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Growing up in Kansas City

I just wanted to get this up here for now, I'll update with my pepper list and plant pics later. I just got these LED's in the mail from China at about $15 each. I made a simple adjustable mount. I can't wait to see how much better my plants do this year with the LED's. Last year I had OK luck with just my 4 T8 setup.
 
[Update]Here is this year's grow list, a big thank you to chile_freak for trading me a bajillion seeds for just a few ripe reapers last year. These are almost exclusively the seeds he donated.
 
Douglah
Fatali
Red Fatali
Yellow Fatali
Brown Maruga
Black Naga Jalokia
Yellow Manzano
Red Trinidad Hab
Naga Jalokia
Blue Mystery
Chocolate Bhut Jalokia
Maruga Scorpion
Chocolate Hab
Carolina Reaper
Caribbean Red
 
 
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There isn't really any heat to speak of, you can touch them after they have been on for a few hours and they are mildly warm. I have them just a few inches over my seedlings without any problems so far. 
 
I transplanted out some of the early risers, I still have a ton germinating and didn't want to water log the sprouts. I have my germination trays underneath the tray in the picture.
 
 
The product description on Amazon says those LEDs emit at 660nm (red) and 445nm (blue).  Those wavelengths match the published Chlorophyll A & B absorption sprectra pretty well.
 
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I've read that the actual Chlorophyll absorption spectra in vivo can differ from the in vitro measured spectra by 10s of nm, though.  There are also essential photomorphogenic processes that may not be stimulated by these LED wavelengths.  Still learning about these issues.
 
The product description also doesn't say how many lumens per watt the LEDs produce, but that becomes a complicated issue when speaking of LEDs as grow lights.  A rule of thumb is a minimum of 2000 lumens/sq.ft. of white light, but you can get by with a lot less, when all of the light is being absorbed.  Typical values for "white" LEDs are around 100 lumens/watt.  (Cree recently announced a record 300 lumen/watt.)  Having said all that, the proof is in the pudding and I imagine these will do quite well for you.
 
Thanks for the research, I didn't delve that deep. If it is in fact at least 100 lumens/watt then I should have about 7500 lumens for like 2square feet. I will definitely keep everyone updated.
 
My one month from start of germination pics. They seem to be looking better than last year already. I'm pretty happy with the LEDs, I've kept the lights about 6 inches away and I don't see many stringy stems. 
 
As you can see in the second picture I have a few more plants than I have room for so I'm sticking them on the side, if they don't grow it doesn't matter to much. I figure 24 plants will be enough for me, I plan on about 8-10 in 5g pots and the rest in the garden. I usually just go to the local garden place and get my standard jalapenos, habaneros, cayenne, and bell peppers. 
 

 
Justin, how are things going in your grow?  I expanded upon my comments up above about LEDs in Stickman's glog.  Rather than reproduce it all here, you can take look at this post, if you're interested.
 
Things are growing great. I'm having way more luck than last year with my T-8 setup. The only other dependent variable is that I now have a ceramic heat bulb going 24 hours this year as opposed to an infrared bulb last year that was only on during my light hours. This is a pic from last Saturday, I'll edit in one from today when I get home. These LEDs are definitely worth the $45 initial cost.
 

 
Latest pics from today, first is the plants in normal light, the second is my current Frankenstein setup, its really cold in my basement so I have a ceramic heating (no light) bulb going 24/7 that keeps everything about 70F in there. I run the fan and the infrared bulb on the same timer, about 2 hours a day, I don't want it to get too cold, ambient temp outside the enclosure is like 50F.
 

 
midwestchilehead said:
Plants are looking good. Since I'm close, let me know if you want to trade any plants/seeds.
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Thanks, and as it stands I have way more reapers than I will have room for, I'd be happy to trade a plant or four for some of your varieties, I would also be interested in tomato plants too, I don't start my own maters, not enough room . Also I'm currently without a car, so anytime you plan on coming to KC let me know.
 
A little over a month away from planting these beauties. I changed up a lot of things this year in addition to LEDs: I've kept the plants a lot warmer, I've tried to say above 70F, I have a fan blowing on them for about 4 hours a day, I'm watering only when nearly dry, and put them in something other than peat pots. Not sure which of these had the most dramatic effect, but I'm happy with the results. I'm going to buy a few more of these LEDs in the off season and try to double my indoor growing area for next year. I talked to the wifey about growing a crap ton of reapers next year and selling the plants at the local city market, while it wasn't a whole hearted yes, I didn't get a resounding no. So I count that as a win.
 
The bottom pics are of my humble garden, it was basically the first thing I built when we moved in a couple years ago. I'm getting stir crazy with this nice weather, so I'm going to till in some organics and nutes this week, then plant some spinach and peas in my non-pepper portion. It is going to be near 70F for the next week so I thought this would be a good time to get it done.
 

 

 
 
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