growing lights

[thirteen]

I looked on line several places and I would like to know if there are any LED lights that could be used as growing lights for the winter indoor growing of food.

[kurt]

yes they sell those check a hydroponics shop or eBay..... i was looking at big 2' by 2' LED grow light arrays on eBay just the other day had hundreds of red and blue LEDs of the proper spectrum on them.....

[wooferhound]

Blue LEDs . . .

http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2007/3/8/222926/8266

[dnix71]

Good news for the mj growers. No heat signature for the feds flying overhead in a helicopter looking for growers.

http://cgi.ebay.com/168-LED-GROW-LIGHT-BULB-MIXED-RED-BLUE-SPECTRUM-L-E-D_W0QQitemZ120370907463QQihZ
002QQcategoryZ42225QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

[jonas302]

Kurt I tried on of those off ebay it didn't work out I tried lettuce and radish for a test they were leggy like with no extra light at all  It really did seem to cheap to be true sure has some pretty colors though

I'm tring the regular 4 foot shop lights with a special grow tube to get some tomatoes going now

Found out my 1500 watt cheap inverter will not light the tubes it tries but is very sporatic

[thirteen]

Thank you for the info.

[Electron Skipper]

If you have an electronic ballast in the unit, that is why. Switch the ballast over to the old style inductor ballast.

[richhagen]

I started some plants out with LED lighting last year as I had built some white LED lights from efficient CREE LED's.  I needed very bright lights in close proximity, and a timer to turn them on and off for about 18 hours of light to get OK results.  In the winter I had managed to get some old growth geraniums to bloom.    



I intend to use similar type of lights to start my tomatoes and then other vegetables in another week or two.  Rich

[Tritium]

Rich,

You have any more pictures of that light bar assembly?

Thurmond

[richhagen]

I posted about them when I made them here:  http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2008/3/14/55046/0695

There are a couple of more photos.  I am not sure these are ideal for grow lights, but they do work in a pinch.  Rich

[Boerman]

For the most part, growing with LEDs is still a bust. Most of the ones you find on eBay are woefully inadequate. White LEDs produce lots of visible light for us humans, but are of little benefit for plant growth because plants use mostly red and blue wavelengths. One website that you may find very useful on the subject is here: http://greenpinelane.com/   They do a lot of research and actual practical work on the subject.

[Bruce S]

I built small unit, using 1 Blue for each 8 Reds LEDs IIRC. They actually do quite well.

I did not keep it for very long due to a small problem that came in with fresh cut flowers from FTD that infested ALL my Hydroponics :-(.

They won't doo a whole lot for sustained growth , but even as NTL's tests showed, they ceratinly do help with young plants getting good strong stems for plants such as Tomatoes and other leafy items. I don't remember trying it with lettuce as it's too easy to grow on a southern window sill.

Once up to 2nd set of leaves switch to an Aquairum light, it has a very good broad spectrum light that will help keep the tomatoes happy. Once you start to see flowers, go find a few DC fans and make make sure they go around the plants, without cross breezes the tomatoes WILL NOT fruit.

Have fun and send up pics.

Cheers

Bruce S

 

[sbotsford]

Direct sun is 32,000 to 120,000 lumens/square meter.

Plants don't use all of that by any stretch, but they use enough of it, that in designing greenhouses, the light intercepted by the frame is taken into consideration.

This is why even with fluorescent fixtures, you put the tubes really close to the plants.

High pressure halide lights may be a better bang for the buck.  That what the pot growers use in the gro-ops.

[admin]

There are claims on *many* indoor LED grow-light websites that their color balance is just right for plants. MMJ included.

But there are VERY few facts and peer-reviewed studies.

LEDs are not even close to fluorescents in luminous efficacy, on the real market -- only in the laboratory. Halide and low pressure sodium lamps are far ahead of all of them, but the minimum is about 150 watts on those...not exactly an off-grid seed starting scenario.

Charts upon request.

ADMIN

[DamonHD]

I am using a selection of domestic LED lamps right now that match or better my fluorescents in lm/W terms.

Rgds

Damon

[Bruce S]

There are claims on *many* indoor LED grow-light websites that their color balance is just right for plants. MMJ included.

