Grow Light

@rustyroots those are what I use in my indoor set up. Coloured LEDS pinky/purple and blue. Been using them for a few years now and the whole set up for each side uses 40 watts. Each side has 2 that are 48" wide and one shorter 24" unit. These three service an area that is 14 square feet. I need the last 2 square feet in each unit to place the receptacle for the capillary watering tank and for me to be able to step close enough to reach the plants if need be so that is why the shorter light. I'm not lighting anywhere there isn't a plant.

The coloured lights are a big improvement over the white LEDS or any other white light including my old high pressure sodiums.

I just checked and several of the onion seeds have sprouted and even a couple of chillies. I just sowed them on Boxing day

 

I didn't bother with all of the technical business after having invested in hps and other expensive stuff and finding out they were also expensive to run. Threw all of my notes about lighting , wnich I had compiled from all over the web, into the rubbish. I drove around to look at commercial greenhouses and they all use the coloured LEDs so I just figured if the pros were using it, it's got to be great no matter what gabble has been pushed at us.

And they are great for all stages of growing. Thought I'd do a little experiment and started some seedlings end of August and got my son to harvest the flowers today. Was glad of that. Now I've got room for more soil blocks.

 

Im the same @Pete,all i think i worked out was that more lumens brighter light like watts,mine has a dimmer on it so i can alter if or when needed for seedlings to 60%,no idea how i will get best use from it as i usually have plants at various stages so il prob just buy more lights
I also dont understand why its 1000w when its isnt,feel free to explain gang x

 

Hi,I know a grower whos always used HPS,theyve ordered the vipar 1000 too so il let u know how that trial goes x

 

Further to other's responses above. Lumens are essentially a measure of brightness, to give an idea my light meter reads:
85,000 in direct sunlight in the spring on a bright cloudless day.
It drops to 54,000 in my greenhouse (the glass reduces the brightness).
It drops to 45,000 in my house behind a south facing double glazed window.
It drops to 4,300 when it's cloudy.

So if you have growlamps that don't pump out enough lumens it's equivalent to growing them in a shady corner.

I aim to grow my tomatoes with about 12,000 to 20,000 lumens. Using the lower figure when they are seedlings.

K is essentially a measure of the colour of the light being produced as Ricky says.

 

It an EU plug that you need an adapter for. Got a few from holiday so no issues.

Rusty

 

Thanks I think I understand it a bit more now.

 

As @JWK says , Lumens or Lux are measures of Brightness, not to be confused with Watts as thats the electrical power needed to produce the light.

The old type of bulbs typically needed 60W or 100W of power to produce lets say 1000 Lumens of light, whereas a moden LED bulb or tube can produce the same 1000 Lumens but only takes 12W of power so your electricity bill is so much lower.

Loads of different types of leds at wildly differing costs, but for early raising the odd seed tray of cuttings or seeds we tend to use these strip leds, that run on 12v DC , much safer to use than having mains voltage just above the plant.

 

I recently bought a LED replacement for an old 4foot fluorescent tube.
It's actually ok for exterior use as it's completely sealed.

"Does the team think", this would be ok for use as a grow light?

https://www.screwfix.com/p/twin-4ft...lm/2297r#product_additional_details_container

 

Good summary ricky. The confusing thing to potential growlamp buyers is that they are often rated in watts but this measure is not necessarily their actual power consumption. For LED growlamps they usually rate the wattage as though it was a conventional bulb. It makes it easier to compare LED to fluorescent/HPS (High pressure sodium).

It's the same as modern LED lamps for the home, they are sold as being equivalent to 40W, 60W, 100W etc whereas they actually only consume a fraction of that. Just that folk wouldn't buy a LED bulb for their front room if it was labelled as 8W (in fact it would be just as bright as a 60W bulb):

 

I have similar in my garage, they are much brighter than old fluorescent tubes. My guess is it will do for seedlings. Not sure about larger plants, you would need perhaps 4 to get enough lumens and coverage. Four would cost the same as an off the shelf LED growlamp unit. There's only one way to find out pete, give it a go

 

Its rated at 6500K, Daylight, so should be ok, though as said, depends on what you are growing / area to cover ?

You just have to be careful what you use the lights on as in these early months you will need heat a well and a suitable enclosure, but if they grow too fast, they can out grow the heated enclosure and you may find it difficult to move them on if its a cold spring.

We also have a bench covered with one of those cheap mini greenhouses kept at 9c with a heating cable, so we can move thing on into there. Also use it to start things off like last years Fuchias so we get some early material for cuttings.

 

I've always been very careful about starting things too early, one reason I've not got involved with lighting, it always seemed to easy to end up with really good plants that then perhaps struggle slightly when the lighting and warm conditions move to normal daylight and lower temperatures.

So I was thinking of only using it over the propagating area, and maybe not until next month to stop seedlings getting leggy.

 

I have Gardman Grow lights, I find that to get the best or nearest to natural light I have to move the lights closer to the seeds/plants and thus increases the temperature.

I did think of getting a small fan to keep the temperature lower but keeping the best light.

I hope this makes sense, if it does can you explain it to me

 

Hi,

Cannot find any reference to a Gardman Lighing unit ?? assume its some older discontinued model and one that uses glass bulbs or tubes rather than leds ?

If so, then that type of unit does generate a fair bit of downwards heat compared to led units.

You could add a small fan to gently blow over the seed trays etc to take than excessive heat away, or depending on your lighting unit, put a fan on top of it, so it draws the air up and through the lamp unit.