Come on houzz. This is so annoying, could not upload pictures will try another time

finally the pic is uploaded. I just finished the frame. Next step is put 3/4 board in and work on the bars to hang the lights. My basement is not heated. I would say it is between 40 -60F? I don’t really have an idea what is the temperature range. Do I need to enclose the chamber so the temperature will be higher?

I have a very low opinion of amazon

Greenhouse and bucket lights · More Info

Greenhouse and bucket lights · More Info

Greenhouse and bucket lights · More Info

Greenhouse and bucket lights · More Info

Greenhouse and bucket lights · More Info

Greenhouse and bucket lights · More Info

Greenhouse and bucket lights · More Info

Greenhouse and bucket lights · More Info

New Zealand lemonade#1 · More Info

I strongly recommend the HLG boards over the other ones you listed.

The heat buildup from the lights may help in a poorly heated basement in winter (if you want active growth, 40-60° isn't going to do much for you), so enclosing the grow chamber will help some (the lights will generate some heat). Some occasional air exchange with the outside will be necessary if you go this route though, especially if you pack that thing full of plants.

As for your grow chamber, 4 feet of height seems like too little to me. The HLG boards cover a 2'x2' area at high intensity, when hung 12"-18" above the plants (LED needs a bit of distance above the canopy, unlike fluorescent lighting which is usually hung only a few inches above). So two of the HLG boards will give your 2'x4' space enough light for active growth. But consider the vertical height you will need:

The height of the pots (6" to 1 foot, depending);

The vertical height of the lights themselves (luckily only 2" for the HLG boards);

The distance needed between the top of your plants and the lights (12"-18" for the HLG boards).

That adds up to 1.5-2.5 feet of vertical height NOT including the plants themselves. So a 4 foot tall grow chamber will restrict you to 1.5-2.5 foot tall plants. Is that doable for what you plan to overwinter?

Buy a thermometer so you know in the future,

https://www.1000bulbs.com/category/linear-led-ready-high-bay-fixtures/

I use suspended LED bay lights but I have a heated basement.

With that setup enclosed you may have lack of air flow. I'm not a big fan of tight work areas. You need to be able to pull out, water, and spray these things.

With lights up close you may get hot leaves and cold roots and get leaf drop. Heat mats and/or pointing cheap spotlights with compact flourecsnet (set on timers to go on before upper lights) aimed at rootstock, heat will stimulate roots first. Not seen now, since inside/outside temperatures are still close

I will second illsstep for the HLG board recommendation. I also the t-8 led fixtures for small plants that are few inches in height. The Feit led fixture goes on sale in Costco from time to time at $20 a piece.

As illsstep said carefully consider how much area you actually need and the plant height requirements. A large plant will shadow out smaller plants next to it. Keeping plants too close will hamper airflow.

Poncirusguy:

You are very talented regarding recycling those buckets. Are the light you use CFL? How do you deal with ventilation?

those amazon links are mostly for comparison purpose. as when you search lights, you always end up with one of its link and you can read up the spec in there too.

illsstep:

thanks. I also lean towards the hlg one. I read a post (most likely on this site) says it is the most cost effective one. it is also the most expensive one, can I get by using a cheaper light. Another question, it is 4000k. Should I get something like between 5000k to 6500k range? Do you think 4000k is enough? most plants I grow for theit leaves. even citrus are for their flowers. I do not expect they have fruit in my basement and it is hard for me to appreciate them when they all cramped under the light in the basement.

good point on the 4 feet height though. Luckily for now all my plants are pretty small, they are all under 1’. A few prob 2.5 ft. So it is not a problem this year. Next year? I probably need to build a bigger one if this works out well. :) do you think 2ft depth is a little bit short? If I build another one next year. what the recommended size? Thanks

bklyn citrus:

I have a thermometer down there, have not figured out if it can record coldest temperature and warmest temperature yet. :(

With my cardboard box grow chamber last winter, I just water them in place. I have a normal fan in there timed on every half hour. I think it probably comsumes most power. And overall the plants performance are not as I expected. I actually thought it is probably because the root is too hot (without any scientific theory or evidence of course), I have a seed heating mat and some rope lights in there. Now look back I think lack of ventilation might be the culpit, the fan blowa but never pulla fresh air from outside of the box. Where can I get PC fan and the 110 to 12v converter?

tropicofcancel

Thanks for another vote for the HLG. The CFLs I used last year are Feit and I have to say the quality is not as desired.

"Keeping plants too close will hamper airflow." that's probably one of the problem I had last winter. I even put 4' pot on the top of 8' pot if there are zooms. :) you know space always not enough in winter :)

5k to 65 k best, try not to overcrowd, the idea is to spoil them

As for fan: If you are handy with electronics and wiring you can use a PC fan. PC fans are available in many places like Amazon, Newegg, etc. But you need a 12V DC adaptor also available in many places and have splice the wires correctly. Otherwise easier option is to look for 4 inch duct fan used in hydroponics. Here is one: https://www.amazon.com/VIVOSUN-Inline-Booster-Noise-Grounded/dp/B01C82SYZ0/ This one comes prewired to 110V and consumes very little - 12W. You can have that run 24 hrs. I would suggest to have it oriented so that it exhausts the grow area. It will draw in air from all sides of the grow area and will be gentle air flow. You really do not want it blowing directly at one plant - it will dehydrate the plant quickly.

If you are going for the HLG - I think they do not sell 5000K anymore. 4000K will be fine. These things are so intense that you will get enough blue for vegetative growth. I will be ordering a 4-pack of HLG QB120 panels and wire it myself and replace some of my other lights.

Hey buddy, just send me an e mail if you would like help getting into leds. I build custom led s for a freaking of the price to help people out that can't afford the expensive name brands. My email is Jmodco33@gmail.com

We use two Mars-Hydro SP250 LED lights and a SP150 to light a 4' x 8' grow tent. They provide very bright "natural spectrum" light (no retina damaging burple) and all the heating the tent needs to keep it in the mid 80s during the summer and low 70s in the winter. The tent is in the unheated basement of our upstate NY home. IMHO a single SP250 or something similar in a 2' x 4' grow tent would be an awesome setup for a couple of medium citrus trees or 3 small ones. The light reflecting from the tent walls providing all around illumination.

ok

I wasn't looking for anything fancy, but when my tomato starts got too big while it was still cold, I got this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XNYL5DJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and hung it off a metal free-standing clothes drying rack ... I used shoeboxes to get the plants more or less the same distance from the light. It plugs into a not,al outlet and has a switch to turn it on and off. You could probably stick a timer between it and the outlet if you didn't want to have to do that manually. My criteria was that it should have a similar light to my Aerogarden, because I know that works well for me, it should plug into a normal outlet, it should be inexpensive, and it should have decent reviews.

It sets up easily, it takes little storage space (flat box for the light and fold up the drying rack), and my seedling monsters seemed happy. I'm sure there's many other lights that would also work in this set up. If you need an enclosure, you could attach that to the drying rack like a blanket fort, so long as you don't create a fire hazard by enclosing a bulb that will heat up in something that can't take the heat.

make sure your bulb socket can handle the wattage

Who was that addressed to? My light plugs into an outlet ... at 45W, that's less than half an Ampere, which shouldn't be overloading most breakers, and if it is, there's too much on that circuit for that outlet to be used at all ... it's basically just turning on one extra light.

Okay that detail I wasn't given but the detail I gave if you over if u get too much wattage for your bulb socket can aslo cause a fire