http://www.ebay.com/itm/T5-Grow-Light-4ft-8Lamps-DL848-Fluorescent-HO-Hydroponic-Bloom-Veg-Daisy-Chain-/321641433975?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ae352cb77


Hi all,my first attempt at growing cuttings, i see a couple of cuttings starting to grow little white roots.
well anyway my question is will that light work on cuttings ? And would i be able to use it on about 20
quart size cups? and is there a cheaper way to go ?? thank you 

I've got a 4ft-4-lamp T5 grow light over 16 cuttings in quart containers.  I think 8 lamps might be a bit overkill for just 20 cuttings, unless you had all your cuttings in 1+ gallon pots.

You could go cheaper with T8 shop lights from Lowes/Home Depot.  It'd be about half the price of a T5 setup for a slight drop in lumens and power efficiency.

That's a great price for 8 T5 lamps.  You will have to move to gallon pots before long.  You could get 3 T8 shop lights from Walmart for ~$36 and 6 bulbs from Home Despot for ~$30.  That would also cover your 20 plants in gallon containers.

I went to lowes and they had the display of light. Anyway they had a light set up with these superbrite bulbs. They drowned out all the rest. Probably to bright for plants. They were high output.

I picked up this one this year. Probably overkill but has worked nicely. They carry a couple other brands that look almost identical and are better priced. I believe one was Apollo.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007NQPUHM/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?qid=1424140320&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=t5+grow+lights+designer&dpPl=1&dpID=41su4ef2GmL&ref=plSrch

Richard, were those superbright fluorescent bulbs?  You want high output bulbs for figs if you can get them.  And the extra warmth from the high output bulbs is handy, at least for those of us starting cuttings in cold basements.

If you have a local saltwater aquarium forum I would check there for lights. That's is another hobby of mine and the lights are much higher quality and used ones sell for very cheap. Try craigslist to for saltwater lights, many in the hobby are switching to LEDs because of how quickly flourescent and MH build spectrums shift ( good for us plant growers).

I got a 48" x4 T5 with x2 250 watt MH bulbs with 2 ballast for $100 from local reef club. It's enough to go from cuttings with just the T5 to full veg growth with the MH for those cuttings you start to early. The one display can light a very large area.

Richard, link us to the lights at Lowes or give us the brand name of the lights or something!  Don't leave us in the dark!

Check Craigslist in your area for grow lights. Chances are you will find a T5 setup for cheap money from someone who decided growing Dope wasn't the best idea.

I will try rc cantor. I wont leave you in the dark to long

Ok this is it ..... this light drowned all the other lighrs out on the whole row at lowes and all of the lights for sale were lit up. To ne seems a little bright for plants. It made out of crome too. You have to see it to get the,full effect lol. Its bright

According to a thread on one of the garden web forums the consensus was  that 2700k was the best temperature for plant growing. 

How warm is 2700k in degrees?

Richard, 
             That light does look really nice and could do the job nicely. T5's are the best choice IMO due to efficiency Vs output, burn times, and running slightly warmer to put off heat.  As others have mentioned fixtures like this should be readily available second hand. 

As far as temperature goes there are already lots of threads in this forum as well as others, 2700K is "warm". There is much misinformation around I would suggest using peer reviewed sources (google scholar) or plant physiology text books to build a base knowledge and decide for yourself. Become familiar with the idea of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) instead of focusing on intensity or temperature. I think you will find T5 bulbs around 6500K will have more usable PAR values. Many light manufactures have PAR figures at there websites. 

Become familiar with this thread: 

http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/cheap-simple-growlight-sourcesetup-6584121?highlight=photosynthetically+active+radiation&pid=1280019415#post1280019415

2700K = 4400F, but that's not what he means  :)

The color temperature of a light source is similar to its overall color.  In Fluorescent lights common color temperatures (abbreviated CCT for corrected color temp) are

2700 - reddish or warm
3000
3200
4100 - yellow but with terrible color rendition - only applies to fluorescent lights.
5000 - closest to sunlight at noon with a mostly clear sky.
6400 - bright white looks bluish if compared to 4100K and under but hardly at all if seen alone.

The numbers do come from temperatures in degrees Kelvin.  If a piece of metal is heated to 3000 degrees K it glows the color of the light assigned the number 3000K.  If you get it even hotter (and somehow it doesn't melt) to 5000 degrees K, it glows a more blue color.  Lights that look that color are assigned a CCT of 5000K.  It's very similar to a rainbow with lower temps red, slightly higher temps orange, then yellow, greenish, bluish.  These are all shades of white, however.

These also correspond to peak wavelengths which is helpful if you're going to read some PAR charts/graphs and if you're interested in LEDs

Wavelength (nanometers) = 3,000,000 / Col temp (Kelvin)

So, for example,  3200K = 937.5 nm

There is no such thing as too bright when it comes to almost all fruiting plants, including figs.  Nothing is brighter than direct sunlight, which is where they will do the best.  Only thing you might have to watch out for is if the heat from the lights dries out the plants quickly.  Might have to water more often. 

You want a high color temperature, 6000 or 6500K.

That's a good price for those lights.  Might be overkill though, unless you have the room and are making plans to expand.

You can find 2nd hand lights for a good price on Craigslist and such.  Just be careful that you're not buying someone else's junk or malfunctioning lights.

Once you see what a good light set-up will do for figs you'll be addicted.  I started with 1 2'/4-bulb T5.  Expanded to 3 2'/4-bulb and 1 4'/4-bulb.  Still need to buy 1 more of each.  
Here's what I use:

2 foot

4 foot

Thanks kk and rc. I just posted these cause i seen them a lowes and they were the brightest light i seen. You really couldnt look at them. Lowes has a light chart when buying lights and these are rated at 10. These are the HO LIGHTS the regular lights were rated at 4. I dont think you can use these bulbs in a regular 4 foot light. Think it may take a different ballast not sure. Can i buy these HO TUBES FOR MY REGULAER T5 LIGHT I ALREADY HAVE ????

I went and ordered the 1 from ebay ... I figure will be enough for my fig cuttings ,and couple  flats  of tomato seeds? 
thank you all