lwabirds

I need to find an inexpesive grow light to put over some young bananas (basjoos and siam ruby) in my spare room during the winter. I have 4 of the sylvania growlux bulbs. Are these any good? Do they work? Any thing better? Help would be appreciated.

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foxd

I haven't tried them for an extended time yet with bananas, but I have used them on other plants for many years with no problems. A lot will depend on your lighting setup. What size grolux bulbs? What distance above the plants?

lwabirds

40 watts each. They'll be a few inches above the plants.

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edd82

Are these sodium or fluorescent type bulbs? If they're sodium then the only thing to really worry about is the heat given off them. I'm not sure that sodium bulbs are produced in such a low wattage so I would imagine that you're talking about fluorescent tubes which will not be a problem as the heat given off is minimal. 4 x 40w easily give should adequate light. Another option would be to use a 120w or 200w Envirolite bulbs. they're very cheap and certainly give off enough lumens for a banana plant. My Helen's hybrid loved living under one until the spidermites started breeding from the warmth indoors :-(

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lwabirds

they are fluorescent bulbs.

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edd82

Then yes it should be fine. Using flouro's is probably the simplest approach and I think 160w (4 * 40w) will easily produce enough light to keep your little banana plants growing through the winter.

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foxd

I think they will provide enough light for your bananas. I prefer the grolux bulbs because they put out more light in the red and blue parts of the spectrum, which is what the plants use.

The one banana pup I have under fluorescents is growing and looks healthy.

lwabirds

Thanks for your help!

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Lagniappe

My plants did great under these last year :
30 Watt - CFL - Compact Fluorescent - Spring Lamp - Full Spectrum 6400K - Energy Miser # FE-IIS-30W-64K Light Bulb

Richard

At 150 Watts (effective), I would expect great results too! For the hydroponics industry, the most effective bulbs available are the T5 plant bulbs, arranged 4 across. These come in 2 foot or 4 foot lengths. The manufacturer Hydrofarm sells them included in their aluminum overhead fixture -- an exceptionally nice unit. I have seen the wholesale price from the manufacturer: I urge you to shop around for a price below $100 for the unit & bulbs. My colleague who owns a local hydroponics shop tells me that after 9 months the bulbs start to dim and need to be replaced.

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Lagniappe

That's 30 watts. What you read was the incandescent equivalency rating.
What is more important is the watt per lumen ratio, color temp, and (for me) the start-up cost.
I chose the compact twists because I had plenty of reflectors handy and a dozen bulbs with built in ballasts only cost me around 45 USD. (24,000 lumens in full spectrum 6400k for 45 bucks)These put out 67 lumens per watt....not too bad (T5s often produce more than 80 lumens per watt), and I could position them over and around the few plants that I was overwintering .

damaclese

iv been uesing the 40 watt 4ft silavaina bulbs for over a year now and my bananas have thrived and grown exseptionaly well under them so much so that iv had to rase them about ever 2 months to acomadate the groth i alsow have 4' T5 and i dont see any difrince in the over all growth othere then the T5 plants have a bit more color in there leafs and a slitl more robust stem so obveasly the T5 are better but for the bucks the silvaina are just so cheep and so what if you have to repace them ever 6 to 8 months there just $9.50 at the HD and they sell the fixsturs for under $20.00 as iv said befor unles you are a profetional growere why invest unles you just have to have the best of the best and for me its a mater of just holding the plants untill spring with the exsetion of the AeAe wich never see the Grat Out Doors LOL You know i talke to it and tuck it in at Night!!!!! Ms Kitty would be proud of me.

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Chironex

Sheesh!!! A doting bananero.

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