Hi All ! I live on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, but we've been having a winter more appropriate to Hudson's Bay so far- snow nearly every day it wasn't raining. We have 3X the annual accumulation already!:] Anyway, on some cabin fever impulse I just planted a bunch of veggie & herbal seeds in some starter trays & stuck a Gro-lux up over'em. In a way I'm glad I started on this before researching proper lighting on the net. There seem to be a lot of conflicting opinions and approachs. I'd thought to try the CFLs, but read variously that they didn't work, only the cool white worked, or only the 'new' Grolux (which I can't find) work, or that they do work, but due to humidity only last months not years. Elsewhere the virtues of halide lighting were touted, even to the colors matching different crops. There's quite a cost difference, tho; and the light levels in an ordinary room kinda remind me of the greenhouse in Saving Grace. I'm a tinkerer, and am pondering pots, reflectors and such made from recycled materials; but there is a cost-effectiveness aspect: a $50 lamp makes those tomatoes kinda expensive. I want to start out without raising my electric bill much; in other words, the spill light will illuminate the room, and its regular lights can be off... I need a type of lamp fixture that is flexible and safe too. Anybody got a lighting system along thes lines? thanks much!
If I may, you live 42.24 degrees north latitude... and if Lake Shore Drive is in your neck of the woods, the reflective light from Lake Michigan (barring more snow squalls), and the increasingly longer daylight hours will help to jump start your growing season along with your attempts to propagate the nightshade family of seedlings, which you are starting far too early in the New Year... do this 30 days from now (tomatoes/peppers), to ensure the seedlings will be stronger for transplanting, and be sure to temper them once under direct sunlight...by May????
KB- Thanks for the response. Here's a jpg of our glaciated South Haven lighthouse... I tried staring at some money, but that didn't sooth my need for green!:] I'm really surprised that there isn't more about lighting around, as so many plants live indoors with us.
I built a light stand to grow plants and used 40 watt fluorescent lights and they worked just fine. I grew nice healthy stocky tomato plants and started lots of other veggies under them last year. You really don't need the expensive grow lights.
Thanks Jan! I went to Malwarts today for lights that they were out of, and noticed they are doing inventory closeouts on lots of plants- I got a couple cacti (tus?) for under a buck- they were raised in Canada, tho prob'ly not in Manitoba. :) Bags of bulbs- tulips, daffyducks, iris- a buck each!
As others have said: (a) you definitely do not need anything expensive, and regular fluorescents will do well, but (b) you are starting them way too early. We all have to fight the urge at this time of year.
This might be of use to others, I found this lighting comparison chart here: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/resources/darksky/3307541.html?showAll=y&c=y Bulb Type Watts Mean Lumens Life (yrs)1 Pwr cost 1-yr3 (d2d) Pwr cost 1-yr3 (m-s) Power cost 5-yr3 (d-to-d) Power cost 5-yr3 (m-s) Incandescent (flood) 150 2,000 0.5 11 $61.50 $2.75 $307.50 $13.75 Mercury vapor 100 3,2304 6 —5 55.35 — 276.75 — Quartz halogen 100 1,400 1.5 20+ 41.00 1.85 205.00 9.25 Incandescent (frosted) 100 1,690 0.2 5 41.00 1.85 205.00 9.25 Incandescent (frosted) 60 840 0.2 5 24.60 1.10 123.00 5.50 High-pressure sodium 50 3,600 6 —5 27.10 — 135.50 — Compact fluorescent 25 1,750 2.5 —5 10.25 — 51.25 — 1Based on an average use of 11.25 hours per day (4,100 hours per year). 3Based on actual wattage used by fixture and electricity costing $0.10 per kilowatt-hour. 4Initial lumen output is 4,100; output decreases significantly over time.
Sorry, that chart didn't post properly... Have just found this very useful description of the various flourescent tubes and halide lamps: http://retirees.uwaterloo.ca/~jerry/orchids/light.html Here is one typical comment: If all you want to do is illuminate your plants these tubes are fine. These tubes are cheap, and they don't look terrible. Recent evidence suggests that although plants require mostly red and blue light, ANY light, in high concentration must be applied for the plants to open their stomata thus permitting respiration. This goes a long way toward explaining why some people are able to grow beautiful plants with just cool white and warm white tubes. Enough light, of any type will grow plants. The overall article explains a lot of interesting stuff, including that us Northerners (and our plants) are used to a much bluer daylight than tropical types.
Hello, This is my first post so bear with please. I am trying to grow a small tray of herbs for use in the kitchen on a table near a large south facing window in northern BC. Does anyone know what would be a economical efficient light for a roughly 1 ft by 2 ft teeny herb garden. Also where to buy same? Thanks, Needing some greenery to survive the winter...also fresh herbs from the grocery store are mostly seriously nasty...especially the basil!
Hi BC Jane! I'm new here myself, but am researching the same subject. It seems to me that the very new Daylight Wide Spectrum CFL lamps might be an economical choice. These are getting fairly common (even at Malwarts) for about U$5 each for the 23W (110W equivalent) lamp, which puts out 1600 lumens of 6500K light. {There is also now a 3-pack from Felt Electric at Menards for U$9, 3 bucks apiece; Daylight, but not Wide Spectrum.} I put mine in an aluminum clip-on 'salad bowl' painting fixture I had hanging around, so I can fool around with height adjustments. The light is a bit too bright to look into directly, but puts out almost no heat. I've got it on a plug-in timer; one nice thing is these lights seem somewhat safer- drawing less power and making less heat. Supposedly, the spectrum of both these types contains the red and blue components that plants need, but missing from ordinary CFLs. As many have said, the ordinary cool white type flourescent also seems to work well. There is a new fixture for these that does not have the heavy ballast, one model is from American Flourescent, 234SLESW- a 4 footer (also will start down to 0º F) for about U$10, but the bulbs are not included. There's also Sunlight and Grolux tubes for these, but those bulbs cost more than the fixture . At the moment I am trying both out- the paint lamp seems perfect for an 18" round dish tub. But as I'm still in the seedling stage, I hope others will chip in too...
A two-bulb fluorescent fixture, for 2' long bulbs, will be perfect. You will need to get some wood and bash together a device for keeping it suspended a few feet over the surface, of course, but if you live in FSJ you must have lots of handy friends even if you aren't one yourself. You can probably buy them at Home Depot or Rona or even Walmart if you have any of those stores there, but always check Craigslist first.