But there are VERY few facts and peer-reviewed studies.

LEDs are not even close to fluorescents in luminous efficacy, on the real market -- only in the laboratory. Halide and low pressure sodium lamps are far ahead of all of them, but the minimum is about 150 watts on those...not exactly an off-grid seed starting scenario.

Charts upon request.

ADMIN

Very true, currently, even the high powered 3+ watt LEDs don't come close to lumens of even standard CFLs,.
However it's not the amount of light; it's the wavelength the plants are using in a much more efficient way.

Peer-review would certainly be a good idea, and very much need. I would even be willing to do one, but the cost of Halides or sodium are out of my price range.
One test I am gearing up to do this coming winter is using a 3 spot Aerogrow fluro-based unit and one exactly like it except with the fluro-bulbs removed and LED setup in its place

These units lend themselves to being great for standardized testing since they have built in programing that will turn on the lights and water/food pumps.
I will put them into different rooms so there's no light fall to skew the results.

Simple plants I'm thinking of using are mainly herbs for fast tell of growth, and possibly Cherry sized tomatoes because they are easy container grown and I like to eat them in the winter

Cheers;
Bruce S


 

[DanG]

I have yet to see tomatoes respond to artificial light alone - the big commercial hydroponics producers in Canada supplement sunshine with metal halides but there is still some sunshine.  I tried electronic ballasted T-8 fluorescents with 2700 through 5000°K within three inches of tomato seedlings and only got tiny stunted leaves on a long vine stem.

[ghurd]

I have yet to see tomatoes respond to artificial light alone - the big commercial hydroponics producers in Canada supplement sunshine with metal halides but there is still some sunshine.  I tried electronic ballasted T-8 fluorescents with 2700 through 5000°K within three inches of tomato seedlings and only got tiny stunted leaves on a long vine stem.

I made some lights for NTL.  3 (amazing) blues, 4 ultra bright red, pretty sure the wave length was close to a paper we found somewhere,
http://www.otherpower.com/images/scimages/2050/NTLLEDs.jpg
He grew some tomato plants, pretty sure it was a no sun experiment.  He messed around with the placement to see if they would chase the LEDs (they did), may have added a grow light too at one point.  Not sure of the end result, but he may have posted more than I can find right now.
Some plant pics are still in his files, led1 through led4,
http://www.otherpower.com/images/scimages/1014/

G-

[DanG]

Another factoid from the Canadian commercial operations is the plants produce for about a year and every two weeks they manipulate the support frames and lights to accommodate the plants' sun search tendencies by dropping them six feet; at the end of the plants usefulness each plants' single main vines are over fifty feet long!

[Bruce S]

I have yet to see tomatoes respond to artificial light alone - the big commercial hydroponics producers in Canada supplement sunshine with metal halides but there is still some sunshine.  I tried electronic ballasted T-8 fluorescents with 2700 through 5000°K within three inches of tomato seedlings and only got tiny stunted leaves on a long vine stem.

I made some lights for NTL.  3 (amazing) blues, 4 ultra bright red, pretty sure the wave length was close to a paper we found somewhere,
http://www.otherpower.com/images/scimages/2050/NTLLEDs.jpg
He grew some tomato plants, pretty sure it was a no sun experiment.  He messed around with the placement to see if they would chase the LEDs (they did), may have added a grow light too at one point.  Not sure of the end result, but he may have posted more than I can find right now.
Some plant pics are still in his files, led1 through led4,
http://www.otherpower.com/images/scimages/1014/

G-

That's right!! I sure wish he would jump back in here and updates that.
Bruce S

[Bruce S]

Another factoid from the Canadian commercial operations is the plants produce for about a year and every two weeks they manipulate the support frames and lights to accommodate the plants' sun search tendencies by dropping them six feet; at the end of the plants usefulness each plants' single main vines are over fifty feet long!

I can take pictures of our Cherry Tomato plants that are outside, even with cutting them back for more fruit, they have since taken over the pink rose bush are and are using the 8foot tall rose bushes as support. Harvested 3 dozen this morning with another 2 dzn plus ready in 2 days (or less). The trunks are as thick as Kindergartners pencil.
The rose bushes are 15 feet away 

YUMMY
Bruce S