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Sufficient lighting



Karl wrote (sorry for the delayed response, but I've had a busy few days!<g>)

>The wattage formula of 2W/gal or 3W/gal is adequate to determine the proper
>lighting when using tubes, however I still believe it is necessary to 
>investigate the Color Rendition Index of said tubes to get at least some idea
>of where you're going.  In my calls to lighting dealers I have never had much
>trouble obtaining this information.

Actually, from what I've read, I believe that CRI is more useful in terms
of what the human eye sees than it is for determining whether the bulb will
meet the needs of the plant.  The most important from the PLANTS'
perspective is that the light is intense enough, and that the spectral
distribution is an "M" shape, whith most of the light in the red and blue
areas.  While plants can use SOME light in the yellow/green area, algae
seems to be able to ulitize it better.  If you don't have much algae, it's
probably not going to be a problem, but if you are battling an algae
infestation, you are probably better off with the "M" shaped spectral curve.