So I just got my Philips Ceramic Metal Halide ED-17 MHC/150/U/4K Bulb and I was reading another thread here and it seems that I was confused and I'm not supposed to be getting a magnetic ballast after all, but rather, a pulse-start electronic ballast. Zink - I saw your post about MH references and I'm going to check it out because I'm completely confused now....while I want to just get a ready built plug and play ballast, I'm too poor to do that so I think I need to go with the kit idea...and I've seen a good link I think from object16 that tells you how to wire the thing so that should be okay. The bulb says 'universal' operating position..does that mean that it can't be mounted horizontally? I will need to do some more research on what exactly I need - I never knew this was so complicated! That's a good idea about getting stuff from utility companies but I don't think I know enough about this to be able to tell them what I want. :S As for the socket, I thought mogul sockets were bigger than medium ones...? or is a mogul socket the same as that special ceramic-encased socket you were talking about before? Thanks for all the help - I'm good with plants and I'm good with biology but I just seem to get stupid when it comes to electronics. -Calvin

I've read and reread recommendations for the best combination of florescents to promote the growth of tom and pepper seedlings. I was heavily infuenced by the results shown on wayneScmidt's site that was originally referenced above. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words and in that test, the ge plant and aq won leaves up. It's also interesting, as object16 pointed out, that the kitchen and bath finished a close second especially because it was not a so called plant light. I will in all liklihood go with 3 ge plant and aq for best growth qualities and 1 kitchen and bath to enhance brightness (lumens) and to capitalize on whatever else that caused a second place finish in the comparison test. Last but not least, I am impressed that that the pl and aq cost only $5.97 at walmart compared to $6.84 for kit and bath. The ott and phillips plant lights cost $10 at homedepot. I have copied an excerpt from an interesting post that I read on another site below that convinced me to add the 1 flo for lumens. "I put a couple of the "Plant and Aquariums" (40W) above a newly set up 55G and the tank really looked dim. They have so much energy nearly out of the visible spectrum that they need a *lot* of Watts for comfortable viewing (i.e., to get the lumens up). Otherwise, they look to me to be pretty white, but just a tad magenta or purplish in color. I added one "cool white" and it was as if I had quadrupled the illumination. The tank has a lot of irridescent fish, and the plants and fish just became dazzling. The "P/A" tubes probably provide plenty of plant energy, and the "cool white" lots of viewing light. The trick is to get a nice balance that grows plants and also looks good. Since plants and eyes have different response spectra, I always seem to be happier mixing different tubes to get the results I want."

Gorgeous, thanks for sharing? We are currently choosing countertops for our kitchen reno and your pictures are selling me on Superwhite! Questions: 1. What edge did you use on your counters? 2. What is the height between your countertop and the bottom of your cabinets? I think 18 inches is standard, yours look a bit higher which is what we are thinking of doing in our new kitchen. 3. Do you know the company that made your cabinet knob hardware, where did you buy it? Thanks much!

Lol - good one marymcp, I might need to get one or ten. I do enjoy my greens, but I'm actually playing around with the idea of selling some of my produce. I'm a cook at a relatively busy restaurant dtown here in pensacola. They are currently buying my bok choy that I grow and I might start supplying them with some other things as well, hence all the Micros. I'm growing lots of stuff to see if I'm capable of producing restaurant quantities, and it looks like I'm having no trouble doing it. I wanna maybe start selling at the local market too. I gotta do something with all these tomatoes too and I have tons more ripening, and my plants are still setting fruit (we have only had one weekend of frost which I was able to protect the them, today's high 73)