'll find good lights. You'll eventually need a flower and a veg setup.

Anyone using the MH VG 80's over seeds/clones ?

NR613 said:

40-50 watts per square foot. Dig a little you'll find good lights. You'll eventually need a flower and a veg setup.

Click to expand...

For flower, I have a spider-farmer 5 x 5 tent, with a 1000W LED...not gonna be a problem, there...

i vegged under 8 household leds 6 3000k and 2 6500k with that setup i nicely lit 9 solo cups or 5 1 gal or one plant like atm, look at my grow journal
there is no photos but under the first fixture i vegged them pretty healthy (9 plants) and only with that light i was able to take out the males and stay with 3 females

My veg consists of three shelves and 12 20w led strips from Amazon. So 2 packs

Barrina (6 Pack) LED T5 Integrated Single Fixture, 4FT, 2200lm, 6500K Super Bright White, 20W Utility LED Shop Light, Ceiling and Under Cabinet Light, Corded Electric with ON/Off Switch, ETL Listed https://a.co/d/1saWPKK

They are however not 6500K, they are about 5600K. Work well, little to no heat.