Anyone used one of these?

I thought I would give one a go, 900W [presumably effective LED power]

As the mains power is 120W I assume it's the equivalent wattage of a
sodium lamp of similar luminosity?


Anyway, I am totally new to growing things, but having bought some
Oleria, I thought I would try a few flowers and vegetables. The light
was bought due to the late time of year I'm starting and limited room
outside.

I have some cuttings from the Olearia under the light along with
African Marigolds, sweetcorn and spring onions.

The cuttings have not rooted, is three weeks too early?

and the rest of the stuff only shows a marginal improvement over the
"control" plants in a south facing window.

I power up the light for eight hours. I switch on when I get home in
the evening and off in the morning.

The room is lit with daylight from a curtained window also.

The light does not seem to be worth the power expended on it, but is
it worth keeping for when the days shorten?

Has anyone any tips or suggestions please?

AB

On 2017-07-22 23:20:32 +0000, Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp said:

Anyone used one of these?

I thought I would give one a go, 900W [presumably effective LED power]

As the mains power is 120W I assume it's the equivalent wattage of a
sodium lamp of similar luminosity?


Anyway, I am totally new to growing things, but having bought some
Oleria, I thought I would try a few flowers and vegetables. The light
was bought due to the late time of year I'm starting and limited room
outside.

I have some cuttings from the Olearia under the light along with
African Marigolds, sweetcorn and spring onions.

The cuttings have not rooted, is three weeks too early?

and the rest of the stuff only shows a marginal improvement over the
"control" plants in a south facing window.

I power up the light for eight hours. I switch on when I get home in
the evening and off in the morning.

The room is lit with daylight from a curtained window also.

The light does not seem to be worth the power expended on it, but is
it worth keeping for when the days shorten?

Has anyone any tips or suggestions please?

AB

I think the plants would like it to be dark at night, that being what
they have evolved to enjoy.
If you live sufficiently far north, you might use a standard (warm
white) 8 watt LED bulb on your windowsill to make up for the
deficiencies in daylight - perhaps an hour or so in the morning and up
to three hours in the afternoon. At this time of year, nature provides
all the light needed.

Growing sweetcorn on a windowsill?

--
Asha
minnies.opcop.org.uk
nature.opcop.org.uk
pictures.opcop.org.uk

On 23/07/2017 00:20, Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp wrote:
Anyone used one of these?

I thought I would give one a go, 900W [presumably effective LED power]

As the mains power is 120W I assume it's the equivalent wattage of a
sodium lamp of similar luminosity?

Out of curiosity what colour is it? The professional LED grow lights
these days omit the green LEDs almost entirely and so appear magenta. No
point producing light that simply reflects off chlorophyll.

and the rest of the stuff only shows a marginal improvement over the
"control" plants in a south facing window.

It is mid summer and it would be surprising if things on a sunny window
sill did not thrive.

I power up the light for eight hours. I switch on when I get home in
the evening and off in the morning.

Depriving them of the night time cycle - which might be OK for some
plants that live at high latitudes but would be disastrous for desert
plants using C4 acid metabolism which only breath in the dark at night.

The room is lit with daylight from a curtained window also.

The light does not seem to be worth the power expended on it, but is
it worth keeping for when the days shorten?

Depends what you are trying to grow and how much light they need. If you
are trying to grow things year round and not have them go leggy in mid
winter then the grow light will do what it is intended to do.

Has anyone any tips or suggestions please?

AB

Use the grow light to supplement dark days - don't use it to deprive the
plants of their daily light cycle (unless you are doing it to trick
something into flowering at eg Christmas).

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Sun, 23 Jul 2017 11:03:55 +0100, Chris Hogg wrote:

On Sat, 22 Jul 2017 16:20:32 -0700, Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp
wrote:

Anyone used one of these?

I thought I would give one a go, 900W [presumably effective LED power]

As the mains power is 120W I assume it's the equivalent wattage of a
sodium lamp of similar luminosity?

Anyway, I am totally new to growing things, but having bought some
Oleria, I thought I would try a few flowers and vegetables. The light
was bought due to the late time of year I'm starting and limited room
outside.

I have some cuttings from the Olearia under the light along with
African Marigolds, sweetcorn and spring onions.

