Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Review: LED lights
On Thu, 20 May 2010 08:08:37 -0400, Pat Kiewicz
wrote: So this year I had a some extra cash, and the metal halide light I had been using for lo, these many years was due for a new bulb. The time was ripe for a radical change. I'd always been unhappy with the amount of power this used and the dangerously enormous amount of waste heat it created. Due to all the heat, my tomato plants generally grew too tall too fast and all the plants were always prone to wilting and water stress. My plant set up is a three-sided 'light box' lined with mylar and draped with a half-length mylar sheet on the open end. I use an oscillating fan blowing in on the plants (and had another on top of the light trying to keep it cool). I typically grow up to 40 plants in re-used 32-ounce yogurt tubs (arranged in staggered rows for maximum density). This year I decided to go high-tech, and did a bit of research and some fairly serious spending. My set up this year used two LED light fixtures. The main light source was a LightBlaze 400 LED grow light roughly centered in my light box. Behind it I hung a second LED light fixture, a GlowPanel 45. I still used the oscillating fan blowing into the box, but as everthing was running so much cooler, I laid another sheet of mylar across most of the front of the box. I'd have to say the whole thing was a sucess. My tomato plants are much shorter and more robust looking, as are the peppers and eggplants. It was strange how black the plants look under the LED lights, but that is a sign that most of the light was actually being absorbed by the leaves and very little was being reflected, which is a good thing. The weirdest thing to get used to was how odd *the rest of the world* looked after fussing over the plants a bit; everything took on a distinctly green after-glow. The LightBlaze 400 puts out more light than the GlowPanel 45. and is easier to hang and adjust, but I think if you put together several GlowPanel 45 grow lights you could get the same results. LightBlaze 400: http://www.superled.net/ledgrowlights.html Sunshine Systems GlowPanel 45: Available from Amazon.com and other sources. Very interesting. I will keep it in mind. This year I got a late start on my tomatoes. I started the bulk of mine on 3/15 and a few more late arriving seeds on 3/27. I started the first ones in the house with grow lights and the second ones in the greenhouse. The first ones got leggy very fast and I moved them to the greenhouse as soon as most of them germinated. They all went outside as soon as it was warm enough. I set out the first block on 5/10 and the second one yesterday. The ones that I started in the greenhouse look much better. Think I will bite the bullet and heat the greenhouse next year and keep all of the tomatoes in it and not try to start too early. Maybe slower germination but better looking plants later. I am betting that the later starting plants will be more successful that the others. I remember reading somewhere that a healthy plant resists insects better. I am guessing they also resist diseases better. -- USA North Carolina Foothills USDA Zone 7a |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Anyone used the new LED grow lights? | Edible Gardening | |||
LED lights | Orchids | |||
Coast LED Lenser LL7590 Write Light Gift Boxed White LED pen light flashlight and Pen | Edible Gardening | |||
Compact Fluorescent and LED grow lights | Orchids | |||
Commercial LED Plant Lights | Orchids |