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From: richard@gryphon.COM (Richard Sexton)
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria,sci.aquaria,sci.bio,rec.gardens,alt.drugs
Subject: Re: Gro Lux fluorescent tubes
Keywords: Gro Lux
Message-ID: <22378@gryphon.COM>
Date: 18 Nov 89 01:03:54 GMT
References: <22324@gryphon.COM> <2208@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov>
Reply-To: richard@gryphon.COM (Richard Sexton)
Organization: Trailing Edge Technology, Redondo Beach, CA
Lines: 42

In article <2208@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov> baalke@mars.UUCP (Ron Baalke) writes:
>What about Vita-Lite? I heard this was better than Gro Lux.

It depends what you're trying to do.

Vita lites are a 5500K, CRI 91 tube. Very blueish, and are supposed
to simulate equatorial noon day sunlight. They do this very well.

What they don't do very well, is grow plants. They have too much
green, and far too little red.

Philips Ultralume 30 is a better choice if you want a tube
that has the right radiation for plants and still has a good
CRI.

If you don't care about the CRI, the ``plant growth tubes'' such
as Sylvania gro lux, Philips AGRO lite and GE gro and sho
will give you better results.

Interestingly enough, both Sylvania and GE make gro lux type
tubes and wide spectrum gro lux type tubes. They reccomend
you use the two in a 1:1 ratio.

The Philips tube - and this is still guesswork, I have to 
study it some more - seems to be a complete spectra. Lots
of the far red that the gro lux types are deficiant in, and
a great whopping blue spike.

I have test date run by UNC and Philips comparing dry weight
of plants grown under 1) cool white and incandescent, 2) wide
spectrum growth lights, 3) Agro lites.

The AGRO LITES won hands down.

There are two mysteries to this tube. First, why is Philips
doing such a good job at keeping it a secret and why
don't they make it in some *useful* sizes, following
Sylvania's hint.

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