indoor lighting question

[Sugar Magnolia]

What is a good suggestion for indoor lighting to obtain medium light. I am looking to place the light 4-4.5 feet above the plants.
Looking at online suggestions, I found Chroma 75 (full spectrum). Lighting info is practically Greek to me, so I hope the name of that light is correct, and I'm hoping to find something in Lowes or Home Depot.
Thanks!

[digitalgate]

Hm..... U should be look at T5 tube they are bright and relatively cheap. You should get those that is about four feet long 55W each. Do you know how to do some basic wiring?

[patticake]

You can get a large CF bulb, and a reflector at Home Depot or Lowes.

[mayres]

In order to hang a light 4-4.5 feet above a medium light-need plant/orchid you are going to need some serious light power. Something you are NOT probably going to find at a Lowes or Home Depot. You may also have some heat issues from light fixtures that give off that much light. A GREAT place to visit to discuss this issue is a hydroponics store. I would strongly suggest you check your area and see if you have any - if you do then go and visit and tell them what you are trying to accomplish and see if they can accomodate you. To get medium light at that distance you may need to invest in metal halide and/or sodium vapor lighting? A CFL bulb like paiit is suggesting would have to be a major/big sized unit with special fixture as well to put out that kind of light.

[Sugar Magnolia]

I can do some wiring and my bf knows how to wire stuff, I'll recruit him probably. My second option is 1 foot above the plants, was trying not to use that space, but it is what it is I guess. I had seen something about the HID lamps... whew pricey. And the high heat prolly won't work too well either.
Hmmm... good ideas and things to ponder from everyone. I'll def do some more research with a hydroponics store if I can find one.
Thanks again!

[mayres]

If you can get in the 1-2 foot range you can consider T5, lower wattage and price HID, and a large CFL (or two) - good luck in your search!

[mehitabel]

You really do have to modify your requirements, and place any fixture much closer to the plants to get medium light. It's impossible to achieve what you are trying for. The reason is that *light falls off as a function of distance from the source*

Here's the rule about light and distance: light falls off as the *inverse square* of the distance from the source. What this means is that one foot away from the source, you are getting *half* of the light emitted. That means that four feet away you are getting about 1/32nd of the light emitted.

Just as an example, full sun at high noon outdoors in July = approximately 10,000 foot candles. 1/32nd of that = 312 foot candles. Hardly medium light-- not enough even for phals.

There's no way any indoor light fixture can even approach the fc outdoor sun provides.

I have 400 watt HIDs in my basement grow room that I use in winter. Even with a brand-new bulb, you don't get middle light 4 feet away from the bulbs. I grow *phals* down there without heat stress or burn about 18 inches to 2 feet away from the bulbs. Actually, they might be able to take more *light*, but the heat from the bulbs does stress them if they are too close. When I grew catts I kept them between 8-12 inches from the bulbs, and that wasn't anywhere near too much light.

[carbonia]

i keep most of my cool to intermidiate plants in the conservatory and in summer everything goes great guns.In winter it is more difficult.no matter where i put my babies the light is too low and the days are too short. So this winter i will have to rig out some kind of a system that increases the number of light hours and work on a more efficient heating system as well. So if anyone comes up with some answers it would be great. It might kickstart the catlyas which up to now have only produced new canes but any flower sheath aborts when in bud .hope someone out there has an answer but i will start a big search in electric lights systems. Might even ask my electrician, wonder if he could help. But I am rambling now. Tara for now