The beginning of the end. How long can you push CFL lights?

[pfunnyjoy]

Well, the two upstairs 2009 6 Elite+ gardens have both had the replace bulbs light go on. Which means the bulbs were in use for a grow prior to what I'm growing now and have the recommended 6 months of use on them already. I'm assuming that since I'm just growing greens, I can keep on keeping on as long as I'm getting decent growth?

Are there other signs I should look for in terms of the bulbs not being sufficient to grow with?

I do have 4 sets of replacement bulbs, but since it's now impossible to get more bulbs, I'd like to push the existing bulbs as long as I feasibly can.

[lynnee]

In my experience, pfunnyjoy, those "replace something" warnings on electronic devices are triggered by dates rather than by actual performance issues. So I would reset the garden to get rid of the warning light (if possible) and go on using the current bulbs until plant growth suffered.

[pfunnyjoy]

Dec 9, 2023 9:17:32 GMT -5 lynnee said:

In my experience, pfunnyjoy , those "replace something" warnings on electronic devices are triggered by dates rather than by actual performance issues. So I would reset the garden to get rid of the warning light (if possible) and go on using the current bulbs until plant growth suffered.

Don't worry, I did reset and the lights are not blinking now. I figure I can probably get another 6 months. After that, I don't know. My understanding is that the intensity of the light shifts with time, so that eventually, plant growth will suffer. I figured it was worth asking in case anyone else has pushed one of these old gardens before.

I did a bit of looking around on the web, and AG's stated time of 6 months sounds about right as a general recommendation for fluorescent grow lights, but at this point, there's not much to lose by pushing on, since I'm not planning to grow anything more demanding than greens in these old gardens. Certainly, the Tatsoi are not yet being impeded growth-wise, LOL! They are about ready to harvest again.