Growing lights

Hello again

I'm starting my second batch of Lettuce seeds, as the first one did not went well.
And I'm might have a problem with lack of light.
The growing lights systems, are quite expensive, and take a lot of space, that I don't have.
So after a few searches, I found out that a intense fluorescent light, like the ones I use at home, might work well enough for my lettuces (maybe even for peppers and tomatoes).
My question is will a simple desk lamp be enough? The seedlings pot is small, 12x18 cm. And if I do start peppers and/or tomatoes, it will be in a even smaller pot, 9x14 cm.

As for the bulb, maybe a LED white warm 2700 Kelvin and 60w?

What do you think?
Thank you in advance

 

You can get LED grow light arrays specifically for this purpose. Mine is 1ft square, 15 watts power consumption, no heat so no need to worry about cooling.

I can't remember where I got mine,but it would have been either Amazon or possibly eBay. Just Google led grow lights.

 

That one looks pretty much identical to mine. But I'd be worried about buying that particular one. Is it 15 watts like mine, and like it says in the title, or is it 90 watts like it says further down in the technical details. That's an important thing to get right, because if it's 90 watts, then some heat will be generated, so cooling or ventilation becomes more important.

 

A very nastily inefficient transformer and regulator could produce such figures. Unlikely though. As you say, probably a typo, but still worth verifying.

 

It has something to do with the actual wattage consumption vs. the LED light output. Power usage is 15 watts but 90 - 1 watt bulbs equals 90 watts of output.

 

That would break one of the unbreakable laws of physics. You can't get more out than you put in. If the whole unit consumes 15 watts, then the sum of the power use of each part can't be more than 15 watts.

The 90 watt point must be a typo, unless it's saying the United consumes 90 watts, 15 of which are used by the LEDs, with the remaining 75 watts being conversion loss in the transformer/regulator.

 

Yeah I hear your logic but I'm standing by my statement. I've seen it explained a couple of times and still don't grasp it fully. I'd put money down that it's not a typo though.


Here is another one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/151374...7290-0%26rvr_id%3D987429252208&chn=ps&lpid=82

From the details:

LEDs: 60*5 WLEDs
Dimension: 11.8*7.9*2.75inches
Lumen: 7150lumens
Coverage: 2*2ft( Veg), 2*2ft(Flowering)
Power consumption: 110V: 130W

 

Getting out equalling input applies to heat. Not light, else why would flourescent, led be promoted as more efficient in delivering lumens per £ than incandescent. An incandescent uses excess power because the heat by product sucks power....

Or at least that's what my brother told me and he was a top electrical engineer for Atomic Energy who build the Candu (read SAFE) reactors. Yes, nuclear. Kinda think he knows his business. He was the fellow who headed up the department who created the mathematics to calculate safety factors. Very proud little sis i is ....

That's also why he gets a giggle out of me playing tinker toys with my solar set up

 

Just try it. If it works. Great. If not ?

I have been pleasantly surprised with some of my experiments.

 

I bought the MARS system I linked to as my first ever LED and will say the results have been incredible. Orchids that had never bloomed- bloomed, carnivorous plants grew and bloomed and as we speak, tomato starts that I'm going to repot today that look like I sowed the seeds directly in the ground in May. All of this with one light I have hanging 3-4ft above my table. Just like everyone here I couldn't get a straight enough answer other than the fact that everyone who said they'd tried LED's loved them so I decided take a leap of faith and am amazed at the results. Btw, lumens IS important but because the LED's tend to focus on red and blue lights, they don't need to be as bright because they're delivering more of what the plants need.

 

A good source for information about grow lights is to go a site where they discuss growing marijuana. The rest of their information is specific to growing those plants but the information posted about grow lights is quite detailed. Let me see if I can find the site where I read about these....

ah, here it is www.growweedeasy.com

These dudes really did their homework and it doesn't seem to be based on pipe dreams...

 

Where did you get the MARS system?

I have been reading about LEDs but the price of the units I have seen is pretty expensive. I started with flourescent lights because I could afford the units. I have one HPS light (which is THE best) but it uses a lot of power. I'd like to switch to LEDS if I can find an affordable source.