• Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
    Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
    Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.

lighting Growing Lights

D

ddrsheden

Today, after seeing a few pics on this site is went out and bought my first growing lights. 1 4' Shop light from wally world for just over $8 and two 48" Verilux lights that have 6200K for $12.95 each at Menards. So now I'm eagerly waiting for my Bhut Jolokia's to sprout so I can use the lights. I do have a few questions.

1. How far above the plants do you keep the lights? Since I'm using the Verilux lights that have 6,200K, does the type of light make a differnce concerning the distance from light to plant?

2. How long do you use your lights each day? 24 hours? 16 hours? or less?

3. Does having something that reflects the lights make a difference? Example...growing plants in a large boxed in area in which there are reflective walls and floor. If so...what materials work best to reflect light? I have seen someone on here that used something that looks like aluminum foil.
 
My 2 cents...

I am using a combination of standard 6500K and 4100K fluorescent bulbs which are a lot cheaper than the hortilux bulbs...the upper number is close to the blue spectrum of light the plants use for growth and the lower number is more on the red part of the spectrum which plants use for flowering/fruiting....

"1. How far above the plants do you keep the lights? Since I'm using the Verilux lights that have 6,200K, does the type of light make a differnce concerning the distance from light to plant?"

I keep my lights no further than 2 inches from the tops of the plants...the higher the color temperature the less lumens per bulb it puts out....the 4100K bulb puts out ~3200 lumens while the 6500K one puts out ~2400 lumens...

"2. How long do you use your lights each day? 24 hours? 16 hours? or less?"

Question for discussion on the forum...I leave my lights on 24/7 but others leave them on 16 or less hrs per day...

"3. Does having something that reflects the lights make a difference? Example...growing plants in a large boxed in area in which there are reflective walls and floor. If so...what materials work best to reflect light? I have seen someone on here that used something that looks like aluminum foil."

I use mylar which is supposed to improve the lighting efficiency by 20 percent...
 
I am not sure about the style of lights you are using but if all you are doing is growing seedlings to eventually stick them outside in the garden, save your money and buy the cheapest bulbs you can find they are all you need. As far as how close to the lights mine are right next to the lights and even touching most of the time.
plantprogressionApril039.jpg


I was only using mine 12/12 but this year I started using mine for 16/8 just to see if there would be a benefit to more light (for growing seedlings only) there has not been any difference in the plants that I have under 12/12 lighting vs 16/8 to this point.

The only thing that I use is some old pull down window shades in the back of my setup, again if all you are doing is growing seedlings to set out in the garden there is no need for reflectors at this stage of the seedlings. There is no canopy to block the light. But I may try more of the reflector thing this year when i get more of my seedlings up and running. I am going to try the reflective blankets that you get in the camping dept. at K-Mart or Meijers. this is my setup and i had over 400 plants last year and they all did super without any high tech fancy stuff and the lights last year were only on 12 hrs. a day. Do not forget the fan when the seedlings get about 4 or 5 inches tall. I run mine for 10 min. twice a day on a timer. (approx.)

lightstand002.jpg
 
I had an old corona beer sign wasteing away in my attic, so i took the top off of it and a beautiful flouresent light was inside. It just happened that it was the perfect size to put over my pepper plants. It seems to be working perfectly, i will post pictures of it later when i get home from work.
 
titeWoozy you cannot be serious thinking your going to grow with a floro beer sign. Those signs have different gases inside their tubes for each color that the floro will shine. They will not grow no matter what color period.
 
Pepper Ridge Farm said:
titeWoozy you cannot be serious thinking your going to grow with a floro beer sign. Those signs have different gases inside their tubes for each color that the floro will shine. They will not grow no matter what color period.
Click to expand...

Sounds like normal fluorescent to me, not Neon
 
Thanks for the info. I have seen some people use one plant bulb and one cool bulb. What do they mean by cool bulb? Just a regular fluorescent tube bulb that you would use on lights in the home? Or refering to another plant bulb...but a cheap one and not a full spectrum?
 
i think cool means more on the blue end of the spectrum but lets see what others say.....I think warm means more on the red end...
 
Pepper Ridge Farm said:
Thanks Potowie I was thinking of neon lights, sorry.
Click to expand...

it doesnt have those lights on it, its just like any other flouresent light, i will take a picture and post it so you can see what i mean, its not what you think it is. And it actually works pretty damn good.
 
ddrsheden said:
Today, after seeing a few pics on this site is went out and bought my first growing lights. 1 4' Shop light from wally world for just over $8 and two 48" Verilux lights that have 6200K for $12.95 each at Menards. So now I'm eagerly waiting for my Bhut Jolokia's to sprout so I can use the lights. I do have a few questions.

1. How far above the plants do you keep the lights? Since I'm using the Verilux lights that have 6,200K, does the type of light make a differnce concerning the distance from light to plant?

2. How long do you use your lights each day? 24 hours? 16 hours? or less?

3. Does having something that reflects the lights make a difference? Example...growing plants in a large boxed in area in which there are reflective walls and floor. If so...what materials work best to reflect light? I have seen someone on here that used something that looks like aluminum foil.
Click to expand...
hi ddrsheden,
when useing fluroescent lighting,keep the plants as close as possible, since the penetration depth of this type is only 6 inches into canopy.
now once your Bhuts get growing ,you will need sunlight or
HID {High Intensity Discharge} Lights
for proper indoor growth.
HID are Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium.
some people say these are too expensive to run,
I disagree
I bought my first 400 watt MH in 1987
for 150.00 {I still use it today}...
it costs me $4.00 a month to run and my bulbs are $24 each
the bulbs last for at least two years before I change them.
they produce plenty of Blue Spectrum light and are excellent for all stages of growth for almost all plant species.
coverage area is 3x3x4 and will pay for it self after first harvest.
a 600 or 1000 watt HPS will cover a 6x6 or 8x8 area respectfully and will produce the optimum red/orange spectrum recommended for bloom/fruit set and production.
if you really want to have a nice indoor garden,then buy a very good lamp/reflector and
you can do it! :onfire:
just like everyone else.

I recommend a 1000 watt Switchable Ballast...and you can run either MH or HPS by just changeing the bulb and changeing MH/HPS button. with this you can cover 8 x 8 from seed to harvest ,with professional results,
everytime.

light cycle indoor are normally

18 hours on 6 hours off for a Vegative Growth
12 on 12 off for a Bloom cycle {DO NOT INTERUPT THE DARK CYCLE}

Reflective Never use Aluminum Foil as this will cause elongation of stems/branches and decresae yiels dramactically.
Flat White is best overall for a reflective color,
use a white drop cloth,
cheap and removable for cleaning.

hope this helps you out, good luck man.

pablo
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top