I'm trying to get a head start on tomatoes and chiles. I've heard that incandescent lights, while not worthless, are not really adequate to grow the seedlings for transplant. The LED panels out there look promising. Comments?
Thanks,
--Bryan
By "incandescent," do you mean regular light bulbs? Not very good spectrum range or efficiency. There are various gas-discharge/halide lamps that are better. And many of us use fluorescent lamps, which work well, especially with solid-state ballasts fitted. The LED fixtures are interesting, but the claims don't seem realistic, and the prices are well beyond my amateur status, not to mention living in genteel poverty.
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G
CFL's might also be good. Might be interesting to see what spectrum is best for growing and see which lights match closest.
I know that I'm a visitor here, and not to be rude, but I--and all others with half a brain--know how to search Wikipedia. I was hoping for expertise, not reference librarianship of the lowest order. I will post back here with my experience. I plan to use the LED panel I ordered to grow edible Solanaceaes. I've never had luck with eggplant outdoors, and out of season decent tomatoes would make me very happy.
Next year, if this turns out nicely, I might expand my operation to help provide seedlings to the other members of our city's new community garden. I'm of the opinion that if one has the means, failing to grow a Victory Garden--at least for USA residents--is unpatriotic.
Again, Frank, I didn't mean to be an a$$hole. I had searched this NG, plus the web, plus--of course--Wikipedia.
--Bryan
You were supposed to say, "Thank you, Frank, for offering your time to a total stranger." Your posturing just wastes more time.
It is an insult to a person's intelligence to post a simple Wikipedia search, which in 2009, any moron knows how to do.
--Bryan
Impolite and arrogant, what a lovely combination. You go boy.
Bryan, I bought 4 of the LED EBay model grow lights as an experiment last year to supplement the CFLs in the nursery. I was not impressed. 15 x
15 on a square foot panel, blue and red spectrum, each panel is about 12-15 watts total, they appear older generation LED, which despite the proper spectrum, do not have the horse power to be of value except maybe as supplemental light. The newest generation LEDs are coming in at about 10 watts a piece, very spendy as yet but offer the best promise of the technology. What you see on EBay and some of the Hydro stores appear unused Christmas lights from China, repackaged as grow lights and at very Starbuck prices. I would wait a while yet to see when the prices are going to come down on LEDs with real HP.For nursery starters, I would stay with 40W fluorescents, but w/ 6500k tubes, about 10$ for pack of 2 vs. 4$ for2 of the 4000Ks at Home Depot. The CFLs in the range of 85-150 watts are nice, but again you are back at more watts/lumens. Watch to ensure overlapping area coverage in any light system and think about the law of inverse square . I would again consider 6500K bulbs in as high a wattage as you can in CFLs. Then turn them out to play in the sun to save $$$s.
The 54w HD T5 link below is a nice system for starters and growing to term for even most flowering plants.
If you do buy them, please let me know the particuliars and how you do with them. gunner
CFL's might also be good. Might be interesting to see what spectrum is best for growing and see which lights match closest.
435 nm and 680 nmGunner
Actually his post posed an interesting question about LCD lights as a light source for growing plants indoors. His comments pointed out an all too common response to questions on usenet - "Google It" ((Wiki-It) Except for obvious cases of "do my homework for me" I like to assume that the poster has done the basic research and is looking for personal experiences by those who have a similar problem.
Since his expertise exceeds mine(and yours) I did not respond to his question. It is unfortunate you didn't do the same.
Where do you get 40w 6500k tubes for $10 a pair?
I'm using the 14w, 12" x 12" one to raise tomato and chile seedlings. The first thing I noticed is that under that light, while the surrounding area is illuminated, the cotyledons appear almost black, as if they are reflecting almost none of the light. Above, you mentioned the inverse square law. That is an advantage because you can put the plant 1/2" from the panel, as they put out very little heat. A coworker gave me a 4', 2 lamp growlight, and another that just has regular tubes in it. They are standard fixtures. Replacing those with the above mentioned 6500k would be nice if I really could get them for ~$10. If I could just grow tomatoes for my own household in Winter and Spring, I'd be pretty happy.
Is this what I need?
--Bryan
Bryan, I picked 2 packs up at Home Depot about 3 weeks ago. Don't have the receipt handy, but pretty sure they were under 10$/2, nine and change, the bulbs are Phillips F40T12/DX ---Alto (low Mercury) Collection. Googled the nomenclature and came up with this:
I've got 4 similar ones that I use for supplemental. Here is some info for consideration that you may already have:
It is spooky to see plants grow under LED, very foreign to our senses . Have you checked out YouTube videos? Most LEDs are the Cannabis growers but there are some earnest Veg growers with very promising results to view,. but as I said, these low watt units we have are just JR. High Science experiments.
I am glad you know the Law, 1 foot away is 1/4 the light. Consider hanging them vertically when your peppers and toms get bigger so as to get penetration on the lower part of the plant.
I would rig up 4 shop lights vertically and have a 100-150w CFL ( again, Home Depot- outside lights, approx. 50-60$) at the top of the plants in say a 4x4 or 6x6 foot space, and a small fan to blow the limbs around a bit using determinate plants.
I realize Lumens are not exactly apples to apples when it comes to plants but are good indicators for our purposes. I would still like to see the 54 w T5s in play @ ~5000 lumens a tube. That is 4 tubes for $169, or 6 tubes for $249 (with bulbs) plus 15 $ shipping to have a ~ 20,000 or 30, 000 Lumen set up. The 6 tube about the same cost as a 400W HID but using 1/2 the power. A 400w HID is ~ 27,750lm; 27750/400 that is 68.75lm/w, so about the amount of the Agro-tubes.
For comparison a 4 tube T5 is good for a growing area of 2x5 or as supplemental lighting for a 4x7' area, the 6 tube is 3x6 and 5x8' respectively @ 4-6 inches about the plant height. so the 40w shoplights will be a bit less area coverage than the 54w. As for lm/w, the 5000lm/54w=
92.59. very good.Regardless, in your case for 20$ for 4-6500k tubes and the two shop fixtures you should be able to grow Toms and Peppers in the winter and spring even here in the PNW where we get little to no winter sun. Just get the heat right. I have a large hot water closet w/ 3x4.5 ft of nursery space which is 78f year round w/ the fluorescent. I don't want an HID light in there because then I would have to rig up an exhaust system.
your quite welcome Bryan, let me know what you come up with and how you do. This is an area of great interest gunner
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.