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lighting Grow Lights?
- Thread starter Pepper Belly
- Start date
Tx,
How about instructions!
Find a box, one slighty longer than a shoe box but maybe not as wide works great. Cut a small slit os the side of an end. It doesn't need to be any thicker than a penny but it should be 1-1.5 inches wide. At the other end of the box, cut the end of the lid off, about 4" or so. That's it for the box. Crab a CD and place it at a 45 degree angle (you might want to tape the bottom to hold it in place and turn your box on end so the CD is at the bottom. Place it under the light you want to check and look at the CD. You will see rather distinct colors and can get a rough approximation of the percent of each.
Mike
How about instructions!
Find a box, one slighty longer than a shoe box but maybe not as wide works great. Cut a small slit os the side of an end. It doesn't need to be any thicker than a penny but it should be 1-1.5 inches wide. At the other end of the box, cut the end of the lid off, about 4" or so. That's it for the box. Crab a CD and place it at a 45 degree angle (you might want to tape the bottom to hold it in place and turn your box on end so the CD is at the bottom. Place it under the light you want to check and look at the CD. You will see rather distinct colors and can get a rough approximation of the percent of each.
Mike
Hotpeppa said:
Any complete grow system(light, system, media, nutrients, enclosure, etc) is going to be prohibitively expensive and they all will be hydroponic systems which, depending on the type of system, may not lend itself to transplanting the plants into pots for outdoors. Best bet for a "from seed to outdoor" system is just a few fluorescent shop lights & some pots. If you could elaborate a bit more on what you're trying to set up or what you had in mind I might be able to help a bit more.
Txclosetgrower said:
Hmm, appears I'm full of shit:
http://htgsupply.com/products.asp?categoryID=16&subcategoryID=124
$499 for:
* 36"Long x 20"Wide x 64"Tall Grow Tent
* 400 watt both High Pressure Sodium and Metal Halide Grow Light System with Timer
* 10 Containers with CocoCoir Grow Medium and Starter Plugs
* Specialty Advanced Nutrients Grow and Bloom Fertilizers
* Ventilation Fan
* Thermometer
For everything to get shipped to my house in TX it would cost $565.83....nice
willard3 said:
The only thing I meant about that is how the roots get tangled in the net cups in like say a DWC system. How would you get it untangled, can you just cut the cup off or plant the whole thing cup and all in dirt? What system do you think is best for starting smaller plants to be transplanted outside?
Sorry, lots of questions, but you're definitely going to be getting a lot more questions from me soon lol, I'm almost done gathering supplies for my first system. It's a lettuce raft but then I will soon be starting on my real project once I can afford that 400 watt light
Haha beat me to it mike
NatGreenMeds
Banned
How the plants are grown in the hydro media is what's important for transplanting them. You have to be able to remove them from the hydro without murdering them. Widely spaced drip is the easiest for me. The root mass stays pretty much in the area of the drip and can be scooped and moved fairly easily. The most difficult is a tub grown ebb and flow. It's too hard to remove the roots without massive harm to them. NFT can be setup for transplanting ease also. Partitions can be employed to keep the roots separate in an aero system and moved easily.Txclosetgrower said:
Perhaps it's my inexperience of using hydro to grow seedlings but I really cannot see any advantages over seed trays, 9-ounce cups or other methods.
Fer instance, I want to raise about 850 seedlings, mostly toms but some peppers and cukes to sell in early May. There ain't no way I can this hydroponically as cheap as I can in dirt.
But... at the same time, I know some tobacco growers who needs hundreds of thousands of plant (low hundreds) and they use a hydro system to raise them. A 256-cell tray that floats in water and is propelled along a trough by fans.
I just can't see sprouting seedling in hydro as a better alternative to dirt.
Mike
Fer instance, I want to raise about 850 seedlings, mostly toms but some peppers and cukes to sell in early May. There ain't no way I can this hydroponically as cheap as I can in dirt.
But... at the same time, I know some tobacco growers who needs hundreds of thousands of plant (low hundreds) and they use a hydro system to raise them. A 256-cell tray that floats in water and is propelled along a trough by fans.
I just can't see sprouting seedling in hydro as a better alternative to dirt.
Mike
NatGreenMeds
Banned
Neither can I, if the plants are going to be grown in dirt and not hydro, but I've learned not to argue with people who have their minds set on doing so. There are advantages and disadvantages to doing it. Much more control in the ambient and environmental conditions is possible. Much less possibility of soil borne pests or problems and more precise control over nutrient and anti-bacterial levels.wordwiz said:
Then you have cost. Hydro is much more expensive per/seedling.
I've heard every argument that there is.
Like I said, it's not worth arguing over. If someone is convinced that they're correct in using dirt or hydro, I just let em alone and advise them on the best way to maintain what they're using.
I got Aquarium lights 18W specifically designed for plant growth. hope these do the job as these lights are only on in the evening hours after dusk. Mind you these aren't in a closet but inside of a green house.
This is the spectrum of these lights.
This is the spectrum of these lights.
