What are you planning to light with it? Many plants have differing light requirements. This fixture seems to be quite bright, with 125W over only 18". In contrast, an african violet (relatively low light) is very happy with 80W spread out over 48". Some plants could easily handle the amount of output from this fixture (or more) but many others would likely burn.

Mark

I was hoping to use mainly for a few jade plants.

Would something like this work? It'd definitely be a lot cheaper.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00198SWJI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=AISFWZQJ85MSG

I would get an aquarium light...they come in smaller lengths...18" and 24" and you could get the bulb for growing aquarium plants. Much cheaper than the option you showed in your first post.

Nancy

An aquarium strip light would certainly work. Those for standard freshwater aquaria are usually T8 bulbs. The grow bulbs for those often have a rosy tint to them, which you may or may not like. Sometimes you can find a strip light that will hold screw-in (mogul base) bulbs. There are fluorescent aquarium bulbs for these that have a much more natural "white" light, and will grow plants perfectly well. One not, do not use normal screw-in fluorescents from Home Depot or the like. These are not designed to be used horizontally and may catch fire. The aquarium bulbs are designed for horizontal use. The people I know who use 4' fluorescent 2-bulb fixtures typically use a cool-white and a warm-white bulb. These are cheaper and just as effective as a "grow" bulb in these fixtures. Avoid saltwater aquarium lights. They are much more expensive and the bulbs are optimized for the growth of coral in reef tanks.

Mark

Just a warning from and Aquarist. Make sure you get a Daylight bulb. The Actnic blubs (bluish) are used for salt water, coral and live rock and are a lot more common than the daylight bulbs. These won't provide the spectrum needed by green plants, aquatic or otherwise.

I use a 4-light cheap bathroom vanity fixture ($12) with 4 daylight CFLs (23W I think). So far has worked great. However, I need a reflector to reduce wastage and I have not gotten around to that yet.