I live in Iceland and nobody sells real grow lights and it would cost me a fortune to order from abroad at the current rate.
The lights in my garage are a set of 2 fluorescent lights and I can read 4500°K on each of them and then something like "cold...something".
1. Do these sound ok for growing inside over the winter?
2. What do I look for when searching for suitable commercially available "grow lights"....is it the lumen number or the ...°K or what?
- hendi_alex
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 3604
- Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:58 am
- Location: Central Sand Hills South Carolina
It really depends upon what you want to be growing. If you want to grow green leafy, or non flowering plants, then any florescent bulbs will do. If you are going to grow flowing plants then you need to pick up some red spectrum. You can either do this by getting full spectrum bulbs, or you can get the same result by mixing ordinary florescent bulbs with regular incandescent bulbs. The incandescent bulbs are heavy on the red/yellow end and the florescents are heavy on the blue/green end of the spectrum. a mix of the two will give a pretty good balance.
Thanks for the tips....
1. How will I know if the fluorescent bulbs are full spectrum or not (given that I will be buying them at a regular hardware store in case the sales person won´t have a clue about the spectrum ) ?
2. Would you say that "the more watts, the better" or should I look for the ...°K reading or what?
1. How will I know if the fluorescent bulbs are full spectrum or not (given that I will be buying them at a regular hardware store in case the sales person won´t have a clue about the spectrum ) ?
2. Would you say that "the more watts, the better" or should I look for the ...°K reading or what?
- hendi_alex
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 3604
- Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:58 am
- Location: Central Sand Hills South Carolina
Read the light temperature on the side of the bulb.
"2700k to 3000k bulbs provide higher output in the red spectrum which promotes flowering. 5000k to 6500k bulbs are full spectrum with much of the light in the blue spectrum which promote overall green plant growth"
https://www.littlegreenhouse.com/guide3.shtml
"2700k to 3000k bulbs provide higher output in the red spectrum which promotes flowering. 5000k to 6500k bulbs are full spectrum with much of the light in the blue spectrum which promote overall green plant growth"
https://www.littlegreenhouse.com/guide3.shtml
- applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30551
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
I don't know if this is the same thing, but years ago (back in the 80's) when I was reading about growing plants, the general recommendation was to mix in 1:1 ratio, "cool" fluorescent light tubes and "warm" fluorescent light tubes. Maybe your hardware store would have these? Full spectrums used to be hard to get and expensive to boot.
Other light designations that may help are "Daylight" bulbs and also those lights that are supposed to help people with S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder).
Other light designations that may help are "Daylight" bulbs and also those lights that are supposed to help people with S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder).
- gixxerific
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 5889
- Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
- Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B
Thanks all!
What a coincidence....just 2 days after posted this topic I found this great little company here where they are selling hydrophonic gear and all that goes with it....and I was fascinated because with that you don´t have to have dirt and you can grow it in the garage and over the winter (the days get very short here in Iceland in the winter but the summer daylight lasts the whole 24 hours!). I´m going to get me one of those sets and I could even use the light to see which grows faster, same plant in a container with soil vs. in the hydrophonic system. www.eurohydro.com
What a coincidence....just 2 days after posted this topic I found this great little company here where they are selling hydrophonic gear and all that goes with it....and I was fascinated because with that you don´t have to have dirt and you can grow it in the garage and over the winter (the days get very short here in Iceland in the winter but the summer daylight lasts the whole 24 hours!). I´m going to get me one of those sets and I could even use the light to see which grows faster, same plant in a container with soil vs. in the hydrophonic system. www.eurohydro.com
- gixxerific
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 5889
- Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
- Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B
Well that 's a good turn of fate. Good luck with your Hydro garden. I would like to try that out myself as well. I would be interested to see a Hydro vs. dirt battle.viktords wrote:Thanks all!
What a coincidence....just 2 days after posted this topic I found this great little company here where they are selling hydrophonic gear and all that goes with it....and I was fascinated because with that you don´t have to have dirt and you can grow it in the garage and over the winter (the days get very short here in Iceland in the winter but the summer daylight lasts the whole 24 hours!). I´m going to get me one of those sets and I could even use the light to see which grows faster, same plant in a container with soil vs. in the hydrophonic system. www.eurohydro.com
Dono
You've gotta be careful with hydroponics. Not every plant likes that much water and even a crappy to decent hydro system will keep roots wet all day long. I'd look up each plants watering needs and do some research into the plants you want and the hydro systemd effects on them. Planst will grow faster as well, sobe prepared for great growing. All depends on what kind of system it is too, drip or spray. Drips drip water where as spray systems spray the roots with water. They require different types of plants as well. I'd recommend alot of research.viktords wrote:Thanks all!
What a coincidence....just 2 days after posted this topic I found this great little company here where they are selling hydrophonic gear and all that goes with it....and I was fascinated because with that you don´t have to have dirt and you can grow it in the garage and over the winter (the days get very short here in Iceland in the winter but the summer daylight lasts the whole 24 hours!). I´m going to get me one of those sets and I could even use the light to see which grows faster, same plant in a container with soil vs. in the hydrophonic system. www.eurohydro.com
Oh and be weary, 90% of of the information on the internet is going to be about growing Marijuana hydroponically, not other plants.
as someone wrote on here, 6500k bulbs are not full spectrum. they are cool spectrum whereas 3000k bulbs are warm spectrum. both together are full spectrum. a 4-ft. high output fluorescent setup with dual 54w bulbs of varying kelvin levels will provide you with 10,000 lumens per sq ft. and full spectrum lighting.