Greenhouse help please?

hey,
i am getting this years' outdoor crop started and i am preparing my greenhouse, but it is early and my sprouts want a little heat and light so today i bought a 50 foot outdoor cable to run power in there - next i am going to look around online for outdoor lighting - i wonder if you guys know what kind of fixture i should be looking for? the greenhouse is not water tight and i am of course concerned about the light getting drenched in storms.. and about bulbs - i don't want to jump in to high intensity anything for now - are full spectrum bulbs the best option for normal wattage?

thanks for any help! i have a couple days to think on these things before space becomes an issue and i must move things out into the greenhouse..

i looked at things like LED and special florescent, but i think i will just still with some regular 75 watt full spectrums..

i guess i will get the plastic really tight and use normal outside fixtures - you know the metal circles - and i will be sure to turn it all off in storms.. sound safe?

Could you use the same type of HID light fixture that is found on streetlights? Those things get rained on all the time...

I know you can find high-bay and low-bay lights for cheap, but I don't think they are waterproof.

Look around for some outdoor HID's...or contact your local nursery and ask them...they don't have to know it's for ganja...you grow tomatoes...

is this a home made house? if it is a real greenhouse you should have a roof, some sort of poly or plastic. any outdoor light should be safe under the roof, although not all will grow plants.i would just get your power from an outlet that is gfi protected or put in a gfi.as far as cheap outdoor lights you can get some big old security lights from home depot or lowes (hps) they are made to get wet. if you do your roof and walls right you do not need lights unless you are in alaska but your good in cali.this time of year you will have plenty of sun light and uv rays to start your plants. and come summer time you will more than likely need some white wash to block some of the suns energy or some kind of ventilation ( fans or removable sides on your house) good luck.if your spouts are still young just work on getting heat so they can stay at there current temp and they will be fine.

ok - i just want to get some seedlings started - they will come out into direct sun when the time is right in a month or so.. so, no need for HID.. this is a plastic covering on top of agribond insulation with a wire fence frame - strong enough to keep the rain and snow out fairly well, but not 100% water tight at this point.. i will be filling the gaps like i was saying - last year some cold, moist air got in one corner and there was some molding involved..

ford442 said:

ok - i just want to get some seedlings started - they will come out into direct sun when the time is right in a month or so.. so, no need for HID.. this is a plastic covering on top of agribond insulation with a wire fence frame - strong enough to keep the rain and snow out fairly well, but not 100% water tight at this point.. i will be filling the gaps like i was saying - last year some cold, moist air got in one corner and there was some molding involved..

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I'm sure you can find outdoor fluorescent lights if you really don't need an HID.

You can get a 75 or 150w Metal Halide though, which uses minimal energy and will give your young plants a nice head start...

Whatever you go with, don't get incandescent "grow" lights, as they are too hot, waste energy, don't have sufficient light output and will stretch your seedlings...

I still think a small HID would be ideal though...especially if you plan on vegging them for a month before putting them outside.

you think florescent is better? i thought that having regular bulbs would raise the temp out there a little bit on these cold nights.. don't the small plants want heat as well?

using a small hid will give you the heat and light you want. if i had to pick just one cheap light to do what you want to do i would go with a cheap outdoor hps security light from your local hardware or home dePOT.You can use hps start to finish on a whole lot of different types of plants.Just try to find one that looks easy to remove the shield if you need more light, they can be modified later for indoor grows as well.