65000k would kill your plant really fast.
marijuana folk aren't the only that know about the light spectrum, we aquarium keepers also need to know this information.

This info is great. I have started many flowers and veggies with plain shop lights. I guess it's time for me to update.

luke

Hi Americanfigboy,
6500k spectrum did not kill my small plants several years back with that light mentioned in the link i posted.
I had them within 6 inches of that light and some smaller ones even closer up on carboard boxes.
Yes cardboard boxes as the light burns cool  - no fires .   ; )

As a note only problem was knats so i doubt if grow indoors again and just wait till spring.

I talked to the guys at the local Hydro store. Swore up and down that these were perfect for cuttings and plant growth. They recommended to me 14 to 18 hours a day. Said years ago it was as high as 20 to 22.

Hello Martin,

I think you had an extra zero on the 6500k light in your previous post. I'm guessing that's was a typo. I edited this post to fix my mistake.

luke

The little flies I believe Martin is referring to are fungus gnats, the bane of every indoor grower.   The sticky traps work with limited success but the best solution I've found is adding fragments of mosquito dunks to your water.

Figs I give 6"-10" of space from the light. Veggie seedlings grow more uniform so I set them less than 2" away with no burning or scorching. I will take a pic of my current batch in a few.

Here's a picture of my setup from about 15 minutes ago:  The rear plant is actually about 2" off the rear pair of Philips plant & aquarium bulbs @ 2700K.  I'm hoping to give that one to a forum member in the near future, though, so it may not be there for long. 

What temp you should grow at (2700K / 4100K / 6500K / 10,000K+) depends on the type of plants you're growing.  I don't know what figs need specifically, but 2700 has worked well for me - inspiring growth and leafing, but not producing a leggy plant.  The Philips P&A lights I've used are at 2700K; I think GE's P&A lights run up as high as 10,000K.

Hello Jason,

What water? The water for watering the plants?

Sorry about the white fly, I always thought they were called that. I'll try to go back and delete so I don't mislead anyone. Thanks for educating me.

By the way, no picture showed up.

luke

Yes 6500 plus 0 sure was my typo.
6500 is the light spectrum i used.
Thanks Lukeott for the mention.

Hello Dieseler
I was saying that "65000k" would kill plants fast because of the extra 0 in the number. I use 6500k and 10000k lights on my fish tanks for the plants.

This is a lot of good info. I ended up ordering that one I posted. I figured buy the time I get everything together to make what I need I'll be at or over 45$.
Jason, I do not see a picture.
Would 14 hours be a good starting point considering I do keep them in an east facing window that does get sun in the morning. Should I time it to come on later in the day after the sun has pasted? Or am I over thinking this?

Sorry I just edited the post to restore the picture - look again.  Stupid forum bug nabbed it away.

Yes.

LEDs are certainly expensive, but have a few advantages. 
Depending on the cost of electricity in your area and the type and amount of heating you require, LEDs might not be a bad idea.  They are getting less expensive as manufacturing processes improve.  With LEDs it is possible to target the exact spectra of light that plants can use.  I have a couple T5 fluorescent and recently bought an LED grow light for comparison purposes. 

A couple observations I've made:
1.  If the only light turned on in the room is the LED, plant leaves look almost pitch black.  This is because they are absorbing a very high percentage of the light that hits the leaves.  The reason they are green in normal circumstances is because of the light they cannot use and therefore reflect. 
2.  These lights have a high lumen output, but are barely noticeably warm to the touch.  This is due to their high efficiency. 

I don't need these lights to generate any warmth, and electricity is expensive where I am, so for me, I've been pleased with the results.  Also, I'm not just starting seedlings for a month or two, I'm growing plants indoors for the winter, so we're talking about 5 or 6 months of 16 hours a day per year, so that is significant.  That being said, it will still probably take several years to break even given current prices. 

I just got the LED that looks just like the one in the picture last spring and used them for starting Tomatoes, etc.  So this is my first winter using them for figs.  Will let you know the results in a few months.

How many hours a day should grow lights be on? Out of ignorance I've kept the lights on hoping they (cuttings) will root faster. Any guidance will be much appreciated.

Thank you.

@BillFigGuyMi - Light does not help the cutting roots any faster, and can cause them to put out leaf growth too early (before there are roots to support the leaves). Some people even root in near darkness. They will only need light once they some leaves formed. Then give them about 16 hours of light.

There is a lot of talk about the color spectrum of the light, but those effects can very quite a bit from one plant species to another. I'm sure you can guess which species of plant is most studied. In the case of figs, you may have difficulty finding hard evidence about what spectrum is best. On thing you can be sure of though is that the intensity of the light will make a big difference in how well they grow (once you get to that phase). So if you are going to use florescent lights, I thinks its a good idea to get legit high-output bulbs and fixtures. 

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/php.12233/abstract