Hi, I have been indoor gardening for a few years now but since moving to a new house (middle row home) I have less light and space to work with. I have tried using my old LED light to grow tomatoes but it is TOO powerful and I am selling it soon anyway. I was wondering what wattage and reflector I should use for my space? It is narrow with two shelves for growing plants. Sadly my t-5 HO is not powerful enough, even for my orchid. Pictures attached.
Thanks for any help you can give me!
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ceramicmonster
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Metal Halide in an Odd Situation
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- There is a second 3ft wide shelf next to the one visible.
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rainbowgardener
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Hi ceramic and welcome. You put this in the Hydroponics forum. Are you doing hydro or just regular (in potting mi) indoor containers?
Sorry, but I don't know what t-5 HO means. I am familiar with T-5 as a designation for fluorescent tubes.
And I am not sure what you mean by your LED being too powerful and the t-5 whatever being not powerful enough. Light intensity varies by the square of the distance. So it seems like if the LED is too powerful (burns the leaves or something?) you just move it farther away. If it is 4" from the plants and you move it to 8", the plants are now getting one-quarter the light intensity. And the other direction for the one that you don't think is powerful enough.
OK I looked again at the picture. That's the LED light at the very top? So I guess it is about as far away as it can get. So what does it mean that it was too powerful at that distance? What problems were your plants having from "too much" light?
What does having it all glassed in do for your?
I start lots of stuff from seed indoors with t-5 and t-8 fluorescent tubes, with the tubes set just 2-3 inches above the plants and everything does fine (but I don't grow them to maturity or fruiting, just give them a head start until they can go out in the garden).
You said there is another shelf like that "next" to the one shown? That would be behind in the picture, so the linear distance is twice as much. Have you thought about going vertical? Seems like there is a lot of unused space above your shelf.
Here's my seed starting operation:
Not the greatest picture, but you can see there's a counter top (kitchen cabinets under it for storage of trays and pots and everything) and then two of the wire shelves. The first set of lights hang from under the first wire shelf and the second set of lights hang from under the second wire shelf. And the top of the second wire shelf is just storage. So 16 running feet of lights in 8 feet of space.
Looking forward to hearing more from you; it is a very interesting set up!
Sorry, but I don't know what t-5 HO means. I am familiar with T-5 as a designation for fluorescent tubes.
And I am not sure what you mean by your LED being too powerful and the t-5 whatever being not powerful enough. Light intensity varies by the square of the distance. So it seems like if the LED is too powerful (burns the leaves or something?) you just move it farther away. If it is 4" from the plants and you move it to 8", the plants are now getting one-quarter the light intensity. And the other direction for the one that you don't think is powerful enough.
OK I looked again at the picture. That's the LED light at the very top? So I guess it is about as far away as it can get. So what does it mean that it was too powerful at that distance? What problems were your plants having from "too much" light?
What does having it all glassed in do for your?
I start lots of stuff from seed indoors with t-5 and t-8 fluorescent tubes, with the tubes set just 2-3 inches above the plants and everything does fine (but I don't grow them to maturity or fruiting, just give them a head start until they can go out in the garden).
You said there is another shelf like that "next" to the one shown? That would be behind in the picture, so the linear distance is twice as much. Have you thought about going vertical? Seems like there is a lot of unused space above your shelf.
Here's my seed starting operation:
Not the greatest picture, but you can see there's a counter top (kitchen cabinets under it for storage of trays and pots and everything) and then two of the wire shelves. The first set of lights hang from under the first wire shelf and the second set of lights hang from under the second wire shelf. And the top of the second wire shelf is just storage. So 16 running feet of lights in 8 feet of space.
Looking forward to hearing more from you; it is a very interesting set up!