On my windowsill there are a few morugas on the left, and Thai (Prik Chee Fah) on the right.
These plants were germinated and planted ridiculously late in the season, explaining why they are still so small.
They don't get a lot of direct sunlight, not even when it's sunny out. So a few weeks ago I added one of my little homemade DIY LED panels, just to see what would happen. This one has only 24 x 1 watt diodes.
The morugas, being notoriously slow growers might have grown a bit bigger than their cousins but at this stage it's almost impossible to tell They probably need a little more time before anything shows. Their leaves are a bit darker and healthier looking though.
The Thais on the other hand went all Jack And The Beanstalk on my ass !
Note how the plant in the corner - which gets the LEAST natural light of the whole bunch - shoots up. It looks healthier and more vigorous than it's cousins right before the window that get no supplemental LED light.
Here's a closer pic :
I would say these are pretty dramatic results in just two weeks time.
Now unless there's some genetic anomaly or strange coincedence at play here, the experiment seems to indicate that supplemental LED light, in the right wavelengths can be VERY beneficial to chillies especially Capsicum Annuum.
Here's the "recipe" for this particular mini LED panel build :
10 x red 660 nm
6 x red 630 nm
1 x blue
1 x royal blue
3 x warm white 4500 K
1 x pink 2700 K (?)
1 x cool white 6500 K
1 x cool white 10000 K
The LEDS are equipped with random 60, 90, and 120 degree lenses/reflectors.
I don't think a panel like this alone will be sufficient to grow a plant full cycle (although that's another experiment), but as supplemental light source it seems to have a pretty good impact.
I will continue, and also repeat this experiment to get conclusive answers.
The next, different experiment will be trying to grow a chilli plant full cycle, and get fruits, using only 30 watts. I've already built the "full spectrum mini panel" prototype for this and will keep you guys posted !
These plants were germinated and planted ridiculously late in the season, explaining why they are still so small.
They don't get a lot of direct sunlight, not even when it's sunny out. So a few weeks ago I added one of my little homemade DIY LED panels, just to see what would happen. This one has only 24 x 1 watt diodes.
The morugas, being notoriously slow growers might have grown a bit bigger than their cousins but at this stage it's almost impossible to tell They probably need a little more time before anything shows. Their leaves are a bit darker and healthier looking though.
The Thais on the other hand went all Jack And The Beanstalk on my ass !
Note how the plant in the corner - which gets the LEAST natural light of the whole bunch - shoots up. It looks healthier and more vigorous than it's cousins right before the window that get no supplemental LED light.
Here's a closer pic :
I would say these are pretty dramatic results in just two weeks time.
Now unless there's some genetic anomaly or strange coincedence at play here, the experiment seems to indicate that supplemental LED light, in the right wavelengths can be VERY beneficial to chillies especially Capsicum Annuum.
Here's the "recipe" for this particular mini LED panel build :
10 x red 660 nm
6 x red 630 nm
1 x blue
1 x royal blue
3 x warm white 4500 K
1 x pink 2700 K (?)
1 x cool white 6500 K
1 x cool white 10000 K
The LEDS are equipped with random 60, 90, and 120 degree lenses/reflectors.
I don't think a panel like this alone will be sufficient to grow a plant full cycle (although that's another experiment), but as supplemental light source it seems to have a pretty good impact.
I will continue, and also repeat this experiment to get conclusive answers.
The next, different experiment will be trying to grow a chilli plant full cycle, and get fruits, using only 30 watts. I've already built the "full spectrum mini panel" prototype for this and will keep you guys posted !
