So this year I had a some extra cash, and the metal halide light I had been using for lo, these many years was due for a new bulb. The time was ripe for a radical change.
I'd always been unhappy with the amount of power this used and the dangerously enormous amount of waste heat it created. Due to all the heat, my tomato plants generally grew too tall too fast and all the plants were always prone to wilting and water stress.
My plant set up is a three-sided 'light box' lined with mylar and draped with a half-length mylar sheet on the open end. I use an oscillating fan blowing in on the plants (and had another on top of the light trying to keep it cool). I typically grow up to
40 plants in re-used 32-ounce yogurt tubs (arranged in staggered rows for maximum density).This year I decided to go high-tech, and did a bit of research and some fairly serious spending.
My set up this year used two LED light fixtures. The main light source was a LightBlaze 400 LED grow light roughly centered in my light box. Behind it I hung a second LED light fixture, a GlowPanel 45.
I still used the oscillating fan blowing into the box, but as everthing was running so much cooler, I laid another sheet of mylar across most of the front of the box.
I'd have to say the whole thing was a sucess. My tomato plants are much shorter and more robust looking, as are the peppers and eggplants.
It was strange how black the plants look under the LED lights, but that is a sign that most of the light was actually being absorbed by the leaves and very little was being reflected, which is a good thing.
The weirdest thing to get used to was how odd *the rest of the world* looked after fussing over the plants a bit; everything took on a distinctly green after-glow.
The LightBlaze 400 puts out more light than the GlowPanel 45. and is easier to hang and adjust, but I think if you put together several GlowPanel 45 grow lights you could get the same results.
LightBlaze 400: