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.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Vegetables are like bombs packed tight with all kinds of important
nutrients..." --Largo Potter, Valkyria Chronicles

email valid but not regularly monitored

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

The Cook said:

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.

Oh, yes, I agree that it doesn't pay to start too soon. Better to wait,
and have plants that are smaller but unstressed and never checked
in their growth. Which is one reason I'm happy with the LED lights,
as the plants avoid all the heat stress from the metal-halide lamp that
I used to use.

I started my plants on April 9 in Jiffy-9 peat pellets, transplanted
them into the 32-oz yogurt tubs on April 25 and took the tomato
plants outside for the first time on May 19, when our weather
finally broke mild again. After a few days of hardening off they
may get transplanted out. (Each year this depends on the way
the weather trends at the end of May.)

The peppers and eggplants won't be going out quite yet but they
can use the extra room under the lights now that the tomatoes are
outdoors.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Vegetables are like bombs packed tight with all kinds of important
nutrients..." --Largo Potter, Valkyria Chronicles

email valid but not regularly monitored

In article
,
Pat Kiewicz wrote:

The Cook said:

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.

Oh, yes, I agree that it doesn't pay to start too soon. Better to wait,
and have plants that are smaller but unstressed and never checked
in their growth. Which is one reason I'm happy with the LED lights,
as the plants avoid all the heat stress from the metal-halide lamp that
I used to use.

I started my plants on April 9 in Jiffy-9 peat pellets, transplanted
them into the 32-oz yogurt tubs on April 25 and took the tomato
plants outside for the first time on May 19, when our weather
finally broke mild again. After a few days of hardening off they
may get transplanted out. (Each year this depends on the way
the weather trends at the end of May.)

The peppers and eggplants won't be going out quite yet but they
can use the extra room under the lights now that the tomatoes are
outdoors.

Then there is T5HO florescent lighting, which I used this year, and am
very happy with.
4 Light T5 High Output Fluorescent High Bay Fixture
http://www.prolighting.com/4lat5flhibay.html
Features:

(4) 54W T5 High Output Lamps
5-Year Ballast Warranty

Specs:

20,000 Lumen Output
83 Lumens per Watt
95% Lumen Maintenance
20,000 - 30,000 Hour Lamp Life
98.7% Fixture Efficiency
239 Input Watts
120-277V 50/60Hz Programmed Start Ballast
-20? F(-29? C) Min. Start Temp

This for $119 vs $627 (LightBlaze 400 LED Grow Light)

http://www.amazon.com/LightBlaze-400...2NSGA0G/ref=sr
_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1274457331&sr=8-1
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn3lF5XSUg
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/HZinn_page.html

In article
,
Billy wrote:

In article
,
Pat Kiewicz wrote:

The Cook said:

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.

Oh, yes, I agree that it doesn't pay to start too soon. Better to wait,
and have plants that are smaller but unstressed and never checked
in their growth. Which is one reason I'm happy with the LED lights,
as the plants avoid all the heat stress from the metal-halide lamp that
I used to use.

I started my plants on April 9 in Jiffy-9 peat pellets, transplanted
them into the 32-oz yogurt tubs on April 25 and took the tomato
plants outside for the first time on May 19, when our weather
finally broke mild again. After a few days of hardening off they
may get transplanted out. (Each year this depends on the way
the weather trends at the end of May.)

The peppers and eggplants won't be going out quite yet but they
can use the extra room under the lights now that the tomatoes are
outdoors.

Then there is T5HO florescent lighting, which I used this year, and am
very happy with.
4 Light T5 High Output Fluorescent High Bay Fixture
http://www.prolighting.com/4lat5flhibay.html
Features:

(4) 54W T5 High Output Lamps
5-Year Ballast Warranty

Specs:

20,000 Lumen Output
83 Lumens per Watt
95% Lumen Maintenance
20,000 - 30,000 Hour Lamp Life
98.7% Fixture Efficiency
239 Input Watts
120-277V 50/60Hz Programmed Start Ballast
-20? F(-29? C) Min. Start Temp

This for $119 vs $627 (LightBlaze 400 LED Grow Light)

http://www.amazon.com/LightBlaze-400...2NSGA0G/ref=sr
_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1274457331&sr=8-1

I went with this Jump start system this year. Works!

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-2-Fo...p/B0006856EQ/r
ef=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=garden&qid=1274461880&sr=1-2

--
Bill S. Jersey USA zone 5 shade garden
What use one more wake up call?

Billy wrote:
In article
,
Pat Kiewicz wrote:

The Cook said:

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.

Oh, yes, I agree that it doesn't pay to start too soon. Better to wait,
and have plants that are smaller but unstressed and never checked
in their growth. Which is one reason I'm happy with the LED lights,
as the plants avoid all the heat stress from the metal-halide lamp that
I used to use.

I started my plants on April 9 in Jiffy-9 peat pellets, transplanted
them into the 32-oz yogurt tubs on April 25 and took the tomato
plants outside for the first time on May 19, when our weather
finally broke mild again. After a few days of hardening off they
may get transplanted out. (Each year this depends on the way
the weather trends at the end of May.)

The peppers and eggplants won't be going out quite yet but they
can use the extra room under the lights now that the tomatoes are
outdoors.

Then there is T5HO florescent lighting, which I used this year, and am
very happy with.
4 Light T5 High Output Fluorescent High Bay Fixture
http://www.prolighting.com/4lat5flhibay.html
Features:

(4) 54W T5 High Output Lamps
5-Year Ballast Warranty

Specs:

20,000 Lumen Output
83 Lumens per Watt
95% Lumen Maintenance
20,000 - 30,000 Hour Lamp Life
98.7% Fixture Efficiency
239 Input Watts
120-277V 50/60Hz Programmed Start Ballast
-20? F(-29? C) Min. Start Temp


I almost bought one of those this year, but money is tight so I just
used my F32T8 lamps. (I also have a 400W HPS floodlight that works
pretty good, but I didn't use it)

Did you get one with a polished reflector, or bright white? (I would
probably get white to avoid hot spots)

Bob

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.



I wonder if a person who was handy could add a row of these red LEDs
to an existing 2x4' fluorescent "troffer" fixture? Just need to red
ones because fluorescents give off plenty of blue already.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2Fr3_ specs.htm

They could be powered by an old laptop power supply (typically 20V
and maybe 90W)

I may need to ask about this in the sci.engr.lighting froup.

Bob

In article ,
zxcvbob wrote:

Billy wrote:
In article
,
Pat Kiewicz wrote:

The Cook said:

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.

Oh, yes, I agree that it doesn't pay to start too soon. Better to wait,
and have plants that are smaller but unstressed and never checked
in their growth. Which is one reason I'm happy with the LED lights,
as the plants avoid all the heat stress from the metal-halide lamp that
I used to use.

I started my plants on April 9 in Jiffy-9 peat pellets, transplanted
them into the 32-oz yogurt tubs on April 25 and took the tomato
plants outside for the first time on May 19, when our weather
finally broke mild again. After a few days of hardening off they
may get transplanted out. (Each year this depends on the way
the weather trends at the end of May.)

The peppers and eggplants won't be going out quite yet but they
can use the extra room under the lights now that the tomatoes are
outdoors.

Then there is T5HO florescent lighting, which I used this year, and am
very happy with.
4 Light T5 High Output Fluorescent High Bay Fixture
http://www.prolighting.com/4lat5flhibay.html
Features:

(4) 54W T5 High Output Lamps
5-Year Ballast Warranty

Specs:

20,000 Lumen Output
83 Lumens per Watt
95% Lumen Maintenance
20,000 - 30,000 Hour Lamp Life
98.7% Fixture Efficiency
239 Input Watts
120-277V 50/60Hz Programmed Start Ballast
-20? F(-29? C) Min. Start Temp


I almost bought one of those this year, but money is tight so I just
used my F32T8 lamps. (I also have a 400W HPS floodlight that works
pretty good, but I didn't use it)

Did you get one with a polished reflector, or bright white? (I would
probably get white to avoid hot spots)

Bob

By chance I got white. What do you mean by "hot spots". Irregularities
that focus the light onto spots? This looks like a regular shop light
with 4 florescent tubes. For lack of space, when I need to rotate trays
in and out of the light, the trays that are out will often get put on
top of the fixture, and there, they suck up a little heat as well.
A year ago these were about $200. In Jan. 2010, they were $149. Now they
are $119.

