Led grow lights recommendations.

@mazambo aren't you worried the police will come and investigate what you're growing?
I have also recently got a nice set of cheap lights and I was going to fix them to the lid of a big plastic box - but not sure whether shops selling such things (eg wilkinsons) are still allowed to be open.

 

I'll see if I can find pics of mine- it's raining so I can't go out and take any new ones. I did these over a number of years and as materials or money became available.

I made this one using an old French door. I have to repair it when the weather gets better. The top side of the door separated from the top and bottom so I will have to glue it together again.
..


I made this one using pieces of plexiglass.

This one was bought - it is a Palram.

This one my son helped me with. He did most of the frame and I sewed the 10 gauge plastic cover for it.


You will probably get addicted to all of these season extenders like me! ​

 

My local wilko are open but not sure if they are selling everything or just specific items. Yes I did have thoughts about the police calling it was the first thing I said when I saw how lit up the greenhouse was and if they brought a sniffer dog I'm sure they'd go straight to the fritillaria apparently they smell very similar to cannabis, would be funny though

 

Over here, it is legal to grow up to 4 plants for recreational use or self medicating use. I also am registered with Health Canada to grow more.

Of course, you'd never fit a weed plant in a hobby greenhouse - 8Lx6Wx7H - unless you were scrogging a sea of green... This is about three years ago..

 

@CanadianLori I've said it before and I'll say it again, I really admire how resourceful you are

 

@CanadianLori were you being arrested on that photo

 

Yikes ! did not know they would grow so big outside in your similar climate ?

Is that just the current years growth or do the act as a perennial ?

Also no idea Canada allowed you to grow your own like that, if we did, it every dealer would be knocking on our doors demanding more !

With such big plants why would one person need to grown more than 4 plants that size or is it , for example, more to do with the oils extracted from the flowering parts ??

Our greenhouse is a lean to so 8ft tall at the rear, reckon we could get some it there ...

 

They are not a perennial. Those beside me were only a week or so away from starting to flower. I don't have any newer pictures as it's just same old same old. I shared what my limit is with the local coppers and also keep a plasticized copy of the permission near the plants too.

And we have government stores that sell cannabis products to the public. It looks easy to grow the stuff but keep in mind that unless you want to pay mega bucks to get a better chance at females, half the plants or more could end up males. You have to rip those out the moment you get an indicator of it's sex. I had two in that bunch beside me do that - 7 feet tall and then it tells me!

 

Just to addd on to this lights thread, have had one of these 1000W led lamps running for a few weeks and it really does seem to be doing the business with just 10 hours use a day.

The Fuchsia cuttings are growing faster and healthier looking than any we have taken in Spring or Summer sunshine and some Viola seedlings have transplanted and recovered in a day.

For us the lamp its the best we have ever used, though no idea if the 1000W is a true figure or not, but when measured with a power meter its only using 8W of mains electricity.

The only downside is its electrical safety, the mains plug is moulded type with No fuse and No Earth wire to the lamp. We soon fitted a proper Uk 3A fused plug ! ( needless to say the greenhouse is on a RCD protected circuit)

The actual lamp unit and its mains connector are not moist or water proof, as the instructions say 'for indoor use only' so suggest caution if buying and using.

 

Strange you mention that the unit is not earthed.
I recently bought an indoor lamp, not for grow lighting just a normal room lamp, and it has a metal body but it isn't earthed.
Has things changed regarding electrical appliances or is this stuff coming in illegally from China.

 

Thats what I was wondering as well, but not sure as things said to be "doubled insulated" appear not to need an earth ??

Been meaning to ask a mate who is into mains electrical about this very point, unless there is a sparky in the forum who can enlighten us.

Also like you , thought any electrical appliance that was sold in the uk had to have the Kite or BS mark of approval on them, but think that went out the window long ago with all the far east clones etc.

Having you mains consumer unit with RCBs fitted seems the way to ensure your electrical safety.

 

My consumer unit was put in back in the late 70s, so don't rely on that too much

Got a few RCD whatsits for some things that I mainly use outside.

Double insulated was something we used to have on power tools and that goes back a long way, but that was when the plastic body of a lot of machines came in, but must admit a lot still had some metal.
Would be interesting to know if anything has changed.

 

I bought one of these from E bay, it arrived today, a couple of quid more expensive than yours @ricky101 but it did come with a 3 pin plug moulded on, but I dont think its earthed as the connector to the light panel is only two pin.

Trying it out now, it says 8000W, where they get the numbers from I dont know, but in the read up it says its actually 45 watts.
8000W LED UV Grow Lights Full Spectrum Indoor Hydroponic Flower Plant Lamp UK | eBay

I'll probably do something stupid now, like sowing seeds

 

More importanty does the plug have a fuse in it ? mine didn't so changed it for a standard plug, and its on a RCD line as well.

Hard to say how valid these 1000w or 8000w of 'light' are, though yours is similar to mine in that it uses 8w of mains input for its 1000w of output, so that matches your 45w for 8000w.

Even with my smaller 1000w the growth was very strong when placed about 400mm above the plants, so think yours will need to be even higher or you might burn your seedlings ? !

Have already switched off that lamp as they Fuchsia cuttings were growing so fast needed to slow them down a bit.

I did try a typical household mains light dimmer on my leds, but it did not work, so the only way to reduce their intensity is to fit them higher up.

Sowed some Sweet peas and Snaps seeds yesterday after my seed order arrived, just too easy to get carried away.
No chance of doing anything today, -4c overnight and barely gone above -2c all day and dropping fast now !

 

Its not fused, but I've got it on a short extension lead that is fused.