I have 4 plants in 4-inch pots (2vft, 2sundew) on a windowsill. I would like to install these lights 3-feet overhead: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MR ... 4WN81ZEM06
It's a thin bar with 30 LEDs (SMD 5050). Apparently the whole strip is 6-watts (not sure what their equivalence to a incandescence bulb would be...if this makes sense).
Beam angle 120deg. 6500k
Would these be sufficient to keep my plants thriving?
-
rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Re: Will these grow lights be OK for my venus & sundew plant
I don't know anything about the LED's and how they compare to fluorescent (you wouldn't use incandescent in any case).
But light intensity varies by the inverse square of the distance. That means if you have a light that is 6" away from the plant and you move it twice as far, to 12", the plants are now getting one quarter the light. If you move it four times as far, to two feet, the plants are now getting 1/16th the light. So a fluorescent that was 3 feet overhead would be doing next to no good. Does the LED give so much more light intensity to make up for this? I don't know.
Probably does depend on the LED. They come in a whole big price range from very cheap to very expensive. Last year I tried some LEDs for seed starting. They were the kind that look just like fluorescent tubes and they were the very cheap ones (me being me
). And they did nothing. My plants sprouted, but then just sat there. I have seen other people say the same thing. Not saying LED's don't work, just that there are a lot of different LED's and it helps to have some idea of what you are doing.
This year I went back to the fluorescent tubes I am used to. Everything else about the set up is the same. So far anyway my little seedlings are doing fine.
But light intensity varies by the inverse square of the distance. That means if you have a light that is 6" away from the plant and you move it twice as far, to 12", the plants are now getting one quarter the light. If you move it four times as far, to two feet, the plants are now getting 1/16th the light. So a fluorescent that was 3 feet overhead would be doing next to no good. Does the LED give so much more light intensity to make up for this? I don't know.
Probably does depend on the LED. They come in a whole big price range from very cheap to very expensive. Last year I tried some LEDs for seed starting. They were the kind that look just like fluorescent tubes and they were the very cheap ones (me being me
). And they did nothing. My plants sprouted, but then just sat there. I have seen other people say the same thing. Not saying LED's don't work, just that there are a lot of different LED's and it helps to have some idea of what you are doing. This year I went back to the fluorescent tubes I am used to. Everything else about the set up is the same. So far anyway my little seedlings are doing fine.
Twitter account I manage for local Sierra Club: https://twitter.com/CherokeeGroupSC Facebook page I manage for them: https://www.facebook.com/groups/65310596576/ Come and find me and lots of great information, inspiration
Re: Will these grow lights be OK for my venus & sundew plant
damn. well it seems these specific LEDs wouldn't do a thing for my plants, especially not at the distance i had in mind... the distance was due to the actual physical space i had available for mounting.
what if I hanged 2 60-watt CFLs overhead? the bulb would probably drop to about... 1~2ft above the plant.
i could adjust distance with the cord i was thinking of using.
bulb: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FK ... ZUQ2FCU4MN
bulb line/cord: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L5 ... PDKIKX0DER
what if I hanged 2 60-watt CFLs overhead? the bulb would probably drop to about... 1~2ft above the plant.
i could adjust distance with the cord i was thinking of using.
bulb: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FK ... ZUQ2FCU4MN
bulb line/cord: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L5 ... PDKIKX0DER
Re: Will these grow lights be OK for my venus & sundew plant
I use this type — 100w equivalent — for my plants rather than the 60w equivalent.
Philips Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
by Philips
Link: https://a.co/6yEALow
The fixture you linked to has no reflector — without a reflector the bulb’s available light end up getting scattered (wasted). I use utility and brooder lamps with basic aluminum reflector — preferably 10” diameter. In most cases, I ended up wanting more than one light bulb per light fixture and have fitted them with a bulb socket extender and a Y so I can put two cfl bulbs in each. This makes them extend past the reflector, but they create an oval field of light that works better for what I need.
I have also made my own reflectors by making a hole in the middle of aluminum pie and lasagna pans to re-purpose old bedside and floor lamps.
I also have a torchere fitted with a giant 150W equivalent cfl in my Green Room. No reflectors on that one, but the room’s walls have been “papered” with Mylar emergency “blankets”.
..but if you want something more decorative, just keep those features in mind.
Philips Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
by Philips
Link: https://a.co/6yEALow
The fixture you linked to has no reflector — without a reflector the bulb’s available light end up getting scattered (wasted). I use utility and brooder lamps with basic aluminum reflector — preferably 10” diameter. In most cases, I ended up wanting more than one light bulb per light fixture and have fitted them with a bulb socket extender and a Y so I can put two cfl bulbs in each. This makes them extend past the reflector, but they create an oval field of light that works better for what I need.
I have also made my own reflectors by making a hole in the middle of aluminum pie and lasagna pans to re-purpose old bedside and floor lamps.
I also have a torchere fitted with a giant 150W equivalent cfl in my Green Room. No reflectors on that one, but the room’s walls have been “papered” with Mylar emergency “blankets”.
..but if you want something more decorative, just keep those features in mind.
Learning never ends because we can share what we've learned. And in sharing our collective experiences, we gain deeper understanding of what we learned.
Did I do this right?
will this work? i put it on a timer outlet so the lights are automatically on/off 6am to 6pm. deviated a lot from original plans thanks to the tips from everyone. i even had to return a few things...gotta love Amazon.com.
there's also very very very little end of the peace lily leaf stealing some light. if lilies like the shade i figure i'd add some negligible amounts of photosynthesis while it feeds off the light bouncing off that mirrored building across the street.
the sundews are sitting in 2 trays. a larger tray has a few teaspoons of apple cider vinegar with a drop of Dawn dish soap. another tray that is barely smaller, has distilled water only with the pot sitting in the water.
other pics:
lol and the bug eaters also get direct morning sunlight around 10am from the southeast. top path is around summer...lasts about 60~75 minutes. bottom path is around winter time...lasts about 45 minutes. this picture was taken before the lamps.
there's also very very very little end of the peace lily leaf stealing some light. if lilies like the shade i figure i'd add some negligible amounts of photosynthesis while it feeds off the light bouncing off that mirrored building across the street.
the sundews are sitting in 2 trays. a larger tray has a few teaspoons of apple cider vinegar with a drop of Dawn dish soap. another tray that is barely smaller, has distilled water only with the pot sitting in the water.
other pics: