Grow Light Setup Advice

[KingJades]

I mostly have tropicals, which means the fun task of trying to deliver the right amount of light once the winter season sets in. I'd like to get ahead of all of that, so I started looking into how to set up my grow system.

I would like advice/input on whether I'm going down the right path. I haven't bought any of it yet but will soon if people don't say I'm completely screwing up.

I have a shelf that can comfortably fit a 24" Fluorescent setup so I'm going with that size. It's sort of near a window so that will make help all of this along. My shelf isn't deep enough for those traditional scaffold-style ones so I'll need to chain it in place from a shelf above.

Selected a Hydrofarm 2' Fixture that uses two T8 or T12 bulbs. Walmart has it for like $32
https://www.hydrofarm.com/p/FLV22

For the bulbs, I went with matching 2ft 6500k F17T8's from Luxrite. They are 2 for $18 on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0178EYZ9W/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3UAFNSK1EIS6S


Questions:
1. I see a lot of "grow" light bulbs are in the 4000 to 5500k range. Is 6500K better for this application than those?
2. Is there a reason to select a lower K light for growing indoors?
3. Would I gain anything by mixing different K value lights of the same wattage and diameter?

Thanks!

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Go for the 6500K. Anything below that is more for flowering, less for vegetative growth.

I would skip the T8 and T12 idea, and instead go with a T5 setup. Skinnier, but more powerful, bulbs that will give your plants much more light. You can buy a 2 foot version on Amazon for under $100.

 

[KingJades]

Thanks!

Something like this?
https://www.hydrofarm.com/p/JST52

The depth of the shelf is only 11 inches, so it's like 5 inches on either side of the bulb.

 

[Redwood Ryan]

Something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016...dpPl=1&dpID=41iL+2K9rEL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1

The thing you linked is overpriced and super weak.

 

[KingJades]

Thank you @Redwood Ryan .
The fixture is deeper than my shelf, which is only 11 inches. I thought that 4 bulbs was a bit overkill for the tiny space, but I guess it makes sense to provide as much light as possible.

Narrowed it to 2 for now:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0160BFASO/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza 24W
or
https://www.amazon.com/Agrobrite-FL...&qid=1471752885&sr=8-3&keywords=t5+grow+light (54w/bulb)

 

[f1pt4]

I don't think the Hydrocrunch one is a HO T5, so go for the Agrobrite.

I grow all my tropicals under HO T5's over the cold months. They seem to do well.

Happy growing!