The cuttings have not rooted, is three weeks too early?

and the rest of the stuff only shows a marginal improvement over the
"control" plants in a south facing window.

I power up the light for eight hours. I switch on when I get home in
the evening and off in the morning.

The room is lit with daylight from a curtained window also.

The light does not seem to be worth the power expended on it, but is
it worth keeping for when the days shorten?

Has anyone any tips or suggestions please?

AB

One of the traditional problems with grow-lights in the past was that
you needed powerful lights to match the strength of daylight, and they
also produced a lot of heat which tended to scorch the plants. LED
lights, being much more efficient, produce less heat and are less
likely to do that.

In general I would say three weeks is much to short a period to expect
cuttings of shrubby stuff to root. More like six to eight weeks, often
longer, but it very much depends on the type of cutting (softwood,
hardwood, truncheon, root etc), their size, the species of plant
they've come from, the propagating conditions and the time of year.

Some details on taking Olearia cuttings he
http://practicalplants.org/wiki/Olearia_traversii

There's a Youtube video on taking shrub cuttings he
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3O7sxisg9A The plant is Coprosma, not
the same as Olearia but the principles are the same. Key points are
good cutting material and properly prepared at the start, a well
drained compost (something like 1:1 peaterlite would be OK), good
light but not direct sunlight, bottom heat if you can arrange it but
not essential if you can't, (they'll just take a bit longer), and
keeping them damp but not too wet.

I know you say space outside is limited, but I'm rather surprised
you're bothering with a grow-light at all at this time of year, when
days are long and sunlight is at it's strongest. You wouldn't want the
cuttings in direct sunshine of course, but even filtered or north
light is strong at this time of year. Having said all that, if the
plants aren't on a windowsill, and in a room with limited light due to
the curtain and being back from the window, then there may be some
justification for your grow-light, but yes, by all means use it in the
depths of winter.

Grow-lights are extensively used by illicit cannabis growers. Have you
had a visit from the boys in blue yet? :-)

Thank you.

As you can probably tell, my ignorance regarding plants is all
encompassing.

The light is a strong magenta and can be seen easily outside the
house.

What you say, seems to back up my findings completely. I will
dismantle the system and maybe reinsate it in a few months.

Many thanks for the links, as you are no doubt aware, I really have no
idea what I'm doing. After the Olearia which I want for a hedge, and
have had a high failiure rate in the past, I thought I would grow some
different plants!

Probably not a good start, like software I assume it's best to have a
goal in mind and be specific?


Anyway, thank you, I'll study the material you have linked to. Then
maybe read a book or something :-)


Regards

AB

On Sun, 23 Jul 2017 10:08:32 +0100, Martin Brown
wrote:

On 23/07/2017 00:20, Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp wrote:
Anyone used one of these?

I thought I would give one a go, 900W [presumably effective LED power]

As the mains power is 120W I assume it's the equivalent wattage of a
sodium lamp of similar luminosity?

Out of curiosity what colour is it? The professional LED grow lights
these days omit the green LEDs almost entirely and so appear magenta. No
point producing light that simply reflects off chlorophyll.

and the rest of the stuff only shows a marginal improvement over the
"control" plants in a south facing window.

It is mid summer and it would be surprising if things on a sunny window
sill did not thrive.

I power up the light for eight hours. I switch on when I get home in
the evening and off in the morning.

Depriving them of the night time cycle - which might be OK for some
plants that live at high latitudes but would be disastrous for desert
plants using C4 acid metabolism which only breath in the dark at night.

The room is lit with daylight from a curtained window also.

The light does not seem to be worth the power expended on it, but is
it worth keeping for when the days shorten?

Depends what you are trying to grow and how much light they need. If you
are trying to grow things year round and not have them go leggy in mid
winter then the grow light will do what it is intended to do.

Has anyone any tips or suggestions please?

AB

Use the grow light to supplement dark days - don't use it to deprive the
plants of their daily light cycle (unless you are doing it to trick
something into flowering at eg Christmas).

Thank you. I jumped into a subject I knew nothing about, with nothing
but ignorance and a few spare pounds.

The light is being shelved and the plants are going on the shed roof.

In the meantime I'll read a book or two.

Regards

AB

On Sun, 23 Jul 2017 09:37:59 +0100, Asha Santon
wrote:

On 2017-07-22 23:20:32 +0000, Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp said:

Anyone used one of these?

