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Basil Grow Test

W

wordwiz

I have a friend who likes to buy Genovese Basil for his restaurant so I sowed some seeds that are finally big enough to transplant into 3" nursery cells. (Seeds sown 1/23, sprouted 1/29). Besides smacking myself upside the head for not doing this last September, I decided I might as well test several different lights I have. So three seedlings each go under:
a 14 watt all-red LED panel
a 14 watt all-blue LED panel
a 14 watt Red/Blue LED panel
a 105 watt CFL bulb
a 400 watt HPS bulb (that will get about the same lux as the CFL).

I plan to measure plant height, as a basic measure, but more importantly, the weight of the leaves harvested and the date of the first buds. Buds are not good - a plant that can produce lots of leaves but not go to seed for a long time is far better. I know, I can trim the buds but, at least in theory, if the plant is putting its energy into producing leaves, it will produce more salable products.

Alas, unless some companies that sell LED, CFL and HPS lights donate a system, I will only be able to grow one plant of each to maturity. :( But the results may show how much it costs to grow a plant, counting initial cost of the system and electricity used. To be fair, I probably need to cut the costs of the HPS by six, as I can grow six plants under one bulb, whereas I can only raise one each under all the other lights.

Mike
 
Sounds like a cool experiment. I wonder how your findings will correlate to growing peppers. Oh and I took your advice and got some of that basil seed.
 
Pepperfreak said:
Sounds like a cool experiment. I wonder how your findings will correlate to growing peppers. Oh and I took your advice and got some of that basil seed.
Click to expand...

Probably not much, unless you are talking about seedlings. I did an experiment a couple weeks ago with some tomato seedlings, and I can say the all blue LED was great, especially for roots - which is not what most wisdom says. But I use Tomato-tone fertilizer that I try to dissolve in water - very little Nitrogen. A shout-out to Pam (who doesn't post here anymore) for the recommendation!

BTW, the best way I have found to sow basil seed is to get about a cup of really fine potting mix, something sifted through a very fine sieve and dry it completely (I use the microwave) Add it to a jar or cup, add seeds and shake really good. Transfer to a cup with very small holes in the bottom then shake it out into the tray you want to start it in. Cover with a fine potting mix, saturate and put over over a heat source.

My seedlings are only about 1.5" tall, max, but I can't believe how large the roots are, growing in only about 1.5" of mix.

I'm adding the other two LED panels now. Unfortunately or fortunately, I have had to clean up my grow areas. Now I'm really excited about this season!

Mike
 
I grow lots of basil, mostly under just some GE Daylight 32-Watt T8 Fluorescents, I get a small amount of budding but just clip them, not big to deal with.
Good luck with the experiment., it will be interesting to see the final results.
 
After week one:

wp7070b90d_05.jpg

The all-blue LED plants

wpb2bdca47_05.jpg


The ones under the HPS

wpe8e3d5a6_05.jpg


The Red/Blue LED plants

A note - the CFL and HPS plants are both getting about 28K lux. The Blue Panel red 2000 lux which should have about the same PAR light as the CFL & HPS. The all-red and red/blue panels are the same distance from the plants as the all-blue panel, but their lux reading is only 500.

To be continued...

Mike
 
The other two specimens:

wpfecb21db_05.jpg


The all-red plants. Notice how the one on the left is drooping - very small stems

The leader after seven days:

wp7f896ebf_05.jpg


CFL plants.

Mike
 
Those are looking good wordwiz. BTW, how long or soon should I be starting my basil if I want to plant out at the end of May?
 
PF,

I sowed them on January 29, the first seed germinated six days later (usually takes about four days or so) and transplanted them on Feb. 21. They were 2-3" tall then. It should take them about three more weeks to be large enough for the outside - although the ones under the CFL will probably be ready at least a week before that.

Since the LED lights and for that matter, the CFL are not large or powerful enough for more than one plant, I may put the others in the GH in pots.

Mike
 
I tested to plant just a couple of seeds of Genovese Basil a while back. They germinated in about 48 hours... Nice change of pace compared to chinense... ;)
 
Yeah, I had to use Fafard's B3 potting mix because no one had Ferti-lome and it was suppose to be suitable for germination. It's not! Looks like I am going to need to re-sow a bunch of coffee and peanut seeds.

I hate it when that happens!

Mike
 
Personally I've never had any problems with Fafard's mixes but I don't think I've tried or even heard of the B3
 
It's a rather gritty one with lots of bark and small twigs and quite a bit of perlite, some pieces rather large for a potting mix.

Mike
 
Week II Something burnt some leaves on the CFL plants - not sure what as they were not getting mo-re lu-mens than the HPS. But they still dried up. Not that this would matter in the long run - I do not harvest any leaves for close to a month.
Nevertheless, the CFL plants seem to have the best foliage and overall growth. The internodes are not as tight as the all-blue but they are a bit better than the HPS. The red/blue plants look great; not quite as tall or big-leafed, but perhaps the best overall. The all-red: they look like they have had too many drugs or beers - barely able to stand up straight. The blue ones should turn out to be the best, albeit slowest growing - I do not like basil to bloom!


The CFL plants:





37cfl.jpg




The ones under the HPS:




37hps.jpg




And the Red/Blue LED plants:




37rb.jpg




Continued...
 
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