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First timer!

Pam said:
Just put some aluminum foil or mylar around the plants to reflect the light back towards the plant.
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Yeah, it's not the size of the light, but how you use it! :confused:

Having said that, I am not using anything reflective, I want to maintain a certain level of aesthetic cleanlyness.
 
ryanmark said:
Yeah, it's not the size of the light, but how you use it! :confused:

Having said that, I am not using anything reflective, I want to maintain a certain level of aesthetic cleanlyness.
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Lol. Meaning.........you have a wife! Me too. You have to reach a balance.
 
About bugs, I have found a single whitefly and a single mystery bug so far, killed both and hopefully won't find any more. I can gaurantee I would have fungus gnats if they were in soil. I always end up with them. Since you are growing indoors, be sure your bag of dirt is sealed and doesn't have any holes when you buy it.
 
cheezydemon said:
Lol. Meaning.........you have a wife! Me too. You have to reach a balance.
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No, I'm a single guy, but it's my first hydro setup and I like to show it off. It's in what could be called my "living room", too.
 
1000w HPS with mylar in a 4x4 foot space and still the sun was the champ.
trust me you CANNOT mimic the sun without owning a power plant (or using the sun).
 
ryanmark said:
I have some indoor habaneros growing under fluorescent lights. I bought seedlings from a hardware store a month ago, and now they have little flowers about to bloom everywhere. Whether I get peppers or not, only time will tell, but they seem to be thriving in hydro, under 4 4' T12 bulbs.

You can use almost any fluorescent bulb, but if you have T12 fixtures, go to Wal-Mart and purchase a 50/50 combination of these two tubes: Kitchen/Bath 3000k (red light) 3,400 lumen, and the Daylight 6500k (blue light) 3,050 lumen. They come in packs of two, are made by GE, and cost about $6 and $9, can't remember which type was more expensive.

Mix them up and keep them very close, about an inch or even less if they don't get hot. Keep your plant short. Here's a pic of mine so far, notice the flower on the right. That's a good sign, yes?
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Interesting post Ryan, is the Red light actually red or is that the spectrum of light it displays? same for the Blue. I have a link to Flourescent lighting just dont feel like reviewing now. I will be in the process of hydro in a couple of months when I move plants indoors.
 
POTAWIE said:
Unfortunately, I've never had it that easy with aphids. They are buggers to get rid of in the winter when there are no natural predators. I've had to purchase ladybugs when all the organic sprays failed.
:cool: Now they are starting up again in my greenhouse again
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Well, you have a problem of scale that I don't. I overwinter 2 or 3 plants, you have a whole greenhouse full! It's easier for me to insure good coverage when I'm treating. Plus, mine are in my spare bedroom, so the possibility of re-infestation is less.
 
LUCKYDOG said:
Interesting post Ryan, is the Red light actually red or is that the spectrum of light it displays? same for the Blue. I have a link to Flourescent lighting just dont feel like reviewing now. I will be in the process of hydro in a couple of months when I move plants indoors.
Click to expand...

It refers to the spectrum, and also the visible color... Color temperature is measured in degrees kelvin, which is the color of a piece of tungsten heated to that temperature. If you look at a single fluorescent light by itself, you may not notice, but 3000 degrees kelvin looks red-orange and 6500k looks blue-white, these are the spectrums that plants mainly use. Those colors coordinate with wavelengths on the frequency spectrum. Red is the lowest frequency and blue is the highest, regarding visible light. Below red is infrared and above blue is ultraviolet. Plants use blue light for vegetative growth, red light for flowering/fruiting. They also tend to use blue light for tracking (growing towards the light source). Plants can use the spectrum in-between red and blue, too. but not quite as much.

Some commonly used fluorescent light terms are Warm White (~3500k), Cool White (~4500k), and Daylight (6500k). All will work.
 
Found this...
Also, this graph may look backwards from what I said if you're not familiar with the frequency spectrum...the higher the frequency, the smaller the wavelenth.
Plant-Human-Eye-Response_01.jpg
 
ryanmark said:
Plants use blue light for vegetative growth, red light for flowering/fruiting. They also tend to use blue light for tracking (growing towards the light source). Plants can use the spectrum in-between red and blue, too. but not quite as much.

Some commonly used fluorescent light terms are Warm White (~3500k), Cool White (~4500k), and Daylight (6500k). All will work.
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Thanks Ryan...
This is what I was getting at... but not maybe across.
I am trying to work this all out as I want to over winter and start earlier than this year via hydro.
 
willard3 said:
Aphids are a common complaint with those who grow in dirt.

I grow in hydro and had aphids twice in 15 yrs and they came from the soil in a potted plant I put in the greenhouse temporarily....never soil inside again......
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How do I do Hydro, exactly?
 
Thanks Luckydog I have purchased the PDF version........doesn't look near as hard as I was under the impression it would be, now the question will I be able to find, the plant food for Hydro here in Germany?
 
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