Light time for fluorescant strip fixture?

[Ellenquacker72]

I just purchased a light timer, and when I got it all set up I realized that the light does not go on with the timer. It only starts manually. Im fine with turning it on every day, but I'm going away for a while, and I would like my plants to survive without having someone to come everyday to turn the light on :P is there anything I can do about this?

[rich311k]

Must be an old fixture. I leave mine in the on position and it functions well with a timer.

[Ellenquacker72]

I don't know why... It just doesn't come back on. Like during thunderstorms when the power goes out then back on after a few seconds, I have to turn it on again. Kind of annoying. Any suggestions besides buying a new fixture?

[rich311k]

It has a push button switch? I know some older flourescents will be like that. You would probably need to replace it in order for it to work on a timer.

[Ellenquacker72]

Yes, it's a push switch. That sucks.
I have an incandescent fixture so could I just screw in some cfls ( even though they look terrible ) for the time that I'm gone? Are they in the right spectrum or whatever it is that is needed for plants? 2 15W bulbs ( I don't know they're k, but it's probably pretty low)

[Ellenquacker72]

Yes, maybe, no? ...

[rich311k]

Yes that would work well while you are gone.

[Ellenquacker72]

How do the kelvins affect plant growth?

[fort384]

Kelvins are the unit that color temperature is measured in. All it really mean is the way the light appears to us when we view it. Plants need peaks in specific colors across the spectrum of light in order to undergo photosynthesis. Red and blue are extremely important... so color temperature really isn't what is important, but we use it as kind of a secondary round about way to know that the light we are providing provides the proper peaks of red and blue light, so plants can use it for photosynthesis. We know that bulbs that have a color temp of 6000K-10000K generally have peaks in red and blue, so they are good for plant growth.

[Ellenquacker72]

So my cfl probably wouldn't be good? They're pretty yellow. Maybe 2500k area?

[fort384]

Well, 6500K light usually looks yellow, and a lot of CFLs come in 6500K. 2500K would be a bit low for plants... not much blue in that light. You would want to look for bulbs that either have a color temp on them (6500-10000K) or look for the ones that say daylight (these are usually 10000K).

[Ellenquacker72]

I wish there was a way to find out the k... I guess I might just have to go out and buy new bulbs... Shucks

[fort384]

If you don't want to do that, consider making the other changes first and see if there is any improvement. You can always come back to the bulbs.

[cbc1989]

U many just need to go to radio shack and get a new switch and some other parts if u can take the light and timer with and let them know what u r trying to do

[Ellenquacker72]

Well, I just bought 2 6500k clfs. They're white! Sooo much better than the 'soft light' ones thanks everybody for the imput! I might just have to upgrade my fixture later.