grow lights????? theres so many which is best

i started seeds indoors last year with great germination rates- but nothin survived to make into the garden, my house is lacking natural light due to the trees close by so this year i definately want to try a grow light. Last year i tried just regular fourescent lights and it didnt do anything. so i want to try a grow light in my fixtures this year...But which one...red,green,blue, white?? i have no idea which i should be looking for. ive tried to read up on it but it lost me.
Im starting vegtables and perrenial flowers- can i pick a simple grow light to do it all? and should i budeting $50 just for a light bulb?? how much of a difference can the light make? i would rather not discover the best light by trial and error. Also i do have flourescent fixtures.

I have grown seeds under fluorescent fixtures for over 20 years. I used to use the more expensive tubes, but followed the advice of a speaker at the local horticultural society and started to use the cool white 40watt tubes. He said the cool whites were all that were necessary as I was growing perennials, annuals, and vegetables to put out into my gardens, not African violets or other flowering plants. I have always been very satisfied with the results and I grow alot of plants. I have 22 fixtures which will be all up and running by the end of March. I replace the tubes every 2nd year, or whenever the ends of the tubes darken, whichever comes first.

Regular fluorescent lights work just fine for seed starting--if you had problems it's probably because you either didn't leave the lights on for long enough each day, or you had them too far above the seedlings. For best results, you should leave them on 14-16 hrs a day, and they need to be no more than a couple inches above the tops of the seedlings (same rules would apply if you buy special grow lights...but you really don't need them, there've been numerous discussions on this forum and the propagation forum about the grow lights not being any better than regular fluorescents)

"nothin survived"

what sort of problems did you have? spindly seedlings? damping off?

You've been given good advice about the lights, but I'm wondering if something else might have been going on, since you weren't specific about what went wrong with your seedlings.

Ok, One of my lights has decided to die. I have one window where sun comes in all day, until about 4 or 5 anyway. Do you think they might be ok like that. I sure am trying hard not to spend that $9 aren't I. I looked in and they really look like they are getting more light than the ones under the lights

Plants do much better under grow lights than in a window, no matter how much sun comes in. The sun is not as strong at this time of the year and isn't the same as if the plants were outside in the spring/summer. Growlights need to be kept on for 14-16 hours a day, as said before and the plants only a couple of inches under them. You'll end up with sturdier seedlings. The money invested in the fixtures and the tubes is money well spent.

I knew that's what everyone would say. I've been having trouble with a couple. They come on, then 20 minutes or so go out. If I move them to different plug, they come on , then go off again a few minutes later. It isn't the Holder, because we took one back and got another and it does the same thing!
I swear there is some kind of little creature that turning my lights off

I don't know what you mean by "Holder" -- but it sounds like maybe the ballast on your fixture is bad. That's the little silver cylinder at one end of the shop light that kicks the bulb into action.

I know, holder wasn't a good name, I use the shop lights so yes I'm talking about the fixture. Thanks for telling me that. I will check that, that's all I haven't checked and I'll bet that's it. Will let you know and you can pat yourself on the back.

How long can the bulbs be stored. I have 2 boxes with 12 flor. lights in them but they are about 4 years old, never been used, just sitting