There's a comparison between florescent and L.E.D. at
http://www.verticalinteriorgarden.com/fluorescent-growing-light/
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn3lF5XSUg
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/HZinn_page.html

In article ,
Bill who putters wrote:

In article
,
Billy wrote:

In article
,
Pat Kiewicz wrote:

The Cook said:

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.

Oh, yes, I agree that it doesn't pay to start too soon. Better to wait,
and have plants that are smaller but unstressed and never checked
in their growth. Which is one reason I'm happy with the LED lights,
as the plants avoid all the heat stress from the metal-halide lamp that
I used to use.

I started my plants on April 9 in Jiffy-9 peat pellets, transplanted
them into the 32-oz yogurt tubs on April 25 and took the tomato
plants outside for the first time on May 19, when our weather
finally broke mild again. After a few days of hardening off they
may get transplanted out. (Each year this depends on the way
the weather trends at the end of May.)

The peppers and eggplants won't be going out quite yet but they
can use the extra room under the lights now that the tomatoes are
outdoors.

Then there is T5HO florescent lighting, which I used this year, and am
very happy with.
4 Light T5 High Output Fluorescent High Bay Fixture
http://www.prolighting.com/4lat5flhibay.html
Features:

(4) 54W T5 High Output Lamps
5-Year Ballast Warranty

Specs:

20,000 Lumen Output
83 Lumens per Watt
95% Lumen Maintenance
20,000 - 30,000 Hour Lamp Life
98.7% Fixture Efficiency
239 Input Watts
120-277V 50/60Hz Programmed Start Ballast
-20? F(-29? C) Min. Start Temp

This for $119 vs $627 (LightBlaze 400 LED Grow Light)

http://www.amazon.com/LightBlaze-400...2NSGA0G/ref=sr
_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1274457331&sr=8-1

I went with this Jump start system this year. Works!

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-2-Fo...p/B0006856EQ/r
ef=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=garden&qid=1274461880&sr=1-2

That's also covered at
http://www.verticalinteriorgarden.com/fluorescent-growing-light/

I had a 2 tube T5HO that I use for germination, in conjunction with a
heating pad, but it was barely sufficient to carry the plants through
the last cold month of winter and into early spring, when the plants
could go outside. This year I was able to put them under descent light
after they completed germination, and the plants were much stronger when
they went into the garden. I still have a few things to learn and a few
bugs to work, but over all, I am very pleased with the results.

Now if the freakin' rain would stop. We've had 4 days of rain already
this month (very unusual), and rain is predicted for tomorrow, and next
Tue., Wed., & Thur. Grrrrrrrrrrrr
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn3lF5XSUg
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/HZinn_page.html

Billy wrote:

Did you get one with a polished reflector, or bright white? (I would
probably get white to avoid hot spots)

Bob

By chance I got white. What do you mean by "hot spots". Irregularities
that focus the light onto spots?

Yes, that's exactly what I meant. Not sure if it's a real problem or
an imaginary one. IIRC, the white actually has a higher reflectivity
than the polished aluminum version.

with 4 florescent tubes. For lack of space, when I need to rotate trays
in and out of the light, the trays that are out will often get put on
top of the fixture, and there, they suck up a little heat as well.
A year ago these were about $200. In Jan. 2010, they were $149. Now they
are $119.

There's a comparison between florescent and L.E.D. at
http://www.verticalinteriorgarden.com/fluorescent-growing-light/

They were $160+ locally last time I checked, but that was probably
November or December 2009.

Bob

In article
,
Billy wrote:

Now if the freakin' rain would stop. We've had 4 days of rain already
this month (very unusual), and rain is predicted for tomorrow, and next
Tue., Wed., & Thur. Grrrrrrrrrrrr

Well today we have 85 F. and a mild breeze under full sun. However
last Friday I spent $500 to have my septic pumped and never before the
lines reamed. I thought my arms were using plungers in my sleep. Should
have known something was amiss when all drains acted up over time. Put
out this fire and another would arise. Usually the septic trap says
check me out not this time. March rains and the rise of water table are
even getting the county declared a disaster area. Sort of knew thing
were off when my brother and dad's house flooded from the basement
floor. I was lucky to have a few more feet elevation but not exempt
from rising water this ground water played on the field drain.

