just wonder if lights such as these would work. my intention is to take a old fridge and insert 8 such lights ( maybe ten.. if i stick 2 going down center.) with a small halogen bulb for heating. i dont think they have enough power for growing... but in the case that they do im asking.
Ulraviolet (uv) flourescents are great for "Blacklight Posters", but they provide, virtualy, nothing for plant growth (production of Chlorophylls A & B). As a matter of fact, uv light damages plant tissue in a similar manner to the way it burns human skin. Human skin produces a pigment called melanin to protect itself from uv lightrays. It is widely believed that cannabis produces the cannabinoid laden resin (THC and all the others) in a similar, protective, effort; especially around the flowers and seeds. The seeds, of course, are the plants last reproductive hope. However, this belief that uv light promotes potency is somewhat controversial - the jury is still out on that one! If anybody wants to add extra uv light for potency, "UV-B" is the range you want. Probably the best source for uv-B at a reasonable cost is found at your petstore. They sell reptile lights (cfl's) that are formulated to be high in uv-B.
so soemthing like this or this? im not putting these bulbs in for exrta potency, i plan to use only these lights, i can afford a compressed a sodium lamp, and a ballast but ive very limited space, and want lights that are more freindly to plants that grow close to them. thanks for your advice so far.
If you use only UV lights, the plants wont grow - they will die! The main products of photosynthesis are Chlorophyll A and Chlorophyll B, both of these pigments require light that is primarily composed from narrow parts of the Red and Blue bands of the color spectrum. UV light contains neither Red nor Blue wavelengths, therefore it produces no Chlorophyll; no Chlorophyll = no plant life.