I thought I would give one a go, 900W [presumably effective LED power]

As the mains power is 120W I assume it's the equivalent wattage of a
sodium lamp of similar luminosity?


Anyway, I am totally new to growing things, but having bought some
Oleria, I thought I would try a few flowers and vegetables. The light
was bought due to the late time of year I'm starting and limited room
outside.

I have some cuttings from the Olearia under the light along with
African Marigolds, sweetcorn and spring onions.

The cuttings have not rooted, is three weeks too early?

and the rest of the stuff only shows a marginal improvement over the
"control" plants in a south facing window.

I power up the light for eight hours. I switch on when I get home in
the evening and off in the morning.

The room is lit with daylight from a curtained window also.

The light does not seem to be worth the power expended on it, but is
it worth keeping for when the days shorten?

Has anyone any tips or suggestions please?

AB

I think the plants would like it to be dark at night, that being what
they have evolved to enjoy.
If you live sufficiently far north, you might use a standard (warm
white) 8 watt LED bulb on your windowsill to make up for the
deficiencies in daylight - perhaps an hour or so in the morning and up
to three hours in the afternoon. At this time of year, nature provides
all the light needed.

8W seems a very tame rating, it suggests possibilities for producing
housplants at a property I visit every couple of months or so.

Growing sweetcorn on a windowsill?

Based on the order of extraction from a pack of 15 mixed vegetable
varieties from Amazon. I will have to move things outside somehow.

Compost and watering procedures do not slot in well with the squalor
that passes for my usual domestic cleaning regime.

Anyway many thanks, from advice provided by yourself and others in the
thread, I have decided to dismantle the light.

Regards

AB

On 2017-07-23 11:26:30 +0000, Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp said:

On Sun, 23 Jul 2017 09:37:59 +0100, Asha Santon
wrote:

On 2017-07-22 23:20:32 +0000, Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp said:

Anyone used one of these?

I thought I would give one a go, 900W [presumably effective LED power]

As the mains power is 120W I assume it's the equivalent wattage of a
sodium lamp of similar luminosity?


Anyway, I am totally new to growing things, but having bought some
Oleria, I thought I would try a few flowers and vegetables. The light
was bought due to the late time of year I'm starting and limited room
outside.

I have some cuttings from the Olearia under the light along with
African Marigolds, sweetcorn and spring onions.

The cuttings have not rooted, is three weeks too early?

and the rest of the stuff only shows a marginal improvement over the
"control" plants in a south facing window.

I power up the light for eight hours. I switch on when I get home in
the evening and off in the morning.

The room is lit with daylight from a curtained window also.

The light does not seem to be worth the power expended on it, but is
it worth keeping for when the days shorten?

Has anyone any tips or suggestions please?

AB

I think the plants would like it to be dark at night, that being what
they have evolved to enjoy.
If you live sufficiently far north, you might use a standard (warm
white) 8 watt LED bulb on your windowsill to make up for the
deficiencies in daylight - perhaps an hour or so in the morning and up
to three hours in the afternoon. At this time of year, nature provides
all the light needed.

8W seems a very tame rating, it suggests possibilities for producing
housplants at a property I visit every couple of months or so.

Growing sweetcorn on a windowsill?

Based on the order of extraction from a pack of 15 mixed vegetable
varieties from Amazon. I will have to move things outside somehow.

Compost and watering procedures do not slot in well with the squalor
that passes for my usual domestic cleaning regime.

Anyway many thanks, from advice provided by yourself and others in the
thread, I have decided to dismantle the light.

Regards

AB

You are most welcome.
The one I use in a north-facing window at 57.5Ëš North is 8W or 10W LED,
3000K - it isn't to hand for me to check the wattage.
Bear in mind this is to supplement daylight, not to replace it.
At winter solstice, sunrise is 0900 and sunset 1500 here (in round
figures) hence the use of the bulb with non-native plants. Native
plants grow well enough by themselves.

--
Asha
minnies.opcop.org.uk
nature.opcop.org.uk
pictures.opcop.org.uk

On 23/07/2017 12:07, Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp wrote:

The light is a strong magenta and can be seen easily outside the
house.

The Police soon will be raiding you at 5am and confiscate your cannabis
plants




--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk