Nice summarization of the artificial lighting options Jedoba.

Thank you. There is so much information that I did not include such as something called "overdriving" florescents which almost doubles their output. I figured I would start the thread and if anyone has any questions over the next few months, I'll be happy to help.

Anyone with information is welcome to join as well.

Many people still don't realize how well LED'S perform. This information should interest anyone attempting to grow tropicals up to at least zone 10, and most of us are 'zone stretchers'.

Jedoba I read your post and thought to myself, two LED's? Did you get bit by the LED bug and have to get a 2nd right away? I find myself wanting to put LEDs all over my house. Kinda crazy, I know. There is only one item on my Christmas list this year! The 192x5w is what it will take to eliminate my florescent fixtures.

Tracy

I found a great deal where they were $99 combined. They are usually $149 each. At the time, I only had a few Adenium, and was even growing tomatoes. I know what you mean, I want these things everywhere! I would have an indoor jungle if I could only afford the lighting. My love for plants is neverending : my wallet is not.

Jedoba, wonderful information. I am really glad you were able to place the key points and include costs. Thank you.

What is "overdriving" florescents?

Overdriving a florescent panel involves opening the electical (often top) portion. Once inside, you can see a "ballast". In simple terms, the ballast takes the power from the wall socket, and converts it into a lower power that the bulbs can use.

In a two bulb florescent panel, the bulbs are powered by one ballast, with two positive and two negative wires - one set going to each bulb. To overdrive that panel, one would combine the positive and negative leads, and send both to one bulb rather than two. Then, you would purchase another ballast (usually around $10.00-15.00) and use it to power the other bulb.

It's a bit of work, and it shortens the life of the bulbs, but the result is ~90% more light. Since florescent bulbs already have a long life, it's really not bad.

I found something interesting today! I found a 225 LED panel for $37.99 with free shipping on Amazon. I'm going to purchase one and run it through the tests. It has 4.3 out of 5 stars.

Erligpowht 45W LED

I got that yesterday, Jed. It's arriving on Wednesday. I also ordered this since I prefer to customize.

Pagan

Oh, congrats Pagan! Can you tell me what you think of it when you get it?

Very cool, Pagan. Oh the excitement of a new toy! Or in your case, two! Are you going to use the light bars for along the sides? Tell us about your custom layout.

Tracy

Nah, I don't put lights on the sides, Tracy. For that, I use illustration boards--those things that are black on one side and white on the other. I paint the white side with elastomere paint (they reflect the highest amount of light) and cover three sides of the shelves where I put my winter growers as well as other succulents that need maximum light even when dormant in winter.

My adeniums used to just sit all over the house, out of the way. I think this year I will consign them to the basement where they will be lit but not get supplemental heating. I did that to a bunch of tworlings last winter and they just went semi-dormant which is perfectly alright with me.

I'll definitely take blinding pictures when I am done setting things up, Jed.

Now, LED lights are cool. But this arrived today, and this is the best toy ever.

Pagan

Nice article about grow lights Jedoba, the types are really mind boggling though.A quick search on google yielded this result "http://m.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-led-grow-lights-china.html " lined up on aliexpress...which again makes it difficult to understand for the uninitiated.We have mostly 10-11 hrs of light in winters and it starts to be reaĺly cold by end dec/early jan. I have thought of covering my baĺcony with a plastic(transparent) to make it into a make shift green house.This winter atleast I am not going for lights till I see how they manage (the plants)

Pagan what are you going to do with that tool you work wood to

roger

My basement looks creepy after sundown and the LEDs are still on. There are only two plants there right now, but the autumn spraying has started. When I get the Erlwhatsis, the exodus will start. It will look even creepier.

Pardon the OT: I just needed a low-angle jack plane, Roger. I had to save up for a good one first. My general purpose plane right now is a No 4 and usually too aggressive for some things.

Pagan

Jedoba, you are a serious grower....

I am looking into it this year, because I lost so many each year.

So can you show me the LED lights you get it from Ebay, I want to see what it looks like.

So I can get one for myself.

Thank you for all info. End of September already, soon the plants look so sad in the cold garage.

Marie

Marie mine that are still outside are dropping all of their leaves. Can't believe we are already into September. Tonight the rest of my plants are coming indoors since temps will be below 50F degrees overnight. I just received my second Mars LED double unit yesterday. My tent will be here Friday. I am not done growing for the season!

Tracy

Tracy, you are so right, we are gardeners, everybody wants longer growing months. Winter is so depress everytime I look at them.

But at least I am in Houston, I have about 2 more months before bringing them inside.

Marie

Oh Marie! You are the serious grower here! I don't hate many things, but I truly hate winter. Even as warm as south Texas is, it's not warm enough to grow the plants I love year round.

So, after reading that adenium can have a difficult time with dormancy, I decided to research lighting options. Now that I have grown from seed, I am even more dedicated to caring for my babies. I'm sure we all feel this way.

The panels that I currently use are no longer manufactured, but are still available. My panels have 112 lights, and costs $149. Pagan and I found a newer panel made by another company that has 225 lights, and is under $40. Pagan ordered one of these, and I'm waiting to hear what they think about it. If it seems good, I'm getting two.

Grrr

Looks similar to my first led light I got via ebay for £19.99

I finally received this contraption last Thursday and installed it last night. It is just as horrible as my two TaoTronic bulbs lol I'm glad I got the goggles.

Pagan

Okay, here are my thoughts so far:

This Erlwhatsis LED panel is a 45-watt fixture that provides about 20k lux of plant-yummy light at a distance of about 4 inches. This drops rapidly to 8k to 10k lux at a distance of about 10 inches from the panel. Light intensity also declines the farther the plant is from the center of the array.

I have two 12-watt TaoTronics bulbs on either side of the panel and they throw out 40k lux but they have a circular array of LEDs so that's actually only a light point of about 2 to 3 inches in diameter, declining rapidly outside the focal point. Basically you can put one plant in the middle and anything around that one plant will be poorly-lit.

Just to put in context, direct sunlight is over 100k lux, increasing in intensity as you get closer to the, er, sun, measured in astronomical units of 150 million kilometers.

To improve light distribution, I am planning to attach white panels on the sides of this shelf.

Above this setup is my other plant shelf, under T5HOs.

Now, if you want to keep your plants growing throughout winter, a 45-watt panel is not going to be enough light to keep your plant compact, especially if you are planning to heat the area up to summer temperatures and keep feeding them. This will work for me because I do not plan to keep them heated in the basement, nor to feed them. IME, this slows them down to the point of semi-dormancy. Basically, this is winter shutdown for some of my adeniums.

That said, LED grow lights generate wavelengths very specific for plant growth. That part, I have to monitor this winter since it will be very different from plants just scavenging usable wavelength from daylight T5HOs.

In my home office, though, that's a different story. That stays tropical all throughout winter.

I hope this helps someone!

Pagan

Pagan, thank you for the info. It's exactly what I was interested in knowing. I think i need something that will put out about 30k lux at 10 inches. This panel seems too weak. The hydros seem too strong.

Thank you Pagan! My LED panels create a similar level of light. I want to restate that I get less etiolated growth under these than sunlight even though the lux is much lower. As Pagan said, the sun contains ALL of the color spectrum - even portions that harm the plants, and therefore the lux numbers don't need to be the same.

Pagan, how are your plants under the panel doing? In your opinion, how close to the panel is a good distance for your plants?

The adeniums under the LED light does not seem to mind it, Dain. My panel draws only 45 Watts of power so the light is not as intense as the more powerful kits which can go up to over a thousand Watts, depending on what you get. As such they are as close to the panel as I can get them, because they just had a full summer out in 8 hours of direct sunlight.

Remember though that as it gets colder, I am hoping they will go semi-dormant in the basement. Nearly all my other plants are winter growers, and will need some attention. I don't want to have to babysit others that should really be sleeping!

I have two adults that I am consigning to the basement for the first time. They are each under 25-Watt LED bulbs, also as close as I can get them. No complaints so far. I don't expect anything significant to happen until the winter sets in completely.

Pagan

Last night I ordered two led screw on bulbs.I am now fully convinced after my blue plastic experiment that it works.Will take approx 3-4 wks to arrive from China, by which time I will actually be needing them as winter would start here by then.

As for where to fix them...I am sure I shall find a solution for that!