NatGreenMeds
Banned
Ah yes, Greenhouses are the best toy in the world. They can also be a work horse for food crops. I wish I could cover about ten acres with greenhouses. What a life that would be. Doing the one thing in the world that makes me more happy than any other projects I've ever worked on.Pepper Belly said:
You mention day extending lighting in a greenhouse. It's a fascinating topic. You can adjust the day length to exact timing to extend or decrease it at your will. Extended light need not be a light that promotes good vegetative growth. I only has to be bright enough to "fool" the plant into thinking the day is still 16 hours long, or longer. The bummer to greenhouses is that they're expensive to buy, and expensive to run in the winter. By their very nature, they have a disadvantage in insulation. In the summer, air flow is the great compensator. In the winter, heat is a must. Air flow is still as important and the electric company sends you cards from Hallmark wishing you a happy whatever.
A world class sized greenhouse is one of my wishes for the "lottery win".
The light you have looks like it'll do the job just fine in sufficient numbers. What type of wattage per/sq ft are you maintaining in the evening lighting with those lights?
Edit: I'm like that "Green Acres" guy in the old show. I've spent most of my life dreaming of owning a huge greenhouse and if I ever actually got one, I'd probably act like the mad scientist in it. I know I'd have some *serious* peppers! Breeding, etc.
Nat,
If I had the money to build/buy a greenhouse it would be energy efficient. Most of them - at least in many zones use plastic to cover the sides and tops. While it would cost way more to build, I would use glass - lets in more light but doesn't let heat out near as easily.
Of course, I would be basing my greenhouse on Tx's idea - grow things the year round. But then again, I'm here to tell you - within two years the advances in LED technology and the decrease in prices will make the idea of building a greenhouse whimsical. A guy offered to sell me a 300 watt LED light - one that will supposedly grow plants in a 140 sq. ft. area, for $1400. If true, two of these would be overkill for my 12x15" ft. grow room and more than enough for one of the 10x12' rooms I have.
I'm excited about growing stuff next winter - this winter is raising seeds to raise plants to sell to raise the money I need to buy such lights!
Mike
If I had the money to build/buy a greenhouse it would be energy efficient. Most of them - at least in many zones use plastic to cover the sides and tops. While it would cost way more to build, I would use glass - lets in more light but doesn't let heat out near as easily.
Of course, I would be basing my greenhouse on Tx's idea - grow things the year round. But then again, I'm here to tell you - within two years the advances in LED technology and the decrease in prices will make the idea of building a greenhouse whimsical. A guy offered to sell me a 300 watt LED light - one that will supposedly grow plants in a 140 sq. ft. area, for $1400. If true, two of these would be overkill for my 12x15" ft. grow room and more than enough for one of the 10x12' rooms I have.
I'm excited about growing stuff next winter - this winter is raising seeds to raise plants to sell to raise the money I need to buy such lights!
Mike
I'll take pics as soon as I get my camera out of the shop (my better half dropped it). Currently I have 3 X 59 cm tubes over a table with my plants on it, next month I'll get two more tubes. We were fortunate with this house as the previous owners owned a floral shop here in town, they sold us the house when they retired. Our greenhouse is actually attached to our main house like an extra room so heating costs are not that bad. plus windows from the basement open up into the greenhouse to keep the greenhouse above freezing and is also good for air circulation plus there is a radiator heater in the greenhouse (energy saving), our heater uses kerosene heating oil, boiler type for radiators as is common throughout europe.NatGreenMeds said:
NatGreenMeds
Banned
1. Typed out a long, detailed reply to wordwiz and wanted to include a pic.
2. Opened "Image Shack" so I could upload a pic to them where in turn, I would then be able to put it here.
3. Image Shack opened over top of the answer I'd typed so it was lost.
4. Pissed off that it was necessary to do all of that just to post a freakin pic.
Sorry, I'm not bothering with pics here any more unless someone has a better way of doing it.
Damnit! That really pissed me off.
Is there a way to upload a freakin picture to this site DIRECTLY from my PC?
If so, please tell me how. This is about the 5th time I've lost everything I've typed in a reply because of this nonsense.
2. Opened "Image Shack" so I could upload a pic to them where in turn, I would then be able to put it here.
3. Image Shack opened over top of the answer I'd typed so it was lost.
4. Pissed off that it was necessary to do all of that just to post a freakin pic.
Sorry, I'm not bothering with pics here any more unless someone has a better way of doing it.
Damnit! That really pissed me off.
Is there a way to upload a freakin picture to this site DIRECTLY from my PC?
If so, please tell me how. This is about the 5th time I've lost everything I've typed in a reply because of this nonsense.
Did you open Imageshack in a seperate window?
NatGreenMeds
Banned
hehe, I'm cooler now.....I usually do. I usually get the pic ready before starting a reply. This time and many others, I thought of the pic after typing a bunch of stuff and then got in a hurry and just told image shack to open, forgetting that it would use my current browser to do so and eliminate everything I had just typed.rainbowberry said:
I've seen a lot of vBulletin boards that allow upload from a PC. If image sizes are restricted to jpg's and only "so" much per/pic, it's not a storage problem. I wish that was done here.
Oh well, I love the group and all the information here, so I guess I'll add a small command line to the image shack icon I have to make it open automatically in a new browser window. That way I'll quit pissing myself off.
hehe, what a temper I have....sorry. Now I have to get the cats back out from under the sofa.