Fingers crossed things normalize a bit for everyone.

--
Bill S. Jersey USA zone 5 shade garden
What use one more wake up call?

In article ,
zxcvbob wrote:

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.



I wonder if a person who was handy could add a row of these red LEDs
to an existing 2x4' fluorescent "troffer" fixture? Just need to red
ones because fluorescents give off plenty of blue already.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...ispPage&Page2D
isp=%2Fspecs%2Fr3_specs.htm

They could be powered by an old laptop power supply (typically 20V
and maybe 90W)

I may need to ask about this in the sci.engr.lighting froup.

Bob

Why not just get 3000° K fluorescent lights?
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn3lF5XSUg
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/HZinn_page.html

Billy wrote:
In article ,
zxcvbob wrote:

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.


I wonder if a person who was handy could add a row of these red LEDs
to an existing 2x4' fluorescent "troffer" fixture? Just need to red
ones because fluorescents give off plenty of blue already.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...ispPage&Page2D
isp=%2Fspecs%2Fr3_specs.htm

They could be powered by an old laptop power supply (typically 20V
and maybe 90W)

I may need to ask about this in the sci.engr.lighting froup.

Bob

Why not just get 3000° K fluorescent lights?


That's what I'm using. Two F32T8 lamps per 2x4' fixture, on a ballast
that overdrives them about 20%. Bare buls with no diffuser. It work
surprisingly well considering the wattage. But there's a lot of
unused space down the middle where I could put a strip of LEDs to
augment the fluorescent.

Bob

In article ,
zxcvbob wrote:

Billy wrote:
In article ,
zxcvbob wrote:

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.


I wonder if a person who was handy could add a row of these red LEDs
to an existing 2x4' fluorescent "troffer" fixture? Just need to red
ones because fluorescents give off plenty of blue already.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...n=DispPage&Pag
e2D
isp=%2Fspecs%2Fr3_specs.htm

They could be powered by an old laptop power supply (typically 20V
and maybe 90W)

I may need to ask about this in the sci.engr.lighting froup.

Bob

Why not just get 3000° K fluorescent lights?


That's what I'm using. Two F32T8 lamps per 2x4' fixture, on a ballast
that overdrives them about 20%. Bare buls with no diffuser. It work
surprisingly well considering the wattage. But there's a lot of
unused space down the middle where I could put a strip of LEDs to
augment the fluorescent.

Bob

Would that be cheaper than $119 + tax and shipping?
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn3lF5XSUg
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/HZinn_page.html

On 5/21/2010 11:01 AM, Billy wrote:
In article
,
Pat wrote:

The Cook said:

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.

Oh, yes, I agree that it doesn't pay to start too soon. Better to wait,
and have plants that are smaller but unstressed and never checked
in their growth. Which is one reason I'm happy with the LED lights,
as the plants avoid all the heat stress from the metal-halide lamp that
I used to use.

I started my plants on April 9 in Jiffy-9 peat pellets, transplanted
them into the 32-oz yogurt tubs on April 25 and took the tomato
plants outside for the first time on May 19, when our weather
finally broke mild again. After a few days of hardening off they
may get transplanted out. (Each year this depends on the way
the weather trends at the end of May.)

The peppers and eggplants won't be going out quite yet but they
can use the extra room under the lights now that the tomatoes are
outdoors.

Then there is T5HO florescent lighting, which I used this year, and am
very happy with.
4 Light T5 High Output Fluorescent High Bay Fixture
http://www.prolighting.com/4lat5flhibay.html
Features:

(4) 54W T5 High Output Lamps
5-Year Ballast Warranty

Specs:

20,000 Lumen Output
83 Lumens per Watt
95% Lumen Maintenance
20,000 - 30,000 Hour Lamp Life
98.7% Fixture Efficiency
239 Input Watts
120-277V 50/60Hz Programmed Start Ballast
-20? F(-29? C) Min. Start Temp

This for $119 vs $627 (LightBlaze 400 LED Grow Light)

http://www.amazon.com/LightBlaze-400...2NSGA0G/ref=sr
_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1274457331&sr=8-1


Did you see that they have a 30000 lumen version for $149?